"Success is not the key to happiness..."

After reading Arthur Brooks' recent book Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, which he co-wrote with Oprah Winfrey (see my post "Are you happy?"), I started taking his edX online course "Managing Happiness".  So far, it's a great recap of his book and essays, but I am definitely enjoying it and finding it worthwhile.  During the first module, Brooks mentions how much inspiration he has found following His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his book, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living.  It sounds like a book that I should check-out for sure.  

Brooks also mentions a great quote by Albert Schweitzer, who said, "Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."  Unfortunately, too often the last sentence gets cited without the first two sentences.  For example, Mark Twain reportedly said, "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life."  It's unfortunate, because I've not found it to be 100% true.  I absolutely love what I do, but there are always days when my work feels like, well, work.  The most important part of Schweitzer's quote is the sentence that says that just because you are successful doesn't mean that you will be happy.  However, if you are not happy, no amount of personal achievements will make your life a successful one.

I recently read an editorial in Crain's Chicago Business from the December 16, 2024 issue by Michael Fassnacht, currently the Chief Growth Officer at Clayco in Chicago, "The right mindset can put you on the path to success".  In the editorial, Fassnacht offers three essential insights that he has learned over time and which he feels are crucial for those entering the workforce to understand and appreciate.  

1. You won't change a corporation.  I can't even begin to count how many times that I have written the words "Change is hard" in this blog.  What Fassnacht is really saying here though is that changing a culture within an organization is difficult (not impossible, just really, really hard).  He writes, "Every organization has a unique origin story, intrinsic values, ingrained behavioral patterns, and spoken and unspoken norms.  These elements, combined with organizational muscle memory and other factors, create inherent resistance to change."  It's hard enough for CEO's and other members of the executive leadership team to create meaningful change, let alone someone just starting out in an organization.  Change can (and occasionally does) occur from the bottom up, but that kind of change will require effort, time, and allies.  No one can do it alone.

2. Your well-being is up to you.  Here is where I think Schweitzer's quote (the first two sentences at least) resonate with me the most.  Rather than focusing on being successful, professionals that are just starting out should focus on being happy.  Fassnacht writes, "The pursuit of professional success should not come at the expense of emotional well-being.  Relentlessly chasing status can lead to unproductive stress and self-doubt, undermining your emotional health."  He goes on to say that "While dedication and excellence in work are admirable, it's crucial to ensure that personal happiness and emotional health remain independent of the corporate environment...this emotional independence is critical to achieving balance, happiness, and ultimately, greater success."

3.  Don't let a job keep you up at night.  As one of my senior residents told me when I was a third-year medical student, "The longer you stay...the longer you stay."  Fassnacht claims (and I agree with him) that no job is worth losing sleep over due to stress.  He goes on to say that he has followed one simple rule throughout his 25 year career, "If my job causes me to lose sleep for more than five consecutive nights, it's time to seriously consider leaving."

I hope to share additional insights from Arthur Brooks in future posts.  For now though, I will end with a key insight from His Holiness The Dalai Lama (one in which Brooks returns to again and again in his writings and in his course): "Happiness is determined more by one's state of mind than by external events."