A TED Talk (Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work) that I watched recently gave me a unique realization - that it is not that success causes happiness, as is traditionally believed - rather, it is happiness that causes success.
This makes good sense. The speaker clarified that success for the sake of happiness usually tends to inspire us to only create higher goalposts, which we never eventually reach, and thereby always have reason to be dissatisfied and unhappy.
Happiness inspires us to do good things for the world around us, and that in turn creates well-wishers for our success. Happiness helps us identify our passion, what we will naturally want to work hard for and excel at. Happiness will make our efforts and life in general more enjoyable and livable.
But how do we start? How do we attain this happiness without success?
Happiness (or lack of it) is, to the most degree, a state of mind. Only a small part of it is determined by reality; most of it is a result of our perceptions about the reality - our worries, our excitement, our anticipation, our guilt, our pride. We can choose which feelings to experience, and which bad memories or unpleasant information to weed out, especially if they do not affect our next actions. Should we choose to focus on the good, and be happy and optimistic, we will be inspired for action and success.
Link to the TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Neatness for inspiration
I have observed that keeping my workplaces organized has a clear effect on my desire to work. Likewise, finding my personal spaces in neat shape lifts my moods.
I assess that the total amount of new papers or stuff we receive or process on any given day rarely requires more than a few minutes of sorting and placement. Should we organize them before leaving for the day, we get to enter an inspiring workplace the next morning. Else, we create a back log, which we naturally try to ignore and let pile on.
The story is much different at home. Here I find that maintenance is far more difficult than messing things up. Only a few of us may have the luxury of a dedicated housekeeper. And thus I find the sights of messy bedrooms and quake-hit dorm rooms in quite understandable.
Even so, I think there exist some compromise solutions. We can club room organization with other activities, such as watching TV or talking on the phone. Major overhauls can be put for weekends.
My personal experience dictates that it is more than worth the effort to keep our surrounding environment in good order - makes work more enjoyable and increases our happiness index. I suggest giving it a try.
I assess that the total amount of new papers or stuff we receive or process on any given day rarely requires more than a few minutes of sorting and placement. Should we organize them before leaving for the day, we get to enter an inspiring workplace the next morning. Else, we create a back log, which we naturally try to ignore and let pile on.
The story is much different at home. Here I find that maintenance is far more difficult than messing things up. Only a few of us may have the luxury of a dedicated housekeeper. And thus I find the sights of messy bedrooms and quake-hit dorm rooms in quite understandable.
Even so, I think there exist some compromise solutions. We can club room organization with other activities, such as watching TV or talking on the phone. Major overhauls can be put for weekends.
My personal experience dictates that it is more than worth the effort to keep our surrounding environment in good order - makes work more enjoyable and increases our happiness index. I suggest giving it a try.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Smarter Phones, Dumber Me
It seems like the smart phone, supported by social media, has taken over me, and most of the world around.
I get shocked, in the brief moments of detachment from this supplementary smartness, how it has invaded every part of my routine. The easy access to information it gives me creates a desperation to know what is going on - curiosity is supposed to be a good thing - except that it is useless information that we are overdosed with. Rarely are we updated about new technology advances and interesting philosophical opinions of wise people. What we rather get to see are the latest controversial news stories and selfies of friends and celebrities. This noise by far outweighs the little useful wisdom we may argue that it provides.
The overt access to easy information has also eliminated many pleasant pursuits of the good old days. Ranging from collecting clippings of our favourite celebrities to writing thoughtful letters to people we care about, these pursuits connected us with our inner identity, which is beautifully unique in each of us. Being well-read does not matter - if we need to know something, we look it up specifically - but we forget that only by gathering wider knowledge, even that which seems irrelevant, can we identify the trends and derive lessons. Today, we are fast evolving into a single kind of useless zombies, with no real value to contribute, driven by the new breed of celebrities and media manipulators who tap into our desperation to be updated.
Finally, I hate the way the smart apps have invaded my privacy. Instant email alerts imply that I am liable to respond to every communication quickly. WhatsApp pressurizes it even less subtly. I do not appreciate Google finding out where I tend to go on weekends. And if I wish to purchase something, I will look for options, rather than be alerted four times a day by e-commerce apps.
It is not going to be easy controlling my addiction to smart phones, taming it to tell me only what I want to know, restricting its role to a "mobile" phone that gives only my loved ones immediate access to me. It seems losing 10 kg of weight might be an easier pursuit - and yes, a zillion apps will help me in that too. But I will try nonetheless to succeed in this resolution. So let me find a few good apps that help with resolutions! :)
I get shocked, in the brief moments of detachment from this supplementary smartness, how it has invaded every part of my routine. The easy access to information it gives me creates a desperation to know what is going on - curiosity is supposed to be a good thing - except that it is useless information that we are overdosed with. Rarely are we updated about new technology advances and interesting philosophical opinions of wise people. What we rather get to see are the latest controversial news stories and selfies of friends and celebrities. This noise by far outweighs the little useful wisdom we may argue that it provides.
The overt access to easy information has also eliminated many pleasant pursuits of the good old days. Ranging from collecting clippings of our favourite celebrities to writing thoughtful letters to people we care about, these pursuits connected us with our inner identity, which is beautifully unique in each of us. Being well-read does not matter - if we need to know something, we look it up specifically - but we forget that only by gathering wider knowledge, even that which seems irrelevant, can we identify the trends and derive lessons. Today, we are fast evolving into a single kind of useless zombies, with no real value to contribute, driven by the new breed of celebrities and media manipulators who tap into our desperation to be updated.
Finally, I hate the way the smart apps have invaded my privacy. Instant email alerts imply that I am liable to respond to every communication quickly. WhatsApp pressurizes it even less subtly. I do not appreciate Google finding out where I tend to go on weekends. And if I wish to purchase something, I will look for options, rather than be alerted four times a day by e-commerce apps.
It is not going to be easy controlling my addiction to smart phones, taming it to tell me only what I want to know, restricting its role to a "mobile" phone that gives only my loved ones immediate access to me. It seems losing 10 kg of weight might be an easier pursuit - and yes, a zillion apps will help me in that too. But I will try nonetheless to succeed in this resolution. So let me find a few good apps that help with resolutions! :)
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