????陳教授認為，我們習慣于把自己的經(jīng)歷和社會的大趨勢聯(lián)系起來，公司可以充分利用這一點?？偨y(tǒng)競選活動中就有這樣的實例，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)和羅姆尼州長都試圖從同樣的數(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?，‘也許我們沒有達到理想狀況，但我們一直在進步?！?/p>

????他進一步指出，蘋果公司（Apple）就是這方面的專家，在股東大會上總是強調(diào)公司取得了多大進步。當然，蘋果公司已經(jīng)成功地打造了一系列新產(chǎn)品，一個比一個更新潮，并以此為基礎(chǔ)編織了多年的美妙故事。只要他們宣稱進步，人們就會信服。

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

????不過貝克爾認為，我們不能指望工作總是讓人歡欣鼓舞。那是一種常見的錯誤想法?！翱鞓分荒茉诖竽X中暫時存在，只是一種情緒，只能持續(xù)很短的一段時間?！比绻藗兿胍掷m(xù)的快樂，通常會大失所望，繼而導致挫折感，進一步遠離快樂的目標。

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

????所以，如果我們重新思考自己的過去，把不良經(jīng)歷放在長遠的背景中考慮，給自己的工作感受設(shè)定現(xiàn)實的目標，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，開始制定一個跳槽計劃。

????貝克爾說：“我猜想，我們其實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."