Pursuit of Happiness
Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Happiness Quotient to measure the Happiness level of its population, and many other countries are pursuing similar paths.
In The Happiness Project, a book by Gretchen Rubin, she states "..one study showed that, all over the world, when asked what they want most from life - and what they want most for their children - people answered that they want happiness. Even people who can't agree what it means to be 'happy' can agree that most people can be 'happier'. according to their own particular definition."
It is not about going from unhappy to happy. Most of us find ourselves to be happy most of the time. The question is, what stops us from being hapier? From doing more of those things that make us happy?
in a recent meeting with my YPO forum group, we started with an icebreaker " What makes you happy? What do you want to do more of to become happier?" The discussion was extremely worthwhile and validated again that it is less about whether we are happy or unhappy, but about the recognition that we can be, and want to be happier! And that it takes just a little reflection to generate a lot of self-awareness; to come up with very concrete list of things we value in our pursuit of being more happy.Therefore taking the time to understand that which makes us happy, and setting a course to focus on those things makes a lot of sense.
Often discussions around Happiness center around the actions we must take now to achieve happiness later. Its that age-old balance between happiness and success and the maxim that in the short-term we have to forsake one for the other. I read about the Progress Principle - its posits that we actually get more satisfaction from pursuing worthwhile goals than we do in achieving them; there is actually a scientific basis to this in that the brain rewards us (dopamine boost) immediately upon making progress " in order to encourage behavior that leads to genetically favorable outcomes" (from the book "Happiness Hypothesis".
And yet , while we can look into these broader life-choice issues, sometimes it is the little daily things we do that can have a big impact. In The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin states, "A bad night's sleep was one of the top two factors that upset people's daily moods. Another study suggested that getting one extra hour of sleep each night would do more fora person's daily happiness than getting a $60,000 raise."
So ask yourself, what makes you happy. What would you like to do more of to make you happier.
The answers will surprise you in their simplicity.
In The Happiness Project, a book by Gretchen Rubin, she states "..one study showed that, all over the world, when asked what they want most from life - and what they want most for their children - people answered that they want happiness. Even people who can't agree what it means to be 'happy' can agree that most people can be 'happier'. according to their own particular definition."
It is not about going from unhappy to happy. Most of us find ourselves to be happy most of the time. The question is, what stops us from being hapier? From doing more of those things that make us happy?
in a recent meeting with my YPO forum group, we started with an icebreaker " What makes you happy? What do you want to do more of to become happier?" The discussion was extremely worthwhile and validated again that it is less about whether we are happy or unhappy, but about the recognition that we can be, and want to be happier! And that it takes just a little reflection to generate a lot of self-awareness; to come up with very concrete list of things we value in our pursuit of being more happy.Therefore taking the time to understand that which makes us happy, and setting a course to focus on those things makes a lot of sense.
Often discussions around Happiness center around the actions we must take now to achieve happiness later. Its that age-old balance between happiness and success and the maxim that in the short-term we have to forsake one for the other. I read about the Progress Principle - its posits that we actually get more satisfaction from pursuing worthwhile goals than we do in achieving them; there is actually a scientific basis to this in that the brain rewards us (dopamine boost) immediately upon making progress " in order to encourage behavior that leads to genetically favorable outcomes" (from the book "Happiness Hypothesis".
And yet , while we can look into these broader life-choice issues, sometimes it is the little daily things we do that can have a big impact. In The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin states, "A bad night's sleep was one of the top two factors that upset people's daily moods. Another study suggested that getting one extra hour of sleep each night would do more fora person's daily happiness than getting a $60,000 raise."
So ask yourself, what makes you happy. What would you like to do more of to make you happier.
The answers will surprise you in their simplicity.
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