"Find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." Do you agree with this old saying? Joanne Gordon does. She is the author of Be Happy at Work and other books about careers. Gordon believes that about 30% of employees in North America do not like their jobs, and she thinks that is terrible. She wants to help people who do not feel satisfied with their jobs find work that is good for them. Joanne says, "There are no happy jobs, only happy workers." She believes that happy workers share three main characteristics (特点).
First, happy workers enjoy the daily activities of their jobs, and they look forward to the workday, Take Tony Hawk, for example. At age 14, he became a professional skateboarder. Now he is a businessman working on projects related to skateboarding—films and video games, but he still skates every day. He once said, "My youngest son's pre—school class was recently asked what their dads do for work. My son said, 'I've never seen my dad do work." Tony agrees that his job doesn't look like work. He has found a way to spend each day doing a job he enjoys.
Second, happy workers like the people they work with, Sally Ayton says, "I work with the coolest people in the world." She and her group cook for almost 1,200 people in Antarctica Most of these people are scientists who are doing research. Sally loves to sit and talk with them. She says, "There is no television here, no radio, so I get to know the scientists and what they're studying" Sally thinks she has a great job, and the best part about it is the people.
Third, happy workers know that their work helps others. Caroline Baron's work helps people who have had to leave their home countries because of war or other dangers. She is a filmmaker who started an organization called Film Aid, which shows movies in refugee camps (难民营) around the world. Caroline believes that movies can be very helpful in these camps. For one thing, entertaining movies let refugees forget their troubles for a little while. Movies can also teach important subjects like health and safety. For example, in one camp, thousands of refugees saw a movie about how to get clean water. Caroline knows that she is helping other people, and this makes her feel proud and happy about her work.
Tony Hawk, Sally Ayton, and Caroline Baron all get great satisfaction from their work. Tony Hawk says, "Find the thing you love, If you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous." Joanne Gordon would agree. She encourages people to find something they enjoy doing, find people they like to work with, and find ways to help others. Then they can be proud of what they do, and they will probably be happy at work.
