Discovering Happiness Between 9 And 5—

When Satisfaction Is The Goal, Just Finding A Job Is Not Enough

By Nancy K. Crevier

What makes some people happy to start each workweek? Why do they not believe that “A bad day of vacation is better than a good day at work”?

Over a work life of 50 years, the average American will spend between 80,000 and 100,000 hours on the job. For many, the hours that they put in at work are merely a means to make it to the weekend or a process that allows them to keep a roof overhead and food on the table. The workday is greeted not with glee but with a grim determination to make it through yet another five or six days of drudgery. For workers who have, on the other hand, found work satisfaction, every day is a chance to excel at a job that brings fulfillment on various levels.

For some, it is having achieved a position they worked hard to attain and with which they feel immensely comfortable. Others are pleased to be in a job earning the kind of income that allows them to pursue a true passion outside of work hours, or who have found a creative outlet that lets them shine.

As people grow and change, they are able to define their values and fine-tune what it is that clicks for them on the job. That may not happen, though, on the first, second, or even third job. When good fortune smiles upon them, though, a great job makes the whole world take on a rosy glow. And when the shoe fits, people tend to wear it for a long time.

A positive work environment, people with whom it is a pleasure to spend long hours, and the right attitude can make or break a job, according to five residents of Newtown who confessed to falling into the category of bona fide job lovers.

For 50 years, George Miller has gained continuous satisfaction in helping others. He is a physical therapist, board certified in pain management and in the use of cold laser treatment. For Mr Miller, it has always been the positive outcome for a patient that has made his job fulfilling.

“What I love,” he said, “is that you are bringing people’s function back, and that you can give people back their strength.”

He is particularly excited about the Anti-Aging Care Center in Bethlehem of which he is president. He evaluates patients and sends them for cold laser treatment with Dr Ralph Santora there.

“[In physical therapy] you can make a difference — even when I didn’t have cold laser — but the cold laser gives you the ability to help people you couldn’t help before,” said Mr Miller. “Getting FDA approval in the past few years for it gave my work a whole new dimension. I had studied cold laser treatment for 20 years. Now I teach other therapists how to use it,” said Mr Miller.

Constantly reeducating himself brings vitality to his job, even after all of these years. “[Education] is a never-ending thing and it can never stop. There are always new things to bring to patients,” Mr Miller said. “I always want better success for my patients that doesn’t hurt.”

For Mr Miller, the job satisfaction is that of succeeding in helping patients. “All happiness comes from within,” he said. “When you like what you are doing, you always feel like you want to get up every day. You’re high on life.”

People And Places

Brenda Wurtz, owner of BW Retail Real Estate Group in Newtown, has worked in the retail realty business for nearly 20 years. Her business today includes clients like Gymboree and Ann Taylor and is rewarding on many levels, she said. The constant interaction and high energy juggling of deadlines is energizing to Ms Wurtz. “My background is in accounting, but when I got my first real job in public accounting, I was sitting at my desk and thought, ‘Oh, I cannot do this for the rest of my life!’ I joined 9 West group in 1987, still doing accounting, but then I was approached by one of the heads of the company to get involved in the real estate division. It was a sink-or-swim situation for me, but it was great. I got to do lots of traveling, finding out about markets all over the country and ended up as a vice president of real estate design and planning,” she recalled. “It was incredibly fun and high energy, with always a deal to be had.”

Her path took her to other companies and ultimately her own, always incorporating the intense energy and action of the deals that continues to make her job a dream. “My job is ever-changing. Every day is different, depending on how the market is.”

Travel, excitement, and working with and for wonderful people, said Ms Wurtz, are primary to how much she loves her job. “The monetary reward is one part, but not the most important part of my job,” she said. “I would rather be happy.”

Her job involves another special aspect that makes going to work easy. Her only employee is her sister, Donna O’Connor. “We support each other, we balance each other. Donna is extremely calm and competent, and I know I can trust her. There’s no one like family.” In the small, brick building on Main Street that houses the office of BW Retail Real Estate Group, one more family member eases the transition from home life to work life. “My husband, Jeff, has his office upstairs, and it is just comforting to know he is nearby, even though we are both so busy we don’t see each other that much.”

The last but not least thing that Ms Wurtz loves about her job is the location. “I love that it is in town. It is so nice to never be late for teacher conferences, for the kids’ appointments. Being in Newtown adds a whole ‘nother great dimension to how much I love my job.”

