One of my customers asked if I had any advice about how to achieve Happiness@Work and a few things came to mind; you’ll find them below. Nevertheless, I am sure that my wise friends will have loads of ideas on the topic, so, please feel free to send me your ideas, experiences, advice either from experts or your best practice on Happiness@Work.
- My own experience of Happiness@Work
- Good reads
- Best practice from Mindvalley
My Experience with Happiness@Work
When I was a child I always heard from adults the following advice: enjoy the time in school, because when you grow up an you’ll have to work life will not be fun anymore. So, I grew up with the idea that work was meant to be hard and unpleasant.
To my surprise when I got my first job as a college professor I found the experience delightful. It did not feel like a job at all. I enjoyed working with my students and they in turn were responsive and learned fast. I was doing what I loved, I had the appreciation of my students and I felt I made progress every day even on a personal level. On a side note I have to say that the position as college professor was not financially attractive back then, on the contrary; but I could not have been happier.
That is why for me Happiness@Work is:
- doing something that you love
- with people that you like
- people who like who like you in return
- having the feeling of fulfillment.
Good Reads
If you are not one of lucky people that can experience the perfect fit in the perfect workplace, here are some books I can recommend:
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos. I really liked this one. The focus of the CEO on the company culture as the first priority was one of the reasons for Zappos success. It is the story of Tony Hsieh’s failures and successes in his business life. It is very inspiring read for leaders but also for employees and managers who are interested in creating a fantastic company culture, having happy customers and employees.
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor. The author’s position is that it is not the success at work that brings happiness, but the other way around. Happiness brings better performance; better performance brings success. And then you’re happy again. I am not sure I agree with all his principles, but I found the book inspiring and motivating.
The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. This one is not really on happiness@work but will totally change the way you see your work life. It is a little bit crazy, exaggerated, but really fun.
Best Practice: Mindvalley’s Love Week
Mindvalley is an education company geared towards personal growth. This example might not be suitable for every company as is, but it can be surely adapted.
For example one day Mindvalley decided that Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be a day just for lovers, but an entire week where everybody gets to experience appreciation at work. They called it Love Week and this week is very much about giving and receiving appreciation. During the week everyone will be a “Secret Angel” to a randomly selected person called “a Human” without revealing their identity. Each person plays both a “secret angel” and “a human” to somebody. Mindvalley says Love Week is the most engaging tradition in their company and has increased productivity and forged stronger friendships among employees.
Here is Mindvalley’s guide for companies that would like to implement a Love Week: https://blog.mindvalley.com/love-into-the-workplace/?utm_source=bing_blog