Need help constructing an ethical framework for yourself?

 Most people want to be ethical, and actually are ethical, but still feel like they struggle with ethics. It doesn't have to be that way. 

I get the impression when I talk to people, that they feel like they need permission to think about ethics, to discuss ethics, or to apply ethics in their lives. I spend a lot of my time, giving people permission to be explicitly ethical.

When I wrote my first book, The Humanist Approach to Happiness, my mother asked me if I really wanted the book to be explicitly humanist. After all, I did not want to proselytize.  (https://humanistlearning.com/the-humanist-approach-to-happiness-book/)   I told her that I did because I felt that it would be dishonest to talk about Humanist ethics without being explicit about where the ethics I hold come from and more importantly why.

My goal was never to convince people to become Humanists. Instead, I hoped by sharing my ethical reasoning, it would help them consider their own. Do they agree? Or not? If they don't agree, what do they think a more ethical solution would be?  

By being open about my own ethical thinking, I give permission to others to be open about their ethical thinking, even if it is different from mine.

If this is an area you struggle with, let me help you.  Often, just reading about others ethical thoughts, helps you think, do I agree or not. Once you do that, you become aware of your own ethical thinking and you can more actively start applying it to your decision making processes in all areas of your life.

I've already mentioned my book: https://humanistlearning.com/the-humanist-approach-to-happiness-book/ 

But really, any book about the Humanist philosophy will do. https://humanistlearning.com/category/shop/humanism101/

I also offer a variety of ethical life skills programs. I recommend Living Made Simpler as an indepth 6 hour program to really take you step by step through how the philosophy can be applied to every day life.  - https://humanistlearning.com/category/lifeskills/philosophy/

Work that has meaning

Work doesn't have to be life altering - to be important.

Was at the local UPS store today talking with the guy who runs it. The death of Russ Solomon (of Tower Records) came up because I used to work for Tower Records and Russ Solomon and yes - I did meet Russ. He advocated for me when I moved to Hawaii and made sure I was taken care of when I moved. He was a very loyal employer.

This guy, at the UPS shop, had worked for a completely different record store. He was just as upset as I was at Russ' passing, even though he never worked for Russ.

We chatted about our experiences working in record stores. I am still friends with the people I used to work with and he is still friends with the people he used to work with. It's not just that these were our first real jobs. It was the ethos of the stores we worked out.

The reason he feels as strongly about Russ as I do is because of the work culture Russ created. The work we did was fun. The work collegiate and collaborative. We all loved different types of music and had different knowledge bases and that was the point. Our job was to help people discover good music and between all the staff - we could do that regardless of the genre of interest.

Our job ... was to help people live life more fully through good music. What better motivation in life is there.  

Happiness in the Workplace

I teach humanistic management and problem solving as well as humanist life skills. Basically – philosophy paired with science.

The best way to find meaning in your life is to solve other people’s problems. When we are self-centered, meaning we are thinking about ourselves, our world becomes very narrow. If we instead focus on other people and how we might help them, our world expands and we feel connected in a way that is REALLY powerful.

 The good news about jobs is, they are all about problem solving. If there wasn’t a problem to be solved, there wouldn’t be a job. Focusing on the fact you are there to help people solve problems changes everything about how a person approaches their job, whatever it is.  Sweeping the floor – problem solved. Taking out the trash – problem solved.

Even if the people you work with and for are jerks, at least you are solving problems for customers that really need your help.  When the focus of your work is to help people solve their problems, getting up and getting motivated is easy. It’s not just work – it’s meaningful work.

To learn more about the Humanist approach, consider getting my book: Jen Hancock’s Handy Humanism Handbook.

Want to learn more about making good decisions, try my online course, Planning for Personal Success.