A recipe for happiness
Perhaps one of the most sensible resolutions for this new year and a new decade is to be happier. We are all no doubt in agreement that happiness is the ultimate goal but sometimes true happiness can be elusive, especially in this fast-paced world we find ourselves in.
The idea of a perpetual state of happiness is probably unrealistic, and putting pressure on ourselves to attain this is perhaps a direct route to unhappiness!
The best we can hope for is to be happy at times and broadly satisfied for the rest of the time. This may seem a bit depressing but the good news is that recent research shows that striving for perpetual happiness, especially at work, can be a bad idea and lead to exactly the opposite. The research by Andre Spicer and Carl Cederstrom published in the Harvard Business Review highlights that we are not actually sure what happiness is and measuring it is really difficult. The endless pursuit of happiness can be exhausting and have a negative impact on productivity. So if we don’t want to get too hung up on the pursuit of this elusive state, what other options can we look at to support our well-being?
A stoic approach that centers on calm and rationality is a good state to aim for, by doing this as employers, we can restrict the swing of high to low and vice versa and keep stability for our employees.
