Have you ever thought about how many roles a working woman plays in one day?
We, women, try to wear too many hats at once. We strive to be perfect moms, supportive wives, effective sponsors, and successful leaders. As a result, we have to deal with too many stressful experiences at home and in the workplace.
Do these experiences affect our psychological well-being? They do! And we should be aware of that. Let’s discuss the importance of psychological well-being for working women in more detail.
What is psychological well-being exactly?
There are two main approaches to well-being: hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness refers to “feeling good”. It’s associated with subjective happy feelings brought on by something we enjoy. For instance, if you feel good because you live in the place you like and eat food you love – you experience hedonic happiness.
Eudaimonic well-being refers to the feeling of having a purpose in life. It involves the following:
- Self-acceptance. You feel good about yourself and accept your flaws.
- Personal growth. You continuously develop new skills and seek new experiences.
- Autonomy. You have confidence in your opinions and decisions even when other people disagree with you.
- Environmental mastery. You know that you control your life.
- Positive relationships. You have meaningful relationships with others that include reciprocal empathy, intimacy, and affection.
- Life purpose. You are working toward a specific goal, and you understand how your efforts influence other people’s lives.
Achieve more in life
Have you ever met intelligent, well-educated, and good-looking women who seem to be great experts in their fields but fail to build outstanding careers? Such women often fail to achieve success not because they are “not good enough”, but because they have poor psychological well-being.
These women are “more than good enough”. The only problem is their mindset.
Cornell University’s study reveals that there is a confidence gap between men and women. While men tend to overestimate their abilities and performance, women underestimate both.
“Women tend to doubt their capabilities. They are dependent upon others’ opinions. They focus on their flaws, and that causes them anxiety”, – says Jennifer Smith, digital marketer in best rated college paper writing services.
Do you want to succeed as a working woman? Take care of your psychological well-being in the first place. Accept yourself for who you are and stop listening to what other people say. Know your worth, and keep working toward your goals. Change your mindset, and you will achieve new heights in your personal and professional life.
Live a more fulfilled life
Working and living with a sense of purpose and meaning is a key to long-term happiness. Have you already defined your purpose? Is there something in your life that you love, what you are good at, and what the world needs?
Some working women have low psychological well-being because they spend their time and energy on tasks that have nothing to do with their passion. No matter how hard they work and how many awards they get – they don’t feel happy.
One medical study found that pursuing your passion both lowers stress and makes people happier. Scientists discovered that people who engaged in hobbies and the jobs they like were 34% less stressed and 18% less sad during the activities and for some time after.
Let’s consider an example to understand why having a purpose is important. Loren is a marketer. She is an eco-activist, and she wants to encourage her community to recycle. Currently, she works for a soft drink company and promotes the consumption of products packed in plastic and glass.
Loren feels unhappy. Even though she creates outstanding marketing campaigns, she believes that her work is meaningless. What should Loren do to become a happier person? She should find a new job that aligns with her purpose. If Loren starts working as a marketer for a non-profit organization that promotes recycling, her psychological well-being will improve.
Never stop learning
Women with high psychological well-being feel capable, happy, and satisfied with their lives. They have a passion for learning new things and mastering new skills. They are not afraid to try out new experiences, and that helps them grow professionally, academically, and personally.
“Working women who have growth mindsets are happier than their friends and colleagues who have fixed mindsets,” says CEO of best websites, an essay database platform for students. “They are curious, and they treat their failures and challenges as opportunities for learning and growth. They understand that happiness is the journey, not the destination.”
Do you want to experience moments of joy? Think of the skills you can master or improve. Make personal growth a priority, and you will see how your life will change for the better.
Get the support you need
Working women are busy with their schedules. They don’t have enough time to play with kids, meet with friends, chat with colleagues, and have romantic dinners with their partners. And that’s a huge problem.
Researchers from Harvard proved that close relationships more than money or fame are the key factors of happiness. Healthy relationships are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. On top of that, close relationships protect people from life’s discontents and help to postpone mental and physical decline.
In other words, you can’t be happy if you don’t feel support and don’t get any sympathy and affection. Even if you are an introvert, you still need a connection with the surrounding people.
Find the balance
Working women are focused on cultivating personal growth and expanding their potential. It means that they are more likely than non-working women to experience eudaimonic happiness.
However, in real life, not all working women are happy with their lives. Why? Individuals who are juggling a career, family, parenting, and everything in between have to deal with high stress and fatigue levels. Working women spend all their energy on solving challenging tasks at work and home – they don’t have time and energy to enjoy their lives.
Women need to find a work-life balance as well as a balance between eudaimonic and hedonic happiness. Even though you have a noble purpose in your life, it doesn’t mean that you must work 24/7.
You should set the right priorities and ensure that you have enough time to enjoy the little things that make you happy. It’s the only way to achieve both: short-term and long-term states of happiness.
Cultivate positive emotions
The lack of willingness to negotiate is another great issue that working women face. Since most women underestimate their value and have a fear of being disliked, they don’t even try to negotiate a higher salary or other perks.
One study shows that 20% of women never negotiate at all. They give up a chance to get a pay increase and improve their financial situation because of their doubts and insecurities.
Do you want to be adequately paid? Cultivate positive emotions and get yourself ready to ask about the raise.
By cultivating positive moods, women will be more likely to achieve integrative gains, researchers say. Once you assert your needs, you will encourage the other party to do the same. It will increase your chances of reaching a mutually acceptable solution.
Wrapping up
You are the only person in charge of your psychological well-being. If you don’t feel happy, you can find a way to fix it. You can change your attitudes and mindset to accomplish whatever you want in your life.
Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash
Autor: Frank Hamilton
More articles from Frank Hamilton you can find here
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.
