Most people think happiness follows success. That burst of energy and excitement you get for example when you created a successful initiative. Getting that promotion. You get a feeling of happiness. But it's short lived. Then there is the next target, project or milestone.
We often think of “happiness” as the kind of enjoyment that comes from instant gratification. “But there is another kind of happiness that derives from deep satisfaction and fulfilment – a deep delight with all of life – that is especially relevant to new habit formation.” Let’s reflect on our habits. What do we do that generates satisfaction and fulfilment? Do we start our day with positivity?
80% of people look at their phone within fifteen minutes of opening their eyes. * This habit can put your body immediately into stress. According to psychiatrist Dr Nikole Benders-Hadia, “Immediately turning to your phone when you wake up can start your day off in a way that is more likely to increase stress and leave you feeling overwhelmed.” Imagine our performance at work if we constantly work under stress. Would happiness necessarily follow success?
Shawn Achor studied the relationship between happiness and performance over a 10-year period. 200 studies and 275,000 people showed time and again that a workforce who was happy, outperformed in a serious way. His research challenges the belief that happiness only comes after success. It’s actually the other way around.
According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, our lives today are essentially the sum of our habits. We all have habits both at work and home that power us up and down. Being able to raise your self-awareness leads to being able to make small changes to your daily habits that results in living a happier, healthier and higher-performing life.
Many organisations have tried and failed with wellbeing and happiness initiatives because one-off solutions do not work. Habits and their impact on our happiness require a journey approach. They take time to form and need to become part of daily work life in order to have a positive impact on your happiness.
As staff are returning to a hybrid workplace, wellbeing and happiness have become a top priority for many public bodies. We will work with public sector Learning and Development Professionals to design journeys that support their staff’s wellbeing and make sustainable improvements. As our commitment to Wellbeing and Resilience in 2022, we have appointed a senior member of the team, Kat Thorne, to be Associate Director, Wellbeing and Resilience, to lead on this area.
To start off, our Wellbeing and Resilience Associate Director, Kat Thorne will be running a webinar on Wednesday 2nd March to give a new perspective on how powerful, positive habits are for increasing the happiness and wellbeing of your teams.
You will explore how habits that we have impacted our wellbeing and happiness. You will hear about one leader’s journey of transforming from overwhelmed, low energy and lack of control to resilient, active and control. Together, will also explore the habits that affect happiness, energy and motivation and conclude with practical tips that you can take away to start using with your teams.
