Want to be happy? Lawyering, buying a home and retiring early may not be the best choice, author says
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If you want to be happy, being a lawyer may not be the best choice, according to an author who has studied happiness research.
Retiring early and buying a home may also be poor choices, according to Alex Palmer, author of Happiness Hacks, who wrote a column for CNBC about some of his most interesting tips.
Palmer lists three reasons why some lawyers are unhappy. First, prudence is an important qualification for being a lawyer, but that can lead to increased skepticism and pessimism that are associated with unhappiness.
Second, high pressure and low influence—characteristic of associate work environments—are the kinds of conditions that contribute to low morale in other workplaces.
Third, work in which one person’s win is another person’s loss can create a hypercompetitive environment and lower workplace satisfaction.
Palmer’s advice on renting instead of buying a home is based on a 2017 Telegraph survey of 5,800 people in the United Kingdom that found people who rented detached, single-family homes were the least stressed.
On the retirement issue, Palmer cites research that found workers who retire early tend to be less happy than workers who keep working until age 65. Social isolation can increase with retirement, which can in turn reduce life satisfaction, according to a Wall Street Journal article examining the issue.
Studies also have found that the earlier that people retired, the more their cognitive abilities declined.
Topics: Career & Practice
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