Jake Ducey - Profit from Happiness: The Unity of Wealth, Work, and Personal Fulfillment

T HE SECRETS TO winning were forgotten when the game was started. Thousands of years ago, as man began to build economies and maximize economic prosperity, a goal was created: win the game. What game? The game of growth, numbers, prosperity, business, economic expansion, social status, personal freedom, and what would eventually be called the American dream.

The game was created with the intention to win: to live the good life, to have a nice retirement, to gain as much material and economic reward as possible, and perhaps even to buy a yacht one day. The game was created with the goal of infinite economic growth. More for everyone. The intention was to set records and then break themto climb the ladder of success.

Minds were filled with dreams of infinite profit and income. Wall Street was paved and businesses were born. We began to construct commercial industries, institutions, and cities. Stocks rose and became a way to measure success in the game. Winning ensured youd gain more money, power, possessions, and freedom.

The economy soared. People worked hard for its progress; they worked their way toward the promise of freedom and prosperity. Hours worked were reflected in paychecks, and annual income steadily skyrocketed. People became richer than ever before.

These people celebrated as numbers grew and fortunes were made. Land was amassed and statues were erected. Houses were designed and business plans were sketched. Retirement strategies were tailored and investment opportunities appearedsavings accounts grew. People set out to get their share of good fortune and to find success.

And they did. Then the cost of living jumped tenfold; people needed stable jobs and logged more hours at work for extra pay. But it was okay because people were still winning, earning, obtaining, and succeeding.

Then, one day, the bubble burstthe Great Depression came. People lost everything and businesses fell apart. Fortunes folded and money lost its value. It returned to its original formpaper.

Eventually the economy was rebornlabor increased and money trees grew again. It wasnt long before the buildings grew even taller and more intricate. Cities expanded and people competed for jobs and opportunities to work. People wanted to win. Businesses wanted to succeed.

And they did. Profits soared so high that the wolves of Wall Street howled at the full moon of opportunity. People buckled down, worked hard, and logged most of their waking hours working. And they were rewarded. They earned material possessions, big savings, comfort, and security.

Winning was measured by rankings, stocks, ticker symbols, numbers, profit margins, and income. Today we watch those scoreboards as we continue to play the game. The world carries on the tradition of growth, expansion, and opportunity. We want to win. We check the scoreboards to see if we are ahead or behind. We count the numbers and log in the hours each week, even if we dont want to be there.

The numbers are clear: according to a Gallup survey, 71 percent of workers are disengaged at work. Adults employed full time in the United States report working an average of forty-seven hours per week, almost a full workday longer than a standard five-day, nine-to-five schedule entails. Around three-quarters of us are spending most of our waking hours doing something we do not like or care about. This may explain why there is ten times more major depression in people born after 1945 than in those born before, in just a half century of playing the game. And today two million Americans quit their jobs every month, not because the jobs dont pay well, but because people dont like them and dont feel empowered in the workplace.

It looks like were playing the game in the wrong way. Whether we believe it or not, we are losing the work-and-money game. Weve put so much emphasis on getting things done, on finishing to-do lists, on growth, and on economic demand, that were beginning to losebig time.

While annual income has soared over the past sixty years, happiness has stayed the same. And although the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, in happiness it scores below fifteen other developed nations. Where is Marvin Gaye to sing so beautifully, Hey! Whats going on?

We believed that we could continue to win if we kept our heads down and worked until our eyes fell out. We thought it was okay to feel unfulfilled as long as we kept showing up for work and getting everything done as best we could. Only now are we realizing that this is actually having a negative effect on productivity in the workplace.