Many people have rules that make it really difficult for them to be in a good mood at work. The funny thing is these rules only exist only in their head. They use these rules to decide what gets their attention on and how they react to those things. The problem is people let these self-imposed rules control their emotions.  You know who these folks are… they’re the hot-head with the short fuse or ones who just seem miserable all the time.  It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are 5 ways to feel happier at work.

Choose to be happy at work – Contrary to popular belief, you can choose to be happy at work or anywhere else for that matter. While some people will argue that circumstances beyond their control are making them feel angry or down, the truth is, no one or nothing can make you feel anything. While this concept sounds simple it can be quite difficult to put into practice. Things aren’t always going to happen the way you want them too – that’s life. The next time you feel your calm slipping away don’t get mad or despair, instead take a deep breath and say ‘Well…that’s not the way I wanted this to go!’ sometimes merely stating the obvious lets you take a step back and reset your attitude. Now that your temper isn’t erupting you may even be able to recruit some help in resolving the situation. Remember it is your choices that define your experience; you can choose to be happy at work.

Avoid negativity – Choosing to be happy at work means avoiding negative conversations, gossip and unhappy people as much as possible. No matter how positive you feel negative people impact your psyche. Don’t let the Debbie Downers drag you down with them.

Do something you love everyday – You may or may not believe you can find something in your daily grind to love but trust me you can! Look at yourself, your skills and interests and find something that you can enjoy doing every day. If you get to do something you love everyday life just looks better.

Take charge of your own personal and professional development – A common workplace complaint is that your company doesn’t do enough to help you in developing yourself professionally. Face it YOU have the most to gain from developing yourself professionally and personally and the most to lose from doing nothing at all. So the real question is what are YOU doing to improve yourself?

Learn to deal with conflict – If you’re like most people, you find conflict scary, it is uncomfortable, can leave hurt feelings and potentially cause more harm than good so you avoid it as much as possible. Conflict handled correctly is merely standing up for what you believe in, and backing those beliefs with facts rather than emotional rants.  Done right this process could help serve customers better, improve products and advance yourself professionally. Conflict is not the same thing as confrontation. History shows that great people stand up for what they believe in. Why let lack of professional courage stand in the way of your dreams?