Finding happiness in this profession

CopyHour Late Night Hey {NAME} -- The other afternoon I was listening to Freakanomics. They ran a segment on happiness in the workplace and shared a study from the University of Chicago. The professions that had the happiest workers were Clergy, Firefighters, and Physical Therapists. Among the most unhappy were Servers & Waiters. If you think about it for a second, all the happy professions are in the business of helping people. Waiters help people too but both sides of the table don't really view it that way. And a lot of waiters I know secretly hate their customers. When you're in the clergy, a firefighter, or a physical therapist you are getting immediate positive feedback. Your "client's" gratitude is felt daily. How often do people truly thank their waiters for their hard work (words not tips that are expected)? No one really talks about this in our industry, but I think a lot of copywriters and business owners struggle to find joy in what they do. Almost every great copywriter I know has a million other exciting hobbies outside of work and they'd really rather not be working at all (I'm not saying work is everything... but it'd be nice to be able to enjoy the work you're doing even if you're down to 1-4hrs a day). I was trying to think about ways to keep the happiness levels up in my work. And this made me think about all the times I've thought about quitting CopyHour (probably more than you'd think). Generally, the times I've disliked the CopyHour Inc. business is when I'm working in a bubble (and this even includes times when I'm not working all that much). Two distinct memories of unhappy times I have in work involve Ian Stanley... who pulled me out of my funk. When Ian was just getting started as an email copywriter he emailed me about grabbing a coffee. I agreed and we met. During our talk I revealed to Ian that I was thinking about stopping CopyHour. He basically said, "You can't do that. It's helping too many people." The next time, came when I went to a workshop Ian co-hosted in Austin. During that workshop, I got to personally meet about 15-20 CopyHour members and hang out with them. A few people told me about the transformations they'd made. How far they've come. The incredible lifestyles they've built as copywriters or business owners. It honestly made me want to cry. Those moments... when I know I'm helping people... are when I enjoy my work the most. So... how do you get happier with your work? Figure out a way to understand how you're helping your customers, clients, or your client's client's. If you're a business owner, have your customer support folks forward you every single positive testimonial they get. Talk to your customers whenever possible. If you're working with clients, try to get access to those positive testimonials -- because YOU sold the product that they love. Try to get your clients to say good things about you. Ask for testimonials from them. You need to understand that you're helping people if you want to be happy. That's my thought for the evening. Cheers! - Derek P.S. It's no surprise that the unhappiest of the bunch are the copywriters and business owners out there who know they're selling bullshit and not helping people. You know the type -- the "well they can get a refund if they want" people. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( CopyHour.com, 340 S LEMON AVE, 5007, WALNUT, CA 91789