Going to college — and getting good grades — is overwhelmingly linked with getting higher-paying jobs.

But what higher-happiness jobs? Many of those require personal drive, not a diploma.

In other words: The happiest people work for themselves.

Over the course of a year, CareerBliss and Business Insider partnered up to take a detailed look at the jobs that make people happiest — that don't require a college degree.

The jobs that dominated the list involved the sorts of business and technology skills that many people learn on their own, picking them up in passionate pursuits rather than through sitting in a classroom.

The No. 1 "happiest" job: starting your own business as an entrepreneur.

Check out the list below ("happiness" scores are on a five-point scale):

Image via Business Insider

"Many founders of today's most successful companies do not have college degrees and have found happiness and success," Heidi Golledge, chief happiness officer of CareerBliss, told Business Insider. "Many of our users at CareerBliss have a day job that covers their bills, and they spend nights and weekends building their own company for extra money, doing something they love and that makes them happy."

See TheBlaze's previous look at the best jobs that don't require a college degree here.

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Front page image via Shutterstock