Does happiness have a role at work?

Hi!

A revenue stream is a source of income for you or your business. Last week we talked about an idea sparked by one of the guests on The Resilience Think Tank (the brilliant and creative Varun Mahajan, MD) about having a revenue stream for happiness. I expanded that and asked you to not only consider your happiness revenue streams but to diversify them – have multiple sources so that you could be reliably happy whenever you like.

Then I asked you to share some of your happiness revenue streams with me and wow did you deliver! And no one more than Dr. Christena Ward who challenged her team at EyeTech Optometry to find 4 different sources of happiness (two work-related and two personal) and share them. The picture of their results are here

At the end of this are some of the most common (and a few of the most surprising) that you all sent me.

It’s an interesting question – what role does happiness play in work life? And the resilient answer is summed up in some new research from Oxford University – higher happiness ratings from employees correlates to a 13% increase in productivity. So yes, this matters. Whether you own your own business, work with other people or are raising people who will be employed (we parents all hope they will be employed, right?) – understanding streams of revenue happiness makes life better.

I also promised to share my own list, and thanks to all of you my list is growing. Here are some highlights:

• The perfect mug of tea

• Knocking something off my to do list

• Sending a voice message to someone I love

• Researching a vacation (Newfoundland, anyone?)

• Pitching the media

• Kayaking

• Sending follow up messages to people I’ve met at conferences (really)

• Listening to an audio biography of someone I admire

• The West Wing with my guy

• Petting my dog

• Orangetheory (even though I don’t ever feel like going, I feel happy after)

• Making treats for my boys

• Reading your responses to my weekly email

Here are some of the highlights of your lists:

My pets

Reading

Journalling

walk in nature

Editing a book 

Lifting weights

Asking for help

Sunny mornings

exercising at the Y

Listening to music

Playing basketball

A beautiful sunrise

Witnessing wildlife

learning new things

lifting others' spirits

writing my memoirs

meeting new people

making people smile

Smiles from strangers

Riding my bike to work

snuggling with my kids

enjoying my outside flowers

cultivating existing friendships

Holiday family meal discussions

Walking my dogs in nature unplugged

sending cards to friends on special days

When my grandkids say something funny

Indoor plumbing in the middle of the night

Going to bed without having to set an alarm

Reading – with a hot cup of tea/coffee by my side

Watching and re-watching an episode of Outlander

Watching young parents with their child or children

Playing Uno with my son and listening to him laugh and trash talk

reading a book or listening to a podcast that makes me think/learn

My garden - jungle, plants, new bamboo shoots and orchid blooms

eating something with complex flavors so all my attention is focused on deconstructing it

Snuggling with one of my cats’ soft furry bodies directly on my chest, so that their purring resonates in my own chest

Did you see one that inspired you to try it or make you think of one on your list you hadn’t remembered? Comment and let me know!

All the best,

Dr. G