The Happiest, Most Meaningful, and Least Stressful Life Choices in America
Photo by Nina Uhlikova on Pexels.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post released their data analysis* revealing the happiest, most personally meaningful, and least stressful careers, activities, and places in America.
*Their data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey.
Can you guess what the top careers as ranked by self-reported levels of happiness, meaning, and stress all have in common?
The answer is being closer to nature. Jobs in agriculture, logging, and forestry far outranked all other industries in all three of those categories!
Which industry do you think ranks worst on this scale, according to workers’ self-reported data?
Surprise surprise, it’s the finance and insurance industry, closely followed by the professional, scientific, and technical industries.
Maybe money really can’t buy happiness.
What about activities outside of the workplace?
The same data analysis also revealed that the happiest, most meaningful and least stressful activities are religious and spiritual activities, followed by sports, exercise, and recreation.
The happiest, most meaningful and least stressful places to be were, once again, places of worship and the great outdoors.
Really makes ya think…
It’s hard to believe that I nearly went into an engineering career I wasn’t even interested in years ago when I was figuring out what degree to pursue in college. Seeing data like this now in 2023 makes me so happy that every year I continue making life changes that take me further away from crumbling away to dust in a cubicle, doing things I don’t even like and closer towards having a lifestyle that truly does support my happiness, make life feel more meaningful, and reduce stress (rather than causing it).
The future is now, and it’s not all about flying cars, AI, and tech billionaires. It’s about all of us collectively realizing that we can just STOP spending our lives supporting a mindset of “This is just the way the world works, it sucks, just accept it”.
I personally refuse to “just accept it”. We can all make more rational choices that will truly support our own well-being, societal well-being, and environmental well-being. We just need to realize that we deserve it, and we can do it.
What about you? Are you making choices based on others’ opinions and societal expectations, or based on what will actually bring joy to your life?
Photo by Bekka Mongeau on Pexels.