Our mantra is “if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.” With that in mind, let’s talk about “happiness.”If you're into professional development, you've heard of Martin Seligman, Ph.D., who developed
theory of Learned Optimism. Optimism is facilitator of emotional intelligence (EQ), which matters more to our success and happiness than IQ. Seligman’s research has established that optimists are more productive and accomplish more, i.e., are more successful, but what about happiness?
Recently, Seligman has started studying Authentic Happiness. In "Pleasure, Meaning & Eudaimonia," he looks at common conception of Americans that pleasure equals happiness, which he calls “the hedonic view” -- happiness equals most positive feelings with least negative feelings. He thinks there are two things wrong with this idea, and that there are in fact three paths to happiness.
WHAT’S WRONG?
1. That cheery countenance we equate with pleasure, "positive affectivity," is hereditary. Therefore it's normally distributed in population.
Therefore about half of us just aren't that way, and aren’t likely to become that way, no matter what. So, don’t insist on a bright façade in yourself or your employees or your kids; it doesn’t indicate much.
2. The hedonic view has not proven to bring happiness. What apparently does is Aristotle’s "Eudaimonia," Good life – pleasures of contemplation; that deep absorption we now call “flow.” You can already see that this fits right into our work lives!
THREE PATHS TO HAPPINESS
The core thesis in Authentic Happiness is there are three paths to a happy life:
1.The Pleasant Life (having as much pleasure as you can) 2.The Good Life (knowing your signature strengths and crafting your life around them, for maximal flow) 3.The Meaningful Life (using your signature strengths for something that’s bigger than you are)
NEW RESEARCH CONFIRMS: PLEASURE DOESN'T ADD TO SATISFACTION
Two recent research studies, done independently, have confirmed that hedonic motives don't correlate with happiness, but eudaimonic motives do - pursuing personal growth, development of your potential, achieving personal excellence, contributing to lives of others.
SO WHAT'S A GOOD PLAN FOR HAPPINESS?
1. Find out what your unique Strengths are. Take StrengthsFinder™ Profile (www.susandunn.cc/courses.htm). Once you discover your top 5 innate strengths (in order) from 34 possibilities - Activator, Focus, Maximizer, Intellection, Deliberativeness, Futuristic, etc.- if you recraft your life around them, you will have Good Life!
The StrengthsFinder™ Profile, incidentally, is a wonderful tool for managers. I’ve found it to be true that some people don’t know what their strengths are, while some know those traits very well, but have been conditioned to consider them weaknesses.
There are innate strengths – things we were born with and will always have --unique ways of viewing world, making decisions, relating to people, and doing jobs.
Signature strengths are mental/ emotional qualities but physical analogies are easier to grasp. Think of Wayne Gretzky tracking puck. Playing in a group that’s already in 99th percentile, he stands out. His ability to predict trajectory of puck and get there before it while everyone is skating off in another direction is legendary. Wayne “Go where puck is going, not where it has been” Gretzky.
