Research Shows How to Kick-Start Your Life and Career

If you're like most people reading this, there's some aspect of your life that you're not very happy about.

Maybe you could increase your salary by switching companies.

Or perhaps you're frustrated by the way your boss treats you.

Or maybe you're not satisfied with the person you've been dating for the past 12 months.

No matter what it is, we all have things in our life that we're not happy about.

The problem is that it's sometimes easier to keep the status quo than it is to make a big change in our lives.

So ... we stick with what we've been doing all along because it's easier and more comfortable.

I address this topic in the Unspoken Rules of Leadership workshops I conduct for organizations around the globe.

The graphic below drives home a key point that's included in the "Improving Your Mindset" part of the workshop.

The idea behind this concept is driven home by research conducted by Steven Levitt, the University of Chicago economist and?Freakonomics?co-author.

Levitt's research asked people who were having a hard time making a decision to participate in a digital coin toss on the website?FreakonomicsExperiments.com.

Participants asked questions such as, “Should I quit my job?” “Should I break up with my significant other?” and “Should I go back to school?”

Heads meant they should take action. Tails meant they should stick with the status quo.

Here's the big news -- the people who got heads and made big changes in their lives reported being significantly happier than they were before, both two months and six months later.

“The data from my experiment suggests we would all be better off if we did more quitting,” Levitt?said in a press release. “A good rule of thumb in decision making is, whenever you cannot decide what you should do, choose the action that represents a change, rather than continuing the status quo.”

Of course, I'm not recommending that you flip a coin for every major decision in your life.

But, as the research suggests, all things being equal, it looks as though people who took action are happier with their choices than people who continued with the status quo.

Action Step for You: Are you unhappy with your job? Are you stuck in a dead-end relationship? Are you thinking of starting a business?

If you’ve weighed all the pluses and minuses of a big decision and you’re left with no clear answer, then Levitt's study shows that taking action -- which might make you slightly uncomfortable in the short term -- can lead to more happiness in the long run.

If you'd like to learn more about the workshops I conduct that can help you with decisions like these, check out my Unspoken Rules of Leadership website.

About the Author: Jamie Turner is an internationally recognized author, professor, consultant, and speaker who has helped employees at The Coca-Cola Company, Holiday Inn, Microsoft, Verizon and others do a better job leading, managing, and mentoring others. You may have seen Jamie in Inc., Entrepreneur, Business Insider, or Forbes. He's also a regular guest on CNN and HLN, where he delivers segments on marketing, persuasion, and leadership. Jamie is the co-author of several essential business books. You can follow him on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.