Benjamin Todd

As of 2023, the average college graduate in the United States can expect to make about $77,000 per year over their working life, while the average Ivy League graduate earns over $120,000.

The upshot is that if you're a college graduate in the US, or a similar country, then you'll likely end up well into the range where more income has little effect on your happiness.

Don't aim for low stress.

Many people tell us they want to find a job that's not too stressful.

And it's true that, in the past, doctors and psychologists believed that stress was always bad.

However, we did a survey of the modern literature on stress, and today, the picture is a bit more complicated.

One puzzle is that studies of high-ranking government and military leaders found they had lower levels of stress hormones and less anxiety, despite sleeping fewer hours, managing more people, and having higher occupational demands.

One widely supported explanation is that having a greater sense of control by setting their own schedules and determining how to tackle the challenges they face protects them against the demands of the position.

There are other ways that a demanding job can be good or bad, depending on context.

Here's a table showing whether certain variables are good or neutral or bad.

First we have types of stress, the intensity of demands, can be good when challenging but achievable, and bad when mismatched with ability, either too high or too low.

Another type of stress is duration, can be good or neutral in the short term, and bad when it's ongoing.

There are some different contexts, like control, which can be good or neutral with high control and autonomy, or bad with low control and autonomy.

Power, it's good or neutral to have high power and bad to have low power.

And social support, it's good or neutral to have good social support and bad to have social isolation.

And two ways of coping.

Mindset.

It's good to reframe demands as opportunities and stress as useful, and it's bad to view demands as threats and stress as harmful to health.

And finally, altruism.

It's good or neutral to perform altruistic acts, and it's bad to focus on yourself.