Opportunities, Challenges & Rewards

Beth Caldwell has been a realtor for five years, and also has had her own business as an interior designer and home staging specialist for several years. She readily admits that she loves her job. “It’s not just a job,” she said. “I feel like I’m giving back to people in a personal way.” Having moved several times herself, Ms Caldwell empathizes with the emotional baggage that moving includes. “I think it’s the people connection and it’s being able to take a situation and put a good twist on it that makes me love what I do,” she said. She finds her job challenging and rewarding, and ranks her work environment as a big plus for making every day a pleasure at work.

“If you can surround yourself with positive, supportive people, that’s important,” said Ms Caldwell. “It’s important to know what you don’t want, as well as what you do want — the same in life as in real estate.”

The willingness to see opportunities and to make a change is an important attitude to have to maintain job happiness, said satisfied jobholders. A large part of Larry Gardner’s early career years were spent in a large corporation where, he said, he was extremely happy for many years. “I enjoyed the sales, the travel, the dealing with people.” But when other aspects of the job began to outweigh his happiness in the corporate structure, Mr Gardner decided to leave and determine what would make his work life enjoyable again.

“I feel strongly about enjoying the work you do,” he said.

He left big business two years ago and found a job that met the criteria he had set for job satisfaction: “I wanted to stay in Newtown, and I didn’t want to travel any more. I knew I wanted to get away from a hierarchical, political atmosphere and wanted to see the impact I would have in dealing with people. I wanted more flexibility and more community and family time,” he decided.

With his franchise business, The Alternative Board, Mr Gardner has once again achieved a sense of satisfaction in his daily work. “I form peer advisory boards for small businesses who have no board of directors and facilitate them. The boards I set up allow small business owners to consult and advise each other. I do one-on-one business coaching, as well, and the boards help owners make commitments on what their business needs and holds them accountable to others. When I first heard about The Alternative Board franchise, I thought it was a fascinating idea.”

The flexibility of his job now allows him time to commit to organizations like Rotary Club, of which he is currently president, Boy Scout Troop 770, and to be involved with the contemporary choir at St Rose.

“I love the opportunity to deal with individuals and to establish an open, honest relationship on the boards. I find with the boards that challenges in individual private lives spills over into the businesses, so we are often dealing with quality of life issues. I’ve walked out [of board meetings] feeling that because of things that were out on the table that the weight has been lifted from the shoulders of individuals. It is a personally rewarding thing.”

With two children in college and one in high school, Mr Gardner still feels that the risk he took in dropping a high paying job for one with an income that is presently lower was worth the personal gratification he experiences now. But he admitted, “I am not in this job strictly for altruistic reasons. It is a business and I expect my compensation to grow. But to be happy at work, you need to find a balance.”

With The Alternative Board, Mr Gardner said he cherishes the ability to pick the people with whom he does business. “Ultimately, if personalities and attitudes don’t click with me, I don’t have to work with them. I like working with people for whom the glass is half full,” he explained as another reason he thoroughly enjoys what he does each day.

“Working in corporate America I was happy and motivated for a significant part of the time, but I was always bothered to see other work contacts unhappy. I think that attitude is a big part of how happy people are in a job. You do have some control over that. I do elect to look at a bad day as an anomaly, and I try to keep things in perspective,” Mr Gardner said.

 

Learning And Loving It

Another Newtown resident in love with her work is Karen Pinto, an artist and pottery teacher. “I love both aspects of my job,” she said. “I fell in love with clay while in college and there are endless techniques that can be applied while working with clay.”

Because she loves to always be learning, the problem solving that comes with trying new techniques is a challenge that Ms Pinto appreciates, as well as the components of physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and other scientific disciplines involved.

And not only is her art work a creative outlet, said Ms Pinto, but it provides her with the opportunity to learn, both from her own work and from the works of others.

“I am also a ‘people’ person,” she said, “so teaching pottery is a perfect fit for me. I enjoy all kinds of people. I am refreshed by the spontaneity of children, and with adults I try to provide a place where they can leave their stress and worries for a couple of hours and just play. I am often inspired by what my students are doing.”

The control of being her own boss adds to the enjoyment of work, said Ms Pinto, as does having control over the fees she charges. “I earn enough money to feel like I am contributing to the family income, to support my creative passion, and to provide a service to the community. I often joke with [my clients] that I should be charging more for ‘art therapy.’”

The thousands of hours spent at work do not need to be hours of disgruntlement. Approaching the day with a positive attitude said these workers, can add up to a string of days, weeks, months, and years that are reasons to celebrate every day of the week, in and out of the work place.