What makes life worthwhile
In 2005 the Gallup Company, founded by George Henry Gallup the pioneer of public polling, began a global research study representing more than 98% of the world’s population in more than 150 countries. Their findings are summarised in the book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements.
The five essential elements they identified were: career, social, financial, physical and community wellbeing. These areas were not independent but interdependent. Intensely focusing on one might be detrimental to another area and reduce overall wellbeing. They found that 66% of people were doing well in at least one of these areas but only 7% were thriving in all five. To get the most out of our lives we need to live effectively in all five.
Career wellbeing
‘Do you like what you do each day’? was the question posed and only 20% of people gave a strong “yes” response. When we wake each day all of us need something to look forward to, something to work on. What we do the majority of weekday working hours defines our career, job or vocation whether it be as a student, housewife, parent or something more conventional. We usually underestimate the influence of our vocation on our overall wellbeing. But career wellbeing is the most important of the five elements. Even if you have great social relationships if you do not like your job it is likely that you will spend your leisure time grouching about your terrible or boring job. The increased stress will pervade and take a toll on your other areas.
The most important aspect of career wellbeing was engagement. Gallup found a significant difference between those who were actively involved with their work and those who were watching the clock for the workday to end. The researchers studied the level of engagement, heart rate, cortisol levels and mood state of participants over a period of time. The results were striking. For the people engaged in their work happiness and interest levels remained high throughout the day. The disengaged workers had high levels of stress and their happiness only increased as the workday ended.
The same study explored the difference in experience of workers between workdays and weekends. The result – for the engaged worker the levels of happiness were the same with only a slight increase in stress levels on workdays. So, there are no Monday morning blues for the engaged worker. This might explain why heart attacks are more likely to occur on Monday. A stressful change from weekend to workday takes a heavy physical toll.
In many countries including ours, the premise is that work is something we are not supposed to enjoy. In such a culture people strive to minimize the number of work hours. The goal is to earn as much money as possible and retire early, then spend your days lazing in the sun or even the bed. In the late 1950s, a study by George Gallup found that Career Wellbeing is a major determinant of whether we live into our 90s. Gallup interviewed several hundred Americans who were 95 and older. In those days the retirement age for American men was 65 but the men who lived until 95 did not on average retire until they were 80 years old. The majority reported a high degree of satisfaction and fun doing their job.
What can you do to increase the level of engagement at work? Focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. Maximize opportunities to apply your skills in areas of work you are good at. Of course, the chance to use your strengths will depend not only on you but, on the opportunities, offered by your workplace and managers. To quote from the book Wellbeing, “Compared to those who do not get to focus on what they do best, people who have the opportunity to use their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life. Our global data show that these people can enjoy a full 40-hour workweek, while those who do not get to use their strengths get burned out after just 20 hours of work per week”. If managers want the best from their workers they should give their employees opportunities in their areas of strength.
You are lucky if you have such a boss. The Gallup study found that the most disengaged group of workers had managers who did not pay them attention. To quote from the study, “If your manager ignores you, there is a 40% chance that you will be actively disengaged or filled with hostility about your job. If your manager is at least paying attention — even if he is focusing on your weaknesses — the chances of your being actively disengaged go down to 22%. But if your manager is primarily focusing on your strengths, the chance of you being actively disengaged is just 1% or 1 in 100”.
Social wellbeing
Though career is number one for our wellbeing, friends and colleagues are important too. The people around us affect our wellbeing. If we spend time with people who are happy we become happier too. Even indirect connections influence our wellbeing. A 30-year Harvard study of more than 12,000 people found that your odds of being happy increase by 15% if a direct connection of your social network is happy. Even if your friends’ friend is happy your chance of happiness increases by 10%.
Our social connections also influence our health. If a friend becomes obese it increases your chances of being obese by 57%. To quote from the book Wellbeing, “If your best friend is very active, it nearly triples your chances of having high levels of physical activity. We found that people with a best friend who has a very healthy diet are more than five times as likely to have a very healthy diet as well. Your best friend’s diet is an even stronger predictor of whether you have a healthy diet than the dietary habits of your parents. So, the people we surround ourselves with might have more influence on our health than our family history does.”
Other than the proximity of close relationships the amount of time spent with friends matter too. To have a really good day we need a minimum of six hours social time. If you think six hours is rather too long and not attainable in a day, note that it includes time at home, telephone time as well as sending emails and other communication.
The Gallup research showed that only 30% have a best friend at work but those who do were seven times more likely to be engaged at work compared to friendless workers who had only a one in 12 chance of being engaged. Next month I will discuss the other three essential elements of wellbeing. In the meantime, do pay attention and try and improve your career and social wellbeing.