Can you like your work even if you don't love your job?

Can you like your work even if you don't love your job? Yup!

Let me explain.

I worked at Dunkin’ in high school. One of my favorite party tricks is that if you tell me your coffee order once, I will remember it forever.

As a Dunkin’ employee (at least during my time), there were a few different roles you could play: (1) front counter cashier, (2) barista and order-taker, (3) drive-through cashier, and (4) food maker (my least favorite role). During downtime, usually after the 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. morning rush, we would rotate through food prep, restocking, and cleaning the restrooms (nothing made me like that part of the work). A shift leader managed each shift, and the general manager often made appearances.

In the summer, I also worked at an ice cream shop. Unfortunately, I didn’t acquire any party tricks there… but I did master the flip of the wrist required to successfully dip a soft-serve cone into a hard chocolate shell. If you know, you know.

Essentially, I was making coffee in the morning and swirling ice cream cones in the evening. At the ice cream shop, there were two main roles: (1) order taker and (2) ice cream scooper. There was also a closing manager responsible for counting the drawer at night and locking up the shop. The owner would make an appearance on our busiest days, like the 4th of July.

During this era of my life, I didn’t feel a strong urge to go to college. That can be attributed to many factors (most not appropriate for where I’m trying to go here), but one big reason was that I genuinely liked the work I was doing at Dunkin’ and Mountain Freeze. Did I love the job itself? Well..not exactly. But I did like the work. I spent my time acting like a sponge, mastering every role and observing how managers handled different customers, employees, and themselves. Every hour on the clock was a learning hour. At the time, this was all very unintentional, but I know now that I was doing what I do best-absorbing.

I was quickly promoted to shift leader at Dunkin’ and closing manager at Mountain Freeze.

I was proud of those designations, but eventually, there was nothing left to learn. When I realized I had reached my peak in my part-time roles and that I was more interested in becoming a general manager or business owner, I knew it was time to move on. I continued working those jobs (and others like them) in my early college years, but one theme remained constant: I liked the work, even if I didn't love every job, because I was learning.

I also fell in love with my entire college experience because (1) I was paying a pretty penny to learn a whole lot, and I made sure I got every bit of my money’s worth, (2) but more than that, for the first time, I could apply what I was learning to something bigger than myself.

I l-o-v-e my job as a college professor because, alongside my students (you guessed it), I’m always learning.

Okay, you see the theme emerging here.

Enough about me and back to you.

Now think about your own job journey. Do you notice any common threads across different roles? Something you consistently enjoyed, regardless of the job itself, the title, the industry, or the paycheck?

That thing may emerge as one of your top signature character strengths.

That's what clicked for me when I took the Values in Action (VIA) survey in November. The VIA measures your character, or positive personality traits. According to the VIA Institute on Character, Scientists discovered a common language of 24 character strengths that make up what’s best about our personality, and each character strength falls under one of these six broad virtue categories (wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transendance), which are universal across cultures and nations. Pretty cool stuff! You can take the VIA survey for free here. The free version generates a report of your 24 character strengths, categorized as top, middle, and lesser strengths.

My #1 top strength is (surprise, surprise... love of learning).

I was first introduced to the VIA Survey while completing Yale University’s Science of Well-Being Certificate, led by Dr. Laurie Santos. It was there that I learned the takeaway that made my notes app: we can rewire our brains and increase our overall happiness by intentionally incorporating our signature strengths into our everyday lives.

Don’t love your job? You may not love it overnight, but research suggests you’re likely to enjoy it more if you find small, intentional ways to apply your signature strengths at work.

This is the juicy neuroscience stuff that I love.

For example, imagine you’re working a 9–5 office job with no windows, and one of your top strengths is Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence. You might:

• Organize a 10-minute outdoor walk with colleagues during your lunch break,

• Hang a photo of nature you love behind your monitor to glance at all day

• Or invest in a natural light or sun lamp to brighten your workspace.

These may seem like small (maybe even silly or okay... yeah, right) shifts, but they allow you to express who you naturally are, right where you are.

Even if you already love your job, applying your signature strengths more often still increases your happiness!

Don't believe me?

I would be skeptical, too, if I were you.

Take the survey, and for one week, try to incorporate just one signature strength every day.

Answer this question at the end of week one: Do I like my job just 1% more? If the answer is yes, we both win.

Find one thing that brings you joy today.