Versuchen GOLD - Frei

How to love your job and build career satisfaction

Cape Times

|

December 10, 2025

MANY people don't like their jobs.

- TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC

How to love your job and build career satisfaction

Prioritising where to focus your energy will make you both better at your job and happier in it.

(I Freepik)

On the one hand, this is a pity as it probably means that most employees are not leveraging their full potential or being given an opportunity to flourish.From a more pragmatic perspective, there's no reason to be overly dramatic about this. For most of our evolutionary history, work was just that: work. It was rarely done purely for the enjoyment. And today, many top-performing employees are not particularly satisfied with their jobs, and many people who really love their jobs are not high-performing employees.

Productivity link

The degree to which people enjoy their jobs is more dependent on their personality and their job performance than the typical variables assessed in engagement surveys.

That said, there are ways to increase your affinity for your work with definite benefits to be derived. From a common sense point of view, it's easy to understand that, all other things being equal, it would be more beneficial to enjoy your job than to dislike it. However, systematic scientific evidence also strongly suggests that people who are more satisfied in their careers tend to be more productive, loyal and ethical; and less antisocial, corrupt, stressed or ill at work.

So what can you do to enjoy your work more? Here are the factors you can control and which you should aspire to influence in order to be more satisfied with your job and career:

Choose well

WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON Cape Times

Cape Times

Stormers keep calm as unbeaten run faces La Rochelle Champions Cup test

HYPE is swirling, and the unbeaten buzz is loud, but the Stormers are tuning out the noise as they steel themselves for a seismic Champions Cup duel with La Rochelle in Gqeberha on Saturday.

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Libstar shares surge 8% after mushroom business disposal and further restructuring

LIBSTAR

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Myanmar junta on hunt for 10 activists

MYANMARS junta said yesterday it is hunting 10 activists who staged an anti-election protest, pursuing them under laws punishing organised dissent against the poll with up to a decade in prison.

time to read

1 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Cape Times

Transnet cements partnership with ICTSI for Durban’s Pier 2 to boost maritime infrastructure

TRANSNET and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), the world’s largest independent terminal operator, on Wednesday formally signed a 25-year partnership agreement for the operation and upgrade of Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.

time to read

3 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

How tourism SMMEs can make big bucks this Dezemba

THE Dezemba holiday rush is about to kick into high gear!

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Cape Times

Suspect arrested over the murder of mother-to-be buried in shallow grave

“SHE didn't deserve this, nobody does and especially not her.”

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Cape Times

Brett Murray goes wild at Norval

WISHFUL thinking is thinking one can attend three exhibition openings in one day.

time to read

3 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Why Springboks hooker Marx isn’t a sure thing for SA Rugby's top honour

SOUTH African rugby’s annual awards season always sparks lively debate, but this year’s race for SA Rugby Player of the Year feels especially spicy.

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

Shareholders approve Anglo American's tie up with Teck Resources

SHAREHOLDERS in Anglo American have approved the Johannesburg and London-listed resource group's tie up with Canadian miner, Teck Resources under a \"merger of equals\" basis that has been disputed by South African opponents to the deal.

time to read

1 mins

December 11, 2025

Cape Times

SA food manufacturers feel the pinch as constrained consumer spening trends down

FOOD manufacturers are responding to South Africa's toughening economic environment by introducing smaller packs and adjusting pricing downwards to boost demand as consumers trend down in search of value offerings.

time to read

2 mins

December 11, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size