3 Ways to Choose Happiness
Bobby McFerrin sang, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” You’re a better leader when you choose happiness and break the glum-leader syndrome.
Should you pursue happiness? No. People who focus on being happy are less happy than people who pursue meaning.
You choose happiness when you pursue well-being.
2 kinds of happiness:
Happiness is experienced directly but pursued indirectly.
Aristotle made a distinction between two different kinds of happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. Eudaimonia happiness is derived from seeking virtue and meaning. (Verywell Mind)
You understand eudaimonia in parenting. “Although parents might fall short on moment-to-moment happiness, having kids provides meaning, satisfaction and connection in parents’ lives.” CNBC
3 ways to choose happiness:
#1. Choose positive feelings.
A good meal with friends, completing a project, and noticing beauty produce positive feelings.
Tip: Choose happiness by extending forgiveness.
#2. Choose full engagement.
Csikszentmihalyi uses ‘flow’ to explain full engagement.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”
Full-engagement-happiness is losing yourself in something outside yourself.
Tip: Choose happiness by giving your energy to meaningful accomplishment.
#3. Choose meaningful contribution.
“… the single greatest driver of both achievement and well-being is understanding how your daily efforts enhance the life of others.” Tom Rath
Serving people is choosing well-being.
Tip: Choose happiness by “… using your signature strengths in the service of something larger than you are.” Martin Seligman
Why it matters:
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. explains that happiness precedes success. You think you’ll be happy after you succeed. In reality, happiness is an important component of achieving success.
Happy people deliver better results. (Shawn Achor)
Happy people are more successful than sad.
How can you choose happiness today?
Breaking the Glum-Leader Syndrome
Why it’s time to stop pursuing happiness
Jesus, knowing…that He had come from God and was going to God,…took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).
Thanks Robert, an example of servant leadership. Christians and non-Christians do well to follow that example.
Thanks Dan. After some years of being unhappy, I made changes in my life including a change in career. It came from an unlikely source, moving from media to work for an undertakers. A life changing moment for so many reasons. Your post really resonates with me. It does start with looking after yourself and being present in the moment. Enjoy what you do. Take time to enjoy a flower or the sun on your face and feel the power of helping others achieve and doing a job, whatever that job may be, to the best of your abilities.