Issa and Lawrence’s episode-long date last night had us thinking about happiness. Hence the title of the episode—Lowkey Happy.
After Issa picks herself off the floor from an embarrassing fall, their 29-minute long catch-up began. Early in the conversation, Lawrence says, “I just don’t want to be afraid to move on from sh*t.”
He is reflecting on his growth—becoming comfortable stepping outside his career comfort zone, unpacking the painful history of his relationship with Issa, and trying to understand where things went left with Condola. Lawrence is trying to figure out his happiness.
Growth isn’t an easy thing to spot. People can’t recognize growth opportunities when they are right in front of them. It took Lawrence some time to understand it himself.
“I used to think I had to be the leader or the ideas guy. But I’m starting to realize that I’m happy executing someone else’s vision,” says Lawrence.
What makes you happy?
Do you know what gets you out of bed every morning or what keeps your drive going? Discovering your passions is a step in the right direction when searching for your happy.
Lawrence knew in episode 3, four-weeks ago, that his career at his employer was no longer feeding his passion, energy, or drive. Once he saw his hard work consistently go unnoticed, he decided to take things into his own hands, versus letting someone else dictate his happiness.
When was the last time you spent time with yourself to learn what makes you happy within your career? Take out your journal, write down a list of pros and cons to your current job, team, projects, etc. Highlight the tasks and duties you enjoy doing, things that make you forget what time it is. And then underline the areas that drain and suck your energy away when the day is over.
What decisions are currently in front of you?
Now that you’ve made a list, what decisions are needed to achieve happiness? Let me make it simple for you; there are only two options.
Red pill: You + your happiness
Blue pill: You + happiness decided by others
Both choices include you, but there is a clear difference. One allows you to create YOUR happiness, and the latter leaves it in the hands of others.
Outside of work, we rarely give up our happiness reins, so why do we let that happen in the four walls of our workplaces?
What are you willing to do for happiness?
Putting yourself first is not an easy decision. When we choose ourselves, usually someone we love, care, respect, and work with gets the short end of the stick. We don’t pick us enough in our careers.
We overwork ourselves. We don’t ask for the compensation we deserve. And we don’t trust ourselves enough to know we can have the happiness we want at work.
Instead, we point fingers and blame others.
“It was easier to blame you, so I didn’t have to deal with my own sh*t,” says Lawrence to Issa at the dinner table. Ouch! We all felt that one.
How many times have we done this in our careers? Blamed someone else for our shortcomings, or why we haven’t applied for that promotion, raise, or transfer. It all contributes to our happy.
Climbing the corporate ladder or starting your own company would make you happy, correct? So what are you willing to do to get there? Step one is dealing with your own sh*t, as Lawrence said.
So which pill are you going to take? Red or blue? The decision is yours.