Beverly E. Jones - Find Your Happy at Work: 50 Ways to Get Unstuck, Move Past Boredom, and Discover Fulfillment

Beverly Jones presents invaluable information to get past any obstacle at work and, at the same time, helps the reader be happier in life. The stories she shares allow the reader to feel a connection with those she has coached, and the strategies at the end of each chapter are game changers. Her thoughtful but direct approach to this topic is refreshing and much needed today.

Joan Lynch, chief content and
programming officer, WorkingNation

Beverly Jones delivers on this book title's promise. Find Your Happy at Work is filled with practical, bite-sized tips to help each of us move past our work doldrums and find more meaning and happiness in our day.

Scott Shute, head of mindfulness and compassion
at LinkedIn and author of The Full Body Yes

Find Your Happy at Work is for anyone who has found themselves stuck in a jobbored, insecure, or simply consumed by a nagging feeling of being undervalued and overlooked. Beverly Jones provides a superb and insightful playbook of how to take control of your challenges and truly engage in your work, be inspired, productive, and, yes, happy.

Kerry Hannon, author of Great Pajama Jobs,
Never Too Old to Get Rich, Great Jobs for
Everyone 50+, and Love Your Job

Beverly Jones is filled with so much knowledge about how to approach your own career, and she is adept at delivering advice in a way that is easily consumable and relatable. Navigating a career today is no easy task, but Beverly has helped me and many others find clarity and purpose through it all.

Ryan Lytle, social media strategy leader at Adobe

Reading a career tip chapter by Bev Jones is like having a wise counselor with a gently authoritative voice sitting next to you offering the best advice that money can buy and that you can realistically follow. A pure pleasure.

Ira Chaleff, author of Intelligent Disobedience

Work is, after all, work. But Beverly Jones tells you how to make it fun and rewarding. And along the way, you'll find ideas on how to get more out of your leisure time, too.

John Maxwell Hamilton,
Hopkins P. Breazeale Professor of Journalism,
LSU Manship School of Mass Communication

Happiness is not only possible, happiness is here with Beverly E. Jones's new book, Find Your Happy at Work! An inspiring and authentic series of proven strategies to affect positive change in your workplace and with yourself. Extremely helpful and practical, meeting today's complex challenges as America goes back to the office.

Earl Johnson, author, Finding Comfort During Hard Times

This edition first published in 2021 by Career Press, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.careerpress.com

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2021 by Beverly E. Jones

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-63265-186-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Interior illustrations Karen Deans

Interior by Timm Bryson, em em design, LLC

Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro

Printed in the United States of America

IBI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

For Andy. Teamwork!

As always, I'm grateful to my journalist husband, Andy Alexander. Once again, he has been a tactful and supportive editor.

It is also handy to have sisters who are professors. Neuroscientist Helen Burroughs went through my chapters with care, checking for scientific accuracy. Communications expert Libby Vick tried to bring my language and assumptions up to date. Thank you both for reading through my draft and setting me straight.

Thanks also to Kerry Hannon and Susan P. Joyce for providing expert chapters. Kerry is a high-profile career and finance author, journalist, and speaker. Susan is a superb career writer, and her site, Job-Hunt.org, is the place to go when you're hunting your next gig.

I love the illustrations drawn by multitalented artist and author Karen Deans. Thank you for taking on this small project.

Thanks much to Tom Hodson, Adam Rich, and the wonderful team at Ohio University's WOUB Public Media. Hosting the Jazzed About Work podcast these last few years has been a joy and a vital part of my continuing education. Thanks also to our wonderful and talented guests, including thoselike Tomwho show up in this book.

Among many other supportive Ohio University friends, I thank Dean Mark Weinberg for many years of partnership with the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. Congratulations for the wonderful growth of the Voinovich Academy for Excellence in Public Service. Our work together has inspired topics in this book.

Once again I thank my excellent agent Cindy Zigman of Second City Publishing Services. You make this process so much easier, and I appreciate your willingness to stick with me.

I want to thank my clients and mentees, many of whom have encouraged my writing since long before my first book. All good relationships are reciprocal, and you are my teachers.

Thank you also social media friends from around the world. During the long process of writing this book, I was encouraged by frequent posts and comments about my first book, Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO. Twitter friends have been particularly lively, as you may see if you follow me @beverlyejones.

Finally, thank you, Career Press, for keeping me in the family. Let's have some fun with this book.

Some people always seem excited about their work. Sure, they go through crises like everyone else, but they bounce right back, energetically tackling their next challenges.

Sadly, these folks are a minority. Long-term studies show that roughly two-thirds of American workers often feel unhappy in their work lives. Despite occasional moments of job satisfaction, they frequently are bogged down in boredom, loneliness, fear, or resentment.

Are you in this second group? Feeling stressed? Frustrated? Professionally adrift? Wondering how to feel good about work again?

You're not alone. Most of us feel stuck or uncertain at times.

Research by the Gallup organization over many years suggests that only about a third of American employees typically are engaged in their jobs. These people are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.

When you're engaged, you feel positive about what you do. Not only are you happy, but also you're likely to be helping move your organizationand yourselfforward. You're on a path to success.

The story is different if you're among the 53 percent Gallup describes as not engaged. You don't feel so great. You try to complete your required tasks, but finding the energy to go the extra mile or break new ground is hard.

If you're among the 13 percent that Gallup describes as actively disengaged, you're in deeper trouble. You are not happy.