Finding happiness in helping people online

Work hard. Be successful. Earn money. Have a good life. Be happy. The way of thinking we just mentioned could very well be the paradigm of whole western world and our civilization. Have you ever thought that it’s not about the money all the time? So if throwing more money, more work, more success at your life won’t bring you long term happiness, what could work? Answer may (or may not) be found in positive psychology. Dr Martin Seligman, the creator of Positive Psychology and the PERMA principles says the key is helping other people.

Martin Seligman at St Peter's College | thinkersinresidence1:19:15

thinkersinresidenceFebruary 21, 2012

Topics

• positive education
• positive psychology
• character building
• well-being
• politics of well-being

Video summary

The video is a lecture by Professor Seligman, Adelaide's thinker in residence, on positive education and its significance in today's world. He talks about the five components of positive psychology that should be built - P for positive emotion, E for engagement, R for relationships, M for meaning, and A for accomplishment - and how to increase them reliably. He also discusses the implementation of positive education in schools and the importance of character building in teaching. Finally, he talks about the politics of well-being and how good government means promoting the well-being of citizens.

Now you may ask, how is this connected to my customer support work? It all comes down to mindset and attitude. We are very well aware that you are not saving people’s life on live chat or through phone, but still – you are helping people and you should give yourself some respect for that. 

Your attitude can absolutely change the perception of your job in your own eyes. Screw what others may think. Try to have a look at your daily workflow from different perspective. It may sound like a long shot, but somewhere out there is a person who desperately seeks for help. Point is – it matters to them – otherwise, they would not have contacted you. Now close your eyes and think about it. How many times did customers say simple “thank you”. See a bigger picture. You made theirs lives better, even if you helped a little bit.

Feeling better already? No you may not, at least not immediately. But still, think about it, let the idea go through all parts of your brain and wait until it sinks in. Changing your attitude, perspective and mindset might be a good idea after all. We encourage you to think about it.

It’s not about the money, at least not all of it.

Whatever you buy to make yourself “happy” will not provide the feeling in a long term. People often mistake happiness for something as simple as pleasure. Of course there is a link between income and well-being but it is different than you might had thought. Overall levels of happiness in connection to income rise up to only a certain point. In the United States it’s around 60,000 USD to 80,000 USD per annum. The number might differ depending on where you live, but the simple logic stays – money, and success can make you happy only up to specific point.

Let us explain

Imagine you are only earning 10,000 USD a year. You will barely be able to afford food and accommodation and stress levels will be very high. In this case, we cannot even mention something like happiness. It will be a foreign word for you.

Now imagine that you rose up to a certain degree and you make 100,000 USD a year. You can now afford a nice house, a car or two, vacations and trips and provide for your family. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? Looks like a good, good life.

But now to the point: imagine you earn 1,000 000 USD a year. Everything in your life will get bigger, brighter, more exclusive and cool. But you overall happiness level would not raise. Do not take our word for it, have a look at research done by Princeton University. See the happiness chart below:

Now what can I learn from this?

Working as a support agent will not make yourich by any means. But still, it is a path worth considering. Earning fine, if not exquisite money by helping people and being happy about that does not sounds bad. Not bad at all…

Daniel Pison

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