Benjamin Todd

That's why they're meaningful, and that's why helping others is our second factor.

There's a growing body of evidence that helping others is a key ingredient for life satisfaction.

People who volunteer are less depressed and healthier.

A meta-analysis of 23 randomized studies showed that performing acts of kindness makes the giver happier.

And a global survey found that people who donate to charity are as satisfied with their lives as those who earn twice as much.

Helping others isn't the only route to a meaningful career, but it's widely accepted by researchers that it's one of the most powerful.

We explore jobs that really help people in the next chapter, including jobs that help indirectly as well as directly.

3.

Work you're good at

Being good at your work gives you a sense of achievement, a key ingredient of life satisfaction discovered by positive psychology.

It also gives you the power to negotiate for the other components of a fulfilling job, such as the ability to work on meaningful projects, undertake engaging tasks and earn fair pay.

If people value your contribution, you can ask for these conditions in return.

For both reasons, skill ultimately trumps interest.

Even if you love art, if you pursue it as a career but aren't good at it, you'll end up doing boring graphic design for companies you don't care about.

That's not to say you should only do work you're already good at, but you want the potential to get good at it.

In Chapter 8, we'll look in more detail at how to work out what you're good at.

4.

Work with supportive colleagues Obviously, if you hate your colleagues and work for a boss from hell, you're not going to be satisfied.

Since good relationships are such an important part of having a fulfilling life, it's important to be able to become friends with at least a couple of people at work, and this probably means working with at least a few people who are similar to you.

However, you don't need to become friends with everyone, or even like all of your colleagues.