“May you live in interesting times” is an old Chinese proverb. This past year we have seen so many changes in our world and 2012 looks to be just as interesting. When we are at the end of the year many of us plan for next year and the big overarching goal is to build a happier life in 2012. Some of us view achieving happiness as improving our productivity through models like GTD (Getting Things Done) and Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Trying to fit more things into already hectic schedule is really not the answer for all of us. I believe the key lies in doing less to do more. Let me explain.
This year for me has been amazing and life changing for the positive in every way. I left a job I was miserable in, moved to a city to be with the woman who is love of my life, found a beautiful house on a lake in a cool town outside of Boston that resembles Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, I started a job that is moving my career forward but it has started to make me think about my real calling in life (more on job, career and calling later in the post) but most of all, I have for the first time in my life allowed myself to be happy.
I am actually doing less activities than I used to do but getting more out of life than I ever have before in the first 40 years I was on this planet.
As you look out on the next year with many things on your mind I hope that I can share with you some things that may help you build a happier life in 2012.
Find Your Happiness Formula
As the world gets busier and busier we are challenged with doing more with the finite amount of time in the day/week/year. Central to keeping things in perspective is being happy. Happiness and being happy is different for each person. However, it is safe to say that making sure we take the time to enjoy the people in our lives and the beautiful world around us is part of what I refer to as your “happiness formula”. Funny thing is that when I hit Google, I discovered that someone actually created a real happiness formula. A few years ago a man named Martin Seligman, known as the founder of positive psychology, did some major research on what the external conditions were that affect happiness. What he and his research team found was fascinating. He observed that there are two fundamental different kinds of external conditions – the conditions of your life and the voluntary activities that you undertake. Conditions are things in your life you can’t change (age, race, sex) plus things you can (who you marry, how much money you have, where you live) but they are constant over periods of time or even your entire life. Voluntary activities are the things you chose to do (exercise, learn a new skill) and they take conscious effort to stay in your life. These weigh more heavily on the ability to increase your happiness.
Taking this framework, Seligman and his team came up with the “happiness formula”. H = S + C + V
It’s components are: the level of happiness that you experience (H) is determined by your biological set point (S) plus the conditions of your life (C) plus the voluntary activities (V) you do. Yes, you can get totally geeky about the numbers and finding your “happiness range”, but I recommend you read the book if you want to dive into that more. The point is that this formula contains the factors in finding happiness. We are blessed to live a time and place where we can pick our career path, chose were we live and who we marry so many factors in being happy are your choices to make.
Make Your Work Rewarding
I just came across this excellent book called The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. The book takes the reader through the different periods in time where people were trying to discover what happiness means. He does talk about the happiness formula from Seligman above but also looks at in a broader sense what makes people happy. He says that most people approach their work in one of three ways: as a job, a career, or a calling.
- Job: You see your work as a job, you do it only for the money, staring at the clock frequently while dreaming about the weekend. You probably are deep into pursuing your hobbies, which satisfy you more thoroughly than your work.
- Career: When you see your work as a career, you probably have larger goals of advancement, promotion, and the prestige that goes along with it. But still you might not be fulfilled.
- Calling: When you see your work as a calling you find your work intrinsically fulfilling Most likely you see your work as contributing to the greater good or as playing a role in something larger than yourself which seems quite obvious to you. Other things that are different is that you probably have frequent experiences of flow during the work day and don’t watch the clock. I would guess that for many people they would continue to work, perhaps even without pay, if they suddenly became very wealthy.
That really stuck me at the core of what I was doing in evaluating my life plan and how I view the world. I have had good and bad jobs and had a really interesting career being an entrepreneur, a film maker and working in large and small companies for great and not so great executives. But what was really my calling? It made me think of what Ja-Nae says to me when she wants to help people be the change they wish to see in the world. She is a coach to people and a catalyst for transformative change in the way people see themselves and their lives. She what I call a “Life Calling Sherpa” if you will, and this is why that even though I am the happiest I have been in my entire life, that I need to work to discover my calling.
