The proof is in the smell….
The proof is in the smell…
As South Africans, we experienced several sporting highlights this past weekend: The Proteas won a test match against the West Indies, the Springboks beat the Wallabies for the fourth time in succession and Dricus du Plessis defended his UFC title in Perth on Sunday morning. Many good reasons to be happy as a nation!
Happiness is a strange thing. You are flying high one minute and then back your car into a tree and immediately your happiness evaporates. Poof, it’s gone! And then, as time passes, it starts to return – either slowly or quickly. Some people seem to be happy all of the time, while others have not moved their happiness needle past 3/10 for many years. Anyone alive and paying attention knows that true happiness is difficult to find and even harder to keep a hold of.
Most everyone would say that it’s an important (possibly the most important) thing to strive for in life, but why is it so bloody difficult?
I also want to know.
I’m not always happy. The people I live with and talk to experience varying degrees of happiness. I guess that your experience would be the same. For many years I’ve been trying to figure out how to stay at that level where life feels consistently and effortlessly good.
A couple of months ago I came across a book by Arthur C. Brooks called Build the life you want. Brooks is an expert on happiness and teaches a wildly sought-after and successful course on the topic at Harvard Business School. In fact, it is the most popular course at Harvard – which goes to show that MANY people are trying to crack the code, just like us. It is a great book and I recommend you read it for yourself. In this piece, I want to highlight three main thoughts on the topic to get you thinking.
Brooks makes a massively important point: Like all emotions, happiness comes and goes. It can be lasting or fleeting, but it is not something you can bottle for later use. Rather, the subjective experience of feeling happy is evidence that the macronutrients of happiness are present in our lives. Just like the smell of a great meal is the evidence of a great meal. You can’t bottle the smell, but you need to cook the meal.
So what are the macronutrients of happiness?
According to Brooks (and I think he is on to something) they are:
- Enjoyment: This comes from spending quality time and making memories with people you care about.
- Satisfaction: Experiencing a sense of achievement by completing challenging goals.
- Purpose: Contributing towards something deeply meaningful to you, at work or home (ideally both).
Simple, but not easy. Shinell’s birthday is coming up and she is planning something that would incorporate each of these macronutrients. As we were talking about her plans, we realized that all of them take some level of effort. It is unlikely that any of these things would just fall into your lap, looking to make you happy. When I think back to the happiest times of my life, I can easily point to the form these aspects took during those periods. The reverse is also true – when I went through low patches, I can now identify which of these were lacking.
So here is your challenge: What has your happiness gauge been over the last month? Looking at these aspects, which of them were present or lacking that resulted in you having that specific experience? If the smell hasn’t been great, it’s time to look at what has been cooking in the oven. And the best thing about all of this: You can start to change the ingredients! But the choice is up to you.
If you are having a difficult time trying to create more moments of happiness in your environment, get in touch. You can reach us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
