Why Happiness is Important
There is a direct link between happiness and productivity. Countless scientific experiments have confirmed this again and again. In his book The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor gives a strong and compelling account of the benefits of happiness.
I bet that you have experienced the happiness advantage yourself. When you're happy, your motivation is on top, you're energetic and getting things done is a walk in the park. You're on fire.
But on the days where you feel a bit deflated, a whole host of other negative feelings come with it. you lack energy, you feel sad and unmotivated. You get bored. Everything feels a bit dark and depressing. In this state, it's really difficult to be productive. Everything is going slowly, and it's difficult to focus.
Before you can maximise your productivity, you need to maximise your happiness.
Believe it or not, but you can actually hack your happiness. And in this article, I'm going to hand you the formula on a silver platter.
We are going the wrong way about happiness
There is only one way to achieve real happiness. And that's the form of happiness where you don't rely on others or any other external influences to be happy. And you don't rely on goals you need to reach.
Almost everyone goes about chasing happiness the wrong way. We think we will achieve happiness when we reach a goal or satisfy some need. This is a faulty way of looking at it.
It's the boost we get from having satisfied a need that we often confuse with real happiness. But this boost of joy isn't sustainable. How long does the joy you feel from having bought a new phone last? I bet my MacBook that this is maximum a week. In some cases, this elevated feeling only lasts a few days or hours.
Even when you have reached a massive goal, you will only feel a temporary boost of happiness. This is because your happiness relied on reaching that goal. The feeling of accomplishment you get from having reached this goal will eventually pass. It's the change of your circumstances that fills you with joy. But once you are used to this change it will no longer feel like a change. It will become the new norm, and life will very soon start to feel like it did before you reached that goal.
Since your happiness has a bad habit of relying on goals in order to exist, it will find a new future goal to cling on to. And until you have reached this new goal, you will feel unsatisfied.
Do you see how reaching goals is a flawed way of chasing happiness? Yet, this is how most people in the world go about achieving happiness.
Happiness comes before reaching your goals
Living life in perpetual dissatisfaction with only short bursts of happiness is not the way I want to live. But thankfully there is a better way. A much better way. Let me explain.
To achieve a sustainable form of happiness, there is ultimately one simple principle you need to understand:
You need to be happy BEFORE reaching your goals - not WHEN or BECAUSE you've reached them. You’ve got to be happy independently of anything that might happen in the future.
You can still have goals, and you should have goals. But separate your happiness from them. Working towards your goals is something you do, not to reach happiness or to satisfy a need, but for other reasons. Find enjoyment in the process of working towards your goals.
Separating your happiness from your goals is a very powerful mindset to have. It gives you better focus and allows you to be more productive.
When you recognise that there is nothing that you need to do or get to become happy, but that happiness is your innate nature, then you have found your magic happy pill. Label yourself as a "happy person". This is your default state of being. Anything negative that happens to you doesn't change who you fundamentally are - it just temporarily clouds your innate nature.
Believe me - these ideas are real. They come from people like the Dalai Lama and MBA lecturer Srikumar Rao, who have discovered the only form of sustainable happiness and have proven that they work.
How can you achieve this?
First, there is something you need to realise.
You need to achieve a state of happiness that doesn't rely on reaching goals or things that you don't have. And more importantly, you need to be happy with yourself and who you are.
This state of happiness can only be produced from within yourself. This makes sense since it's independent of all external factors.
Now I'm going to give you two simple exercises you can do to cultivate this powerful mindset. They are really simple but have a tremendous effect on your happiness.
The reverse gap exercise
The idea of the Reverse Gap comes from entrepreneurial coach Dan Sullivan.
It's a simple idea. Instead of focusing on all the things you haven't yet achieved, focus on what you have already achieved. Take a moment to look back at your life. In your memory, locate those moments and highlights of your life where you achieved something you were proud of. It could also be moments where you experienced something you were particularly happy about.
The two images below are from “The Code of the Extraordinary Mind” by Vishen Lakhiani.
The forward gap: Habitually, we observe the forward gap - the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
The reverse gap: The reverse gap is about looking back and appreciate how far you have come.
This is a great way of reminding yourself that these moments are still part of your life. Without them, you wouldn't have been where you are today. And you wouldn't have been the person you are today. Why should the great moments and achievements of our life only fill us with joy at the moment they come about? There is no reason why you cannot still be happy about something that you achieved a long time ago.
This is what I suggest you do
Take 20 minutes out of your day and write a list of all achievements you've made up until this point in your life. Don't just write down achievements. Put things you are particularly happy or proud about on the list as well. It's important that you're being honest when writing this list. No matter how naff something might be, if it works for you, put it on the list. Remember that you're writing this list for yourself, not for anyone else. And you don't have to show this list to anyone.
Every time you feel discouraged, anxious, weak or inadequate, look at this list. Pick three items from the list and think about them for a few seconds.
