January 26, 2020 | by David March.
If you are considering a career change, the possibility to earn a higher salary is likely at the forefront of your mind. Yet, for sustainable emotional well being, it shouldn’t be your sole determining factor.
Surprisingly enough, research suggests that past about $75,000 a year money cannot buy you happiness anymore. Past that point, it’s about developing and appreciating your skills. Smart employers will be aware of our skills and will pay you for them, not only in money, but also by acknowledging and appreciating that we are smart in ways that benefit the enterprise.
The research I am talking about is one published by Dr. Kahneman, 2002 Nobel prize-winning psychologist, and Dr. Deaton, 2015 Nobel prize-winning economist, both from Princeton University.
“They analyzed responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (GHWBI), a daily survey that asks roughly 1,000 U.S. residents a battery of questions about their wellbeing. After analyzing more than 450,000 GHWBI responses from 2008 and 2009, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Kahneman found that happiness is actually the result of the fulfillment of two abstract psychological states — emotional well-being and life evaluation”
“No matter where you live, your emotional wellbeing is as good as it’s going to get at $75,000,” says Dr. Deaton, “and money’s not going to make it any better beyond that point. It’s like you hit some sort of ceiling, and you can’t get emotional well-being much higher just by having more money.”
– Robison, Jennifer. “Happiness Is Love — and $75,000, Gallup.com
Factors to Consider Before a Career Change
“Intuitive Listening”, “Egoless Listening” , the combination of the two and “egocentric listening.” When you combine the first two forms of listening, it produces the most amazing results. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The best coaches, therapists, and counselors understand this.
The technique is to listen to promote, grow, strengthen and provide progress without judgement. You want to allow for a free-flow of ideas, making a judgment too soon may stop another person’s mind wheels from turning. Hear it all then form your response as needed. Great listening is a powerful and freeing experience.
1. Working Remotely
Working remotely is one of them. Maybe you don’t like the hustle and bustle of an office environment, and you can stay more focused and attentive in a home office. It is important to listen to what’s right for you before you take in what’s right for someone else.
Working remotely has it’s benefits; however, it’s one of those purely experiential things. I say this because in theory it sounds amazing; working remotely is akin to feelings of freedom. Freedom in both time and management. However, this freedom comes at the cost of self-discipline and heavy focus. As a result, it’s not for everyone.
2. Work Environment
What’s the work environment like? For example, working as an accountant, lawyer or a doctor is advocated strongly by many families. This is because they are stable careers and everyone needs one of these. Or you could come from a long line of doctors.
The key thing is to remember amid the peer pressure and family pressure is how will the experience day to day will be. What is the culture like? Doctor’s offices and hospitals are a different culture than lawyers in courtrooms and conference rooms. Different still are accountants spending little physical energy running around and most of there energy in front of a computer crunching the numbers.
3. Work Culture
Your work culture in a large part will be determined by who your boss is and who his boss is, ultimately the president of the company, their management style, if they are micro-managing you or macro-managing you, as well as their leadership style. In David Keirsey’s book about temperament, character, and intelligence, chapter of Leading and intelligence, there is a quote.
“I have often reflected that the causes of success or failure of men depend upon their…character and nature and [are] not a matter of choice.”
– Niccolo Machiavelli
This is true for people working in groups of many kinds when it comes to leadership, when you get the right arrangement of people in a room they create a particular synergy that makes them unstoppable. It could one just be one strong character in the room that knows how to read the nature of the people in the room to ignite them into action.
A Leader’s Temperament Can Determine Work Culture
In David Keirsey’s book, he brings up four men that lead people in fundamentally different ways because of their temperament. They are Winston Churchhill, Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Each temperament has a certain set of skills they are naturally good at.
- “The steadfast ‘Guardian’ Washington had precisely the kind of temperament that the war of Independence and the establishment of a republic required.
- The pragmatic ‘Rational’ Lincoln [had] precisely the kind of temperament kind the civil war and the reconstruction had he lived, required.
- Only an indomitable ‘Artisan’ like Churchhill could have railed the English people during the dark days of WWII and convinced his wily friend Franklin Roosevelt to throw in with him before it was too late.
- Only a benevolent and altruistic Idealist like Gandhi could have inspired the Indian people to the swell of passive resistance that ultimately set them free from British dominion”
The leadership style of your boss and the president of the company influence the company culture directly.
For a successful career change, your new career path may also require you to get additional education or certification. Through my research and our coaching sessions I will help you manage the process of finding your ideal career if it’s starting a new business or moving up in your current career or making a career change and transitioning to a new career.
To take the next step, schedule a call with me at https://calendly.com/coachdavemarch
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