be happy presentation final
TRANSCRIPT
Be Happy
By Andrea Groenewald
Wish #1: Wealth or Happiness
Wish #2: Success or Happiness
Wish #3: Fame or Happiness
Wish #4: Status or Happiness
Wish #5: Attractiveness or Happiness
Wish #6: Sex or Happiness
Wish #7: Health or Happiness
Wish #8: Enlightenment or Happiness
Wish #9: Authenticity or Happiness
Wish #10: Love or Happiness
Study conducted in 2003 (Diener & Oishi)
Researchers interviewed 9,000 people on the importance of happiness
against values such as health, wealth & attractiveness. Happiness came first,
even beating out heaven by 13%.
Happiness is a Universally accepted Goal!
In other research we learn that Happiness leads to:
Higher Income
Superior work outcomes including increased productivity & higher quality of Work
More satisfying and longer Marriages
Happiness also Leads To: More friends, stronger social support &
richer social interactions
More energy, increased activity and flow
Better physical health including a bolstered immune system, lowered stress levels & less pain
Longer life
Even inspires people to want to serve & benefit other
What makes us Happy?
• Self Knowledge & Acceptance
• Having a Purpose for your Life
• Being part of Something Bigger than Yourself
• Living according to your Core Values (Authenticity)
• Healthy Relationships (Love)
• Laughter – Norman Cousins, 1977
• Thankfulness & Gratitude
Barriers To Happiness
1. Spoiled Child Syndrome
2. Mental Filter & Overgeneralizing
3. Unrealistic Expectations
4. Taking things Personally
5. Reacting to people & situations rather than Responding
6. All or Nothing Viewpoint
Happiness in the Workplace
Five Alarm Bulletin:
The Workplace has Changed!
Landscape of the (new) Workplace
• On average, workers will spend 90,000 hours over the course of their life, working
• Due to current economic realities, workers are expected to have higher productivity and output, with less resources
• Stress is at an all time high
• Clinical depression & anxiety is costing companies & government billions of dollars
Predictors of Happiness in the Workplace How much you Enjoy your job
Feeling your work has a Purpose
Confidence in your ability to do your job
Matching of Personal Values with Corporate Values
Trust in your Employer & Direct Reports
Recognition & Appreciation for your work
More Predictors of Happiness in the Workplace
Your ability to Manage Stress – 80% of physical illnesses are caused by stress
Your ability to Manage your Thoughts and Attitudes
Managing Stress Satisfiers
Relaxation Techniques
Coping with Uncertainty – WW II study
Distinguishing between what you can
change and what needs to be managed
Stop Labelling – Srikumer Rao
Great minds manage their Thoughts
“A man is what he thinks about all day long.”
~Emerson~
“We become what we think about”
~Earl Nightengale~
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude of mind” ~William James~
Conclusion: We can change the way we feel and experience life &
work by changing the way we think!
What if we could create our own Happiness?
“I am the happiest man alive. I have that in me that can convert
poverty to riches, adversity to prosperity, and I am more
vulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me.”
~Sir Thomas Brown~
We can Synthesize our own Happiness
• Experience Simulator in Prefrontal Cortex (Ice Cream Flavours/Lottery)
• The Impact Bias, “the tendency to overestimate the hedonic impact of future events.” (Purchases)
Synthesized Happiness
Harvard’s, Dan Gilbert’s Research using the “Free Choice Paradigm.”
• Monet Prints
• Monet Prints with amnesia patients
They change their hedonic reaction, not just perception or rationalization!
Examples of Synthesized Happiness
“I don’t have one minute regret. It was a glorious experience.”
Moreese Beckham – Upon release of 37 years confined to a Louisiana Prison for a crime he was exonerated from based on DNA evidence.
“I believe it turned out for the best.”
Harry S. Langerman – turned down a MacDonald’s Franchise because his
brother wouldn’t lend him the $3,000 stating, “You idiot, no one eats
hamburgers.” Two months later, Ray Crock bought the franchise and became the
wealthiest man in America.
“I’m happier than I would have been with the Beatles.”
Pete Best, original drummer for the Beatles who, not by his choice, was excluded from the band and
replaced by Ringo.
“I’ve been able to enjoy love and relationships at a deeper level than
ever before.”
Shania Twain – After the double betrayal of her music producer & husband having an affair with her
best friend & confident.
“I am the happiest man alive. I have that in me that can convert
poverty to riches, adversity to prosperity, and I am more
vulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me.”
~Sir Thomas Brown~
“There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
~William Shakespeare~
I don’t wholeheartedly agree with Shakepeare’s quote but we can see
from the research that how and what we think about, especially as we
rehearse or create scenarios in our minds, clearly affects our mood, our stress levels, our attitudes and will
ultimately affect our behaviour.
Benefits of being Happy in the Workplace
• Happy People work better with others
• Happy People are more creative
• Happy People fix problems instead of complaining about them
• Happy People have more energy
• Happy People are more optimistic
More Benefits of being Happy in the Workplace
• Happy People are way more motivated
• Happy People get sick less often
• Happy People learn faster
• Happy People worry less about making mistakes and as a result make less of them
• Happy People make better decisions
What choices can you make to:
1. Improve your Personal Happiness?
2. Improve your Happiness at Work?
Thank You & Be Happy!