????陳教授認(rèn)為，我們習(xí)慣于把自己的經(jīng)歷和社會(huì)的大趨勢(shì)聯(lián)系起來，公司可以充分利用這一點(diǎn)?？偨y(tǒng)競(jìng)選活動(dòng)中就有這樣的實(shí)例，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)和羅姆尼州長(zhǎng)都試圖從同樣的數(shù)據(jù)中挖掘出不同的結(jié)論，去說服選民我們比四年前過得更好或更差?！肮绢I(lǐng)導(dǎo)者和政客們一樣，都應(yīng)該把現(xiàn)狀和事情原本可能的發(fā)展道路相比較?！标惤淌谡f?！耙男Ч褪?，‘也許我們沒有達(dá)到理想狀況，但我們一直在進(jìn)步?！?/p>

????他進(jìn)一步指出，蘋果公司（Apple）就是這方面的專家，在股東大會(huì)上總是強(qiáng)調(diào)公司取得了多大進(jìn)步。當(dāng)然，蘋果公司已經(jīng)成功地打造了一系列新產(chǎn)品，一個(gè)比一個(gè)更新潮，并以此為基礎(chǔ)編織了多年的美妙故事。只要他們宣稱進(jìn)步，人們就會(huì)信服。

????我們作為員工和消費(fèi)者就是這種宣傳的受眾。那也不是吹牛，而是實(shí)實(shí)在在的說法，陳教授說：“人們想要相信現(xiàn)在比過去好，將來又會(huì)比現(xiàn)在好。”

????不過貝克爾認(rèn)為，我們不能指望工作總是讓人歡欣鼓舞。那是一種常見的錯(cuò)誤想法?！翱鞓分荒茉诖竽X中暫時(shí)存在，只是一種情緒，只能持續(xù)很短的一段時(shí)間?！比绻藗兿胍掷m(xù)的快樂，通常會(huì)大失所望，繼而導(dǎo)致挫折感，進(jìn)一步遠(yuǎn)離快樂的目標(biāo)。

????我們的大腦真正想要的是滿足感，那是一種對(duì)穩(wěn)定而愉悅的狀態(tài)的持續(xù)追求。貝克爾認(rèn)為，突然爆發(fā)的快樂只是向那個(gè)目標(biāo)行進(jìn)中的一步而已。

????所以，如果我們重新思考自己的過去，把不良經(jīng)歷放在長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的背景中考慮，給自己的工作感受設(shè)定現(xiàn)實(shí)的目標(biāo)，那些牢籠柵欄也許就沒那么難以逾越了。如果你還無法解脫，依然覺得受困其中，覺得心情郁悶，你就需要改變現(xiàn)狀，開始制定一個(gè)跳槽計(jì)劃。

????貝克爾說：“我猜想，我們其實(shí)從來沒有自己想象中陷得那么深?！?/p>

????Employers can use our tendency to view our experience as part of a larger trend to their advantage, Chen says. You can see this happen in the presidential race, as both President Obama and Governor Romney try to cut different pieces from the same data points to convince voters that we are either better or worse off than we were four years ago. "What leaders at companies as well as politicians should do is frame things in terms of where things could go," Chen says. "Frame it as, 'Maybe we're not in the situation we wanted to be, but we have been improving.'"

????Apple (AAPL) is a master of this, he adds. The company's shareholder meetings always emphasize how far the company has come. It probably helps that Apple has crafted a solid, chronological narrative based on a string of new devices, each one flashier than the next. People believe Apple when it cries progress.

????We -- employees, consumers -- eat that stuff up. Not hot air, but substantive claims, Chen says. "People would like to believe that things are better than they were and will be better than they are."

????Ironically, that doesn't mean that we should aim to feel ecstatic about our jobs all the time, Becker says. That's a common misconception. "Happiness is a temporary state in the brain, it's only an emotion, so it can only last for a short period of time." When people shoot for constant happiness, they often fall short, which makes them feel like they've failed, spinning them further away from their goals.

????What our brains really like is contentment -- a sustained push towards a steady, pleasant state. Bursts of happiness, Becker says, are merely movement towards that endpoint.

????So perhaps, when we retool how we think about where we have been, put the potency of our negative experiences in perspective, and give ourselves realistic goals about how we should feel at work, those prison bars might start to come down. If they don't, though, employees who feel truly trapped and unhappy might need to buck the status quo and start laying down a plan to make a break for it.

????"I would guess," Becker says, "we're never really as trapped as we think we are."