Happy new year and hump day (Wednesday). If you're finding being back to work challenging, know that Friday is almost upon us. I believe in you!

Today’s post is about happiness at work; providing you with the tools to detect any changes you may or may not wish to make in 2023.

It should be noted, that I believe a lot of jobs are just a bit rubbish and that’s why so many people are unhappy at work. I don’t think we need extensive employee engagement research to tell us this. Just anecdotally it is evident that many people are in jobs that offer little to no imagination, routine tasks, and lack of agency.

But if that’s you, fear not because you are in the right place.

This is the newsletter for entrepreneurial careers; meaning a self-directed career path or one where you have the chance to be entrepreneurial. Perhaps that means building a business, a side project, or a non-profit, going freelance or simply working with entrepreneurs (Venture Capital, startup consulting etc).

It’s my goal to provide you with the tools to make this happen, and then be successful in this pursuit.

In previous eras, people were born into a trade for life and were even named after that trade same e.g Taylor (tailors), Smith (blacksmith), Fisher (fisher). There was no choice. Today, you do have the choice and the agency to make changes at least if you live in a first-world democratic country and are skilled, smart and talented. I believe you owe it to yourself to be happy at work.

On the topic of happiness, before I share a framework for you to detect your own happiness levels, I want to tell you about something that makes me happy.

This newsletter.

I’ve been mulling over ideas about the future of this newsletter and invested in some mentorship over the next few months so it is safe to say that changes are brewing. But, without you readers, I am nothing.

OK, I’m being melodramatic. But messages like these are what keep me going week after week since 2020.

Thank you! So, in order for me to be excited about any upcoming changes, I’d need to know that you too were excited and on board.

Remember suggestion boxes?

This is your digital suggestion box, for this newsletter, to up and downvote ideas as I shape this newsletter in 2023 and beyond. Consider this a way of thanking me for any value you might have gained in recent months or years. All questions are optional, anonymous AND it will only take a few minutes. 100 responses will be 3% of you now… so be in the 3% that shape it!

You can fill it in here (why not now before you forget) and I will absolutely abide by the results of the poll.

The Work Happy Wheel, a framework for career happiness

As all frameworks tend to be, this framework is a simplification of the ingredients that go into career happiness. That said, I’ve used it many times in coaching sessions as a tool to help clients to detect the specific source of their dissatisfaction.

If you think you could be happier in your career in 2023 let’s analyse exactly where that could be.

For each segment of the Work Happy Wheel give yourself a score:

• Satisfied in this area: 2 points

• Somewhat satisfied in this area: 1 point

• Dissatisfied in this area: 0 points

Whilst the overall score has merit (20 being the highest possible score and 0 the lowest) the real analysis lies in which aspects score the lowest and thus where change is needed.

Industry

This is the wider industry within which you work — perhaps tech, finance, media etc. Industries are shaped by all of the companies and individual players which exist within them. Growing up, I loved fashion. Buying Elle magazine (full of designer clothes 12-year-old me could never afford) and spent hours making collages, or trawling eBay to find similar outfits. For a bit, I thought my career might be in fashion. That was until I watched Devil Wears Prada and realised how just cutthroat the industry is (since verified by people I know). I pretty much ruled out fashion from that day on. For you, you probably have an overriding sentiment about your industry, positive (2), neutral (1) or negative (0). Give it a score.

Company Mission

The mission that your company has matters — it will inspire you or it won’t. For example, whilst you could be working in the energy industry your company might have a specific mission to be more green. Like Bulb Energy. So think about the company you work for specifically (or your own, if you run one) and whether the mission you are pursuing in the world aka the change your company seeks to make, energises you or leaves you wanting.

Growth

Growth refers to the amount of personal growth and learning you get in your career. Are you constantly faced with new challenges and opportunities or left doing the same rote job responsibilities over and over? For many entrepreneurial professionals I coach, a lack of career growth in employment becomes the number 1 reason for pursuing their own thing. Employers take note — give your team more responsibility!

Pay & Benefits

Consider how much you are paid to do this work, or how much you pay yourself. Does it meet your lifestyle needs and goals? Is it reflective of the amount of responsibility you have, or the contribution you make? Let’s be real, there is nothing wrong with wanting to make more especially as the world becomes increasingly expensive. As you consider this point, also consider your entire package e.g. a pension, stocks or shares and bonuses as well as your base salary.

Working Hours

Are you working hours that feel manageable and align with your life overall? It is normal to expect a leadership role with lots of responsibility and pay to bring long hours. Similarly, if you are a new business owner, long hours are par for the course. Consider whether your hours make sense and are making you happy, context depending.

Role & Function

This refers to the exact role you play in your company aka which hats you wear. As a founder, perhaps all of them. Think about your focus (marketing, ops, product, engineering etc) and how it fits into the company overall. Does this role suit you? Are you happy within this function? What aspects of it do you like or dislike? For many people making career pivots this year, this is one of the biggest changes they will seek to make.

Strengths

I have kind of built a career around my love of strengths and helping people to understand theirs. I spent many years interviewing successful people as a recruiter and hearing stories about how their strengths had propelled their careers into six-figure salaries and interesting opportunities. At the same time, never felt I could use my own strengths in creative thinking and writing. Fast forward to today where I use my creative thinking and writing skills to create content on topics such as finding your strengths to be happy at work! Meta. I now offer a 1-off talent profiling session too which people are finding valuable. Yesterday, someone said it was “the first time I've done anything related to strengths and weaknesses where I haven't essentially been presented with a big list of everything that's wrong with me and told to change. It was far more positive and productive for me”. Make sure that you ARE using your strengths at work. You'll know that you are when time flies and you get energy from your work. When it comes freely and easily too you. The opposite being you feel exhausted, bored or frustrated by the tasks that you take on.

Leadership

The leadership of your company dictates the company's direction and your own happiness levels too. You might love the industry and mission but can’t stand the founder, or your manager. Consider how much the leadership is impacting your work happiness levels (positively or negatively). If you are your own leader, are you showing up for yourself well? Do you treat the employee version of yourself well? Do what you say you’ll do? Offer clear plans, guidelines and rewards? I hope so.

People

Who you work with day to day is so key as to whether you enjoy your work — as social creatures these interactions with team members or customers should be net positive to be happy. If you work alone, do you have a co-working space or community you can tap into? Do you hire or delegate work to people you enjoy spending time with? Whilst I am a team of one full time, the incredible Mel works with me a few days a month, plus I’m a member of a co-working space in London and my clients are pretty great. We speak a lot. So think about your people — how do they contribute to your happiness levels?

Environment

Final piece is the physical location in which you work. Can you focus when you need to, collaborate when it matters and get stuff done? Are you comfortable enough, and working somewhere that suits your introvert/extrovert tendencies? How’s the commute? If you work from home, is that a good thing? Give it a score.

Would love to hear from you in the comments, which areas you see the biggest opportunities for change this year. Remember that no career — even the entrepreneurial ones — are perfect. But if a change is what you seek then let this be your sign!

Need more support? I help ambitious, entrepreneurial professionals decide and plan their next career pivot or business idea so they can feel clear and excited about their future. You can book a complimentary coaching conversation with me here, now taking bookings for new clients from February onwards.

Have a great day! And please don’t forget to vote on the survey to shape this newsletter in 2023 and beyond so that your needs & interests can continue to be reflected.

Thank you as always for reading!

Ellen Donnelly, Founder + Chief Coach, The Ask.