In the Works

Please allow me to give you some background information.

Since I have been unemployed, nearly one year, I have been doing a lot of “soul-searching.” Mostly, because, so much of what I did as a profession, I identified with as a person. Without a defined career path, I often stalled when people asked me to tell them about myself. In the beginning, I began with, “I used to be a High School English teacher.” I was someone who used to describe myself as someone I used to be. I felt broken. Add constant worry of how I will financially maintain my lifestyle plus the relentless, abysmal-tedious tasks of writing cover letters, filling out applications, “networking,” and editing resumes. Yup. That used to be me and I was unhappy about it.

I asked myself a series of questions to resolve things in my life that were causing my unhappiness, was I unhappy because I didn’t have a job? Was it possible to be an unemployed person and also be happy?

I decided that I would find a job but I would also make a conscious effort to be happy. Yes. That is how I would mend my deflated-ego. My plan was, from 9-5 apply for jobs, after 5pm, research happiness.

My life plan (on repeat) sort of looked like this:
8:30 AM: COFFEE
9 AM – 5 PM: Job hunting, occasional interview, ½ hour lunch break paired with phone for social media
6 – 7 PM: Dinner, clean-up house
8 PM – Bedtime: Try to obtain happiness
Weekends: Social events, try to obtain happiness, occasional job hunting

This is how I researched happiness:
Research/follow people and brands that promote happiness by reading articles, watching videos, and listening to podcasts. I also saved and spread others’ opinions on the topic as well as my own inspirational findings.
I tweeted about working happy @themerriment and blogged about promoting happiness at www.themerriment.com in efforts to outline my dream and the process of possible fulfillment.

After nearly one year, I have learned this:
It is my dream to have a career in which my objective is to promote happiness for students and professionals. There is a great need to promote happiness inside schools and within corporations. I have identified that many individuals struggle with balancing their emotional lives and their professional lives.

It has become my mission to address and spread a work-happy belief system.

My approach:
Research and compose hyper-relevant content which supports the notion that happy people work harder. I would also like to analyze and present some of my personal experiences as evidence.

Conduct seminars and facilitate events to encourage professionals to practice happiness in their careers in order to promote productiveness.

Some of my work-in-progress seminars:
“Epic Victory Dancing 101, Celebrating Professional Achievements”
“I Am an Awesome Professional, Emotional and Career Balance”
“My Work is the Cat’s Pajamas, How to be Productive and Happy”

More to Come #workhappy