Don't just briefly acknowledge them. Spend up to 15 seconds on each of the three items and savour the moment. Think about how you felt in the moment this happened to you in life. Think about how grateful you are that they took place.
This will give you an instant boost of happiness. Best of all - you don't have to go into town and buy a new coat to experience this happiness. it doesn't rely on anything external. It's free, like real happiness should be.
To give you an idea of what to include in your achievement list, here is a list of some of my own achievements and things that happened to me in the past that I am proud or happy about:
- Got involved in learning a musical instrument early in life so that I had a lot of time to develop my skills.
- I've got some amazing friendships.
- I had a creative childhood where I got to explore a range of ideas, skills and topics.
- I was a paid performer in my teenage years.
- I have achieved a black belt in Teakwon-Do.
- I can speak two languages fluently.
- Have received several grants and awards for my performance skills as a teenager.
- Got into Rose Bruford College where I met amazing people and made important connections. And I grew a lot as a person.
- Have written, directed and produced several short films in London.
- Realised that I wanted to change direction in life and stop pursuing acting. I had the guts to embrace this change.
I have no intention to brag about any of this. I'm just giving you ideas about what you can put on your own list.
Once I started writing down my own list and think back on my life, there was so much to write down that I couldn't stop writing. It felt easy. There were so many achievements that I had almost forgotten about or didn't think of as achievements. The amount of stuff I had done so far in life really surprised me.
If you start writing your own list, I bet you will surprise yourself as well.
The gratitude exercise
This is an even quicker and sometimes more effective exercise. I suggest you do this in the morning. It takes only one minute to do this. Do it while the kettle boils or while you're having a shower.
Think about what happened yesterday or the day before that you are grateful for. This doesn't have to be anything major. It could be the fact that you spoke to a good friend or that you're proud that you started a project.
What's great about this simple exercise is that it reminds you why you have no reason whatsoever to be unhappy about your life. It's a good exercise in not taking things for granted.
Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of Mindvalley suggests thinking about things you are happy about in three different areas of your life:
- Your personal life
- your work life
- About yourself as a person
I suggest you think about two items in each category.
To give you some ideas, here is a list of what I might think of myself:
Personal life
- I spent some time with a great friend yesterday. And the atmosphere between us suggested that we are indeed great friends and that the feeling of friendship is mutual.
- I had a whole day where I could spend the time exactly as I wanted.
Work life
- I gave someone a great piano lesson and inspired them to keep on playing even after the lesson where finished.
- The freedom I get from being a self-employed freelancer.
About myself as a person
- I am proud of my open-mindedness when it comes to new ideas.
- I am proud of myself for having pushed through to complete that website page even though I was fed up with it and tired.
Other things you could write:
- The fact that you have a great bum
- That you look amazing when you've done your hair
- That you can have really good coffee every morning
- You're lucky to be living in a beautiful area, or a nice house.
It’s ok to reuse the same items the next day.
How often should you do this?
At least once a day. Do it in the morning. This will set you up for a good day. In the evening, you can think of 2 or 3 things that happened to you today that you're really happy about.
These two concepts - gratitude, and acknowledging what you have already accomplished instead of focusing on what you haven't accomplished - is everything you need to achieve happiness.
Dive deeper into the subject
You might have realised now that your level of happiness depends heavily on your outlook in life. You don't need anything to be happy. The only thing that you might NEED is to be convinced or inspired.
Vishen Lakhiani explains these two exercises very well in his book "The Code of The Extraordinary Mind". In chapter 7 "Live in Blissipline", he elaborates a bit more on how living in a state of bliss is important for other aspects of your life. And he gives you some solid scientific backing for why happiness is important.
This book is a New York Times bestseller and was the #1 bestseller on Amazon 5 times in 2017. Not only does it convince you that you can easily hack your own happiness. It's an essential read for ambitious people who are serious about making an impact in the world.
Why?
Because he talks about the mindset you need to acquire in order to cope with a high performing lifestyle. And he literally gives you the blueprint for how you can accomplish your goals. As he convincingly lays out - it's not all about hard work. It's one of the most life-changing books I have read.
You can get the book here.
The way I got convinced about the ideas that I have explained to you above was when I watched Srikumar Rao talk about what he calls the "If-Then" model in one of Mindvalley's programs.
Here’s a youtube video that introduces you to this idea.
In this video, Rao talks about why the "If-Then" model is flawed, and that most people are unhappy because their life is based on that model.
I hope this article has helped you realise how important happiness is for your productivity and how easy it can be to achieve happiness. If this article has changed the way you look at happiness, please share it with others that you know need to see this as well.
Recommended books on the subject:
The happiness advantage, by Shawn Achor
The Art of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama
The code of the extraordinary mind, by Vishen Lakhiani
I have also just bought Vishen's new book, The Buddha and The Baddass which I can't wait to start reading.