Approaching Life with Balance in Mind
As we move through the coming year in our pursuit to be more productive, innovative and hopefully after reading this far into the post, happier. So did some research on some tactical things you can do to bring work-life balance into your life in 2012. I came across this great article on work life balance over at WebMD by Jen Uscher. It is focused on discovering ways to devote more time to the activities and people that matter most to you.
1. Build downtime into your schedule – When you plan your week, make it a point to schedule time with your family and friends and activities that help you recharge. If a date night with your spouse or a softball game with friends is on your calendar, you’ll have something to look forward to and an extra incentive to manage your time well so you don’t have to cancel. Michael Neithardt, an actor and television commercial producer in New York City, wakes up three hours before he has to leave for work so he can go for a run and spend some time with his wife and baby. “A lot of my friends tend to wake up, shower, and go straight to work. And they often complain about having no time to do anything,” he tells WebMD in an e-mail. “I find that if I can get those three hours in the morning, I have a more productive and peaceful workday. I can sure tell the difference when I don’t.”
2. Drop activities that sap your time or energy. “Many people waste their time on activities or people that add no value — for example, spending too much time at work with a colleague who is constantly venting and gossiping,” says Marilyn Puder-York, PhD, a psychologist and executive coach in New York and Connecticut. She recommends taking stock of activities that aren’t really enhancing your career or personal life and minimizing the time you spend on them. You may even be able to leave work earlier if you make a conscious effort to limit the time you spend on the web and social media sites, making personal calls, or checking your bank balance. “We often get sucked into these habits that are making us much less efficient without realizing it,” Stack says.
3. Rethink your errands. Consider whether you can outsource any of your time-consuming household chores or errands. Could you order your groceries online and have them delivered? Hire a kid down the street to mow your lawn? Have your dry cleaning picked up and dropped off at your home or office? Order your stamps online so you don’t have to go to the post office? Even if you’re on a tight budget, you may discover that the time you’ll save will make it worth it. Stack also suggests trading services with friends. Offer to do tasks that you enjoy or that you were planning to do anyway. “You could exchange gardening services for babysitting services,” Stack says. “If you like to cook, you could prepare and freeze a couple of meals and give them to a friend in exchange for wrapping your holiday gifts.”
4. Get moving. It’s hard to make time for exercise when you have a jam-packed schedule, but experts say that it may ultimately help you get more done by boosting your energy level and ability to concentrate. “Research shows exercise can help you to be more alert,” Brooks says. “And I’ve noticed that when I don’t exercise because I’m trying to squeeze in another half hour of writing, I don’t feel as alert.” Samantha Harris, a lawyer who works for a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, says she recently started sneaking in a trip to the gym two or three mornings a week before her family wakes up. “It’s been a real boost in terms of the way I feel for the rest of the day,” she says. “I feel like my head is clearer and I’ve had a little time to myself.”
5. Remember that a little relaxation goes a long way. Don’t get overwhelmed by assuming that you need to make big changes to bring more balance to your life. Brooks recommends setting realistic goals, like trying to leave the office earlier one night per week. “Slowly build more activities into your schedule that are important to you,” he says. “Maybe you can start by spending an hour a week on your hobby of carpentry or planning a weekend getaway with your spouse once a year,” he says. Stack points out that even during a hectic day, you can take 10 or 15 minutes to do something that will recharge your batteries. “Take a bath, read a trashy novel, go for a walk, or listen to music,” she suggests. “You have to make a little time for the things that ignite your joy.”
Here’s to Being Productive, Happier and an Innovation Rebel in 2012
Being happier and finding your calling are key elements in being an innovation rebel. If you are not happy and productive, you are probably not aware of all the amazing opportunities around you. So take the time to find your calling and the balance in your life. Looking forward to seeing all your innovation rebels create some amazing stuff in 2012! Happy New Year!