March 20th is designated as the United Nations International Day of Happiness, so lets reclaim as many happy moments as possible and discuss/share what makes us happy. This is fundamental to both our professional success AND maintaining a healthy work/life balance and it is based on interaction and feeling. Basic and real connection. That’s magnificent engagement – a thing most organisations strive to obtain.
In fact, according to a recent survey by the charity Action for Happiness, 87% of people would pick being happy over money, and the chief reason for happiness was their relationships with their friends and family. In other words: not money or what it can buy.
The charity’s Director of Action for Happiness Mark Williamson said: “The UN Day of Happiness is about the fact that happiness really matters. It matters for us and our loved ones – and it matters for our countries and leaders too. All around the world, people are recognising that real progress is about more than just growing the economy – it’s about increasing human happiness and wellbeing”.
Join the movement raising awareness of what makes people happy, and don’t forget to SHARE the pic that makes you happy more than anything else. So lets try and bottle it, if only for a day and say why it makes you happy. Here are the pictures that always make me smile, I shared them on Facebook and Twitter earlier this morning:
Why do they make me happy? Its about people, time and place. The combination of all three makes me very happy indeed. The first pic is one of only two occasions I’ve managed to get the most special people in my life in the place that means the most to me = happiness overload!! The second is a wonderful consequence of the first! The next time I get to update the first picture is on 9th August this year, when we are all in this special same place yet again, at the marriage of our second son.
So, this is about right people, in the right place, at the right time. A level of engagement organisations strive to achieve and pay many £££££ for. If each of us was to take just ONE lesson from our happiness pictures, and translate that lesson into the workplace, it would be a much happier place for everyone. My lesson, for many years now, involves: patience/tolerance/acceptance/making the most of our differences/enjoying what we are all striving for at the time/finding the positive excitement in our goals/building better relationships. I’ve tried to live these values at home, and in work. Only those I’ve lived and worked with can say if I’ve achieved it.
Someone provided me with some formal 360 feedback once that said (and I quote): “Sharon does everything possible to build happy, harmonious and productive teams”. I guess I succeeded a bit 🙂
What would your lesson be?