At a high level, SDT [Self-Determination Theory] makes a simple claim:
To be happy, your work must fulfill three universal psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
In more detail…
- Autonomy refers to control over how you fill your time. As Deci puts it, if you have a high degree of autonomy, then “you endorse [your] actions at the highest level of reflection.”
- Competence refers to mastering unambiguously useful things. As the psychologist Robert White opines, in the wonderfully formal speak of the 1950s academic, humans have a “propensity to have an effect on the environment as well as to attain valued outcomes within it.”
- Relatedness refers to a feeling of connection to others. As Deci pithily summarizes: “to love and care, and to be loved and cared for.”
h/t: Jason Stotts's On Purpose
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Can't say I agree with this in toto; at least I can state this doesn't completely apply to me. My personality and what brings me happiness in my work are connected. Furthermore, there are certain subjects in which I have competence (and I could argue an expertise) that do not increase my joy. I still found it an interesting article.