How to Pursue Fulfilling Work and Find Your ‘Calling’ | with Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar

Working long & stressful hours is hard enough when you absolutely love the content you’re creating and live for what you do. But how can you survive when you don’t even enjoy the work you do and have no emotional connection to the stories you tell? In my opinion, any emotional disconnection from your work coupled with unbearable hours is a recipe for surefire burnout (I’ve been there and done that more times than I can count).

Do you find yourself taking a string of “paycheck” jobs hoping you can put off your happiness until you reach the next “success milestone” in your career based on other people’s definition of success rather than your own?

Or are you perhaps stuck busting your butt building your “career” but at the expense of your well-being, your family, your happiness, and your sanity?

Or are you one of the lucky few who’s found their “calling” in life and can’t imagine doing anything else, yet you still struggle to balance your work with the rest of your life?

Today's guest, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar lends some hope to all these situations and helps guide you on a path to a more fulfilling career that includes being happy. Dr. Shahar is a bestselling author and lecturer who has taught two of the largest classes in Harvard University’s history, Positive Psychology and The Psychology of Leadership. He is the founder of the Happiness Studies Academy whose mission is to help educate people about a more holistic approach to happiness. He uses practical strategies from the field of positive psychology to help people align their careers with their values and ideals so they can stop competing in the neverending rat race and escape the endless cycle of burnout.

Tal and I go deep down the rabbit hole of what it means to have success and happiness in your career and whether or not the two are mutually exclusive. Spoiler alert: Being happy and having success are not mutually exclusive, it all depends on how you define each for yourself. We discuss the difference between having a job vs. a career vs. a calling and the practical ways you can shift your mindset to find fulfillment on any path.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

• What does Tal mean by: "Life is too short to do what I'm supposed to do but it's just long enough to do what I want to do".
• How Tal’s past history of being a squash player led him to becoming a happiness expert.
• What the Hamburger Model is and how he transformed it into the Happiness Model.
• The 4 Archetypes of Happiness and how they relate to your career.
• Tal uses the science of happiness to diagnose the entertainment industry.
• How we misunderstand the nature of happiness.
• Having success too quickly is actually a curse in disguise.
• My story of waking up to what success vs happiness means.
• What The Paradox of Happiness is and why you shouldn't "pursue happiness".
• The essential elements of happiness
• How the “age of distraction” is contributing to women not enjoying time with their children.
• What are the “islands of sanity” and how does it help us find more flow or peak performances in life.
• The different ways we can reorient our thinking to see the importance of the work we do.
• How to use self concordant goals to direct your career path and find fulfilling work.
• The ultimate cause of burnout and the three elements to use to avoid it.
• The mantra Tal uses with his kids, his students and himself to stay on the path of happiness and fulfillment.
• Why Tal created the Happiness Studies Certificate program and how you can join.
• Three practical ideas for becoming happier today.

Useful Resources Mentioned:

Happiness Studies Program: Get 10% off with code HAPPY

Tal's Instagram Page

Tal's Facebook Page

Tal's Twitter Page

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Guest Bio:

Tal Ben-Shahar is a bestselling author and lecturer. He taught two of the largest classes in Harvard University’s history, Positive Psychology and The Psychology of Leadership. Today, Tal consults and lectures around the world to executives in multi-national corporations, the general public, and at-risk populations. The topics he lectures on include leadership, happiness, education, innovation, ethics, self-esteem, resilience, goal setting, and mindfulness. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and have appeared on best-sellers lists around the world. Tal is a serial entrepreneur and is most recently the co-founder and chief learning officer of Happiness Studies Academy. An avid sportsman, Tal won the U.S. Intercollegiate and Israeli National squash championships. Today, for exercise, he swims, dances, and practices Yoga. He obtained his PhD in Organizational Behavior and BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Harvard.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).