New research reports there is happiness in the world. Thank God.

In the midst of a war enveloping our hearts, minds, and energy, the United Nations released its tenth World Happiness Report last week. (Link to full report.)

Irene Stachon/AP

The good news is there is good news. Finland ranked first for the fifth time in a row. The United States (#16) made it into the top twenty out of the 146 countries ranked by the Gallup survey. Considering the Great Resignation, ranking that high gives hope for happiness in the months ahead.

In the midst of this crazy world, the really good news is the global average of what the report calls "benevolence" was up 25% in 2021, as summarized by CNN.

Benevolence includes three things:
🤍 Donating to charity
🤍 Helping a stranger
🤍 Volunteering

It's good to live in a world where those three benevolent actions are rising.

More good news is that stress grew at a much slower rate than in prior years. Considering the pandemic roller coaster of 2020-2021, that's a welcome surprise.

All in all, happiness was on the rise in 2021, and it is owed to benevolence and trust.

What can business leaders glean from the UN report?

Happiness, benevolence, and trust are important to people. How can you influence more of those three in your company? It could make a difference in whether you're working on retention or resignations.

Coincidentally, a new study from the Pew Research Center this month reports the top three reasons people in the US quit their jobs last year were:
❌ Low pay
❌ Lack of opportunities for advancement
❌ Feeling disrespected at work

Do the results of the UN’s happiness report and Pew research align with how your people feel? It would be wise to find out before your time, energy, and dollars are spent replacing people who leave because of something you could have addressed.

Check these reports out and reflect on what would serve your company and people best. If you need help, get in touch with us. We are here for you.

Take care of yourself and each other.

Two Myths about Happiness at Work and How We Get it Wrong

This month’s Culture Matters conversation was about the Myths of Happiness at Work. We talked about the Myths of Happiness including:

1) The pressure to be happy all the time. There is a myth that if you are not leaping for joy every minute at work, you have mental problems. Shouldn’t the expectation be adjusted? Do you even know anyone who is leaping for joy every minute of every work day? I don’t.

People who are happy all the time miss out on the exhilaration of triumph. They miss the opportunity to stretch and grow through adversity if they don’t have any or they deny it. In the midst of adversity, see the opportunity and don’t sell yourself short. Don’t miss the triumph because of the fear and discomfort.

2) The myth that happiness will come when something else happens. In the little book, Put Your Whole Self In: Life and Leadership the Hokey Pokey Way, I talk about 5 All-In strategies to high performance. One of the strategies is to Enjoy Now. It’s included because people often expect happiness to depend on others.

You might hear people say, “I’ll be happy when I get married.” Or, “I’ll be happy when we have kids.” Or, “I’ll be happy when the new boss arrives.” Or, “I’ll be happy when the team meets its numbers.”

What ends up happening? You get the thing and realize it is less satisfying than anticipated. The pressure of happiness practically ruins the accomplishment.

In the Culture Matters conversation, small groups talked about those two myths and more. What we realized is that happiness is an emotion. It fluctuates and depends on action. Joy can be a state, but happiness is an emotion.

Here are five actions that can lead to more happiness at work. These are within your own realm and not reliant upon others.

1. Recognize how you are feeling throughout the day.

2. Allow yourself to feel your emotions honestly. That does not mean you share every single one with others or that you enter interactions wearing your emotions on your sleeve all the time. After all, we do not always need support from others anyway.

3. Focus on service to others to get out of your own head. Turn your attention and energy away from self and toward others when you cannot wrap your head around your situation.

4. Be happy for others. Share their accomplishments and congratulate them wholeheartedly.
   See the link between your work and your vision for your future. If there’s not one, is a change needed?

5. Look for ways to make a difference to others at work.

Remembers, it is not your boss’s job to make you happy. Smart companies and leaders create cultures that stimulate employees, encourage growth, and reward accomplishments. That’s all nice. However, do not allow those external elements to determine whether you are happy. You can control that within, and that is where the power of it grows.

Here’s a tool shared after the Culture Matters conversation. It is the Emo Meter you can use to assess yourself prior to meeting with others.

Here is an article from Inc. magazine about happiness at work—turns out, the research supports the points made here.

Set yourself up for success and happiness by being aware, making a difference, and sharing others’ happiness.

Happiness is over-rated

“Cut the happiness crap, Tyler!”

That’s what a coworker used to holler at me when I was cheerful at the water cooler at 7:00am each work day. He said it with a smile and proclaimed he was teasing, but it stuck with me. Twenty-five years later, I think that guy was on to something.

There is a lot written about happiness these days. Amazon has 22,329 books on the subject right now. A Google search found 46 million articles, with most promising to tell us how to be happier and why we should seek happiness. I have read a few articles about happiness, and I agree with much of what is researched and written about it. However, there is something missing.

There are three perspectives overlooked in the highly publicized search for happiness millions seem to be conducting, and they are worth pondering.

1. The expectation to be happy. If we expect to be happy all the time, we will be thrown off when life takes an unavoidable turn. The fact is, life’s journey includes some detours once in a while. People get sick, companies close down, children become teenagers. Life happens, and it’s not always full of skipping through sunflowers whistling Zippity Doo Dah. When we expect to be happy every day, we either shove the sadness deep inside to hide it or we are overwhelmed by the bad stuff and get stuck in misery.
2. The pressure to be happy. The peer pressure to be happy causes stress and can damage relationships. When you’re struggling with one of life’s obstacles, and you turn to a friend for support, do you love it when the friend says, “You shouldn’t be disappointed by your manager leaving the company. The new one will be even better.” We don’t really enjoy someone else pressuring us to “get over it.” We all have feelings we need to grapple with, and we will do so in good time. Pressure not to feel the sadness is not helpful.
3. The lost opportunities caused by happiness. The expectation and pressure to be happy cause us to miss out on the benefits of adversity. In our effort to be happy every minute, we are likely to take fewer risks or deny a challenge facing us. Happiness can blind us of reality and prevent us from rising above obstacles, which is unfortunate because there are few feelings better than those experienced after surmounting an obstacle or staring down a challenge. We rob ourselves of those feelings by trying to stay happy all the time.

When we deny life’s detours or go out of our way to avoid them entirely, we are telling ourselves a few things. We’re saying, “You’re not capable of overcoming that obstacle.” Or, “You’re not good enough to figure out a new way.” Or, “No one cares if you reach the destination.”

Let’s not sabotage ourselves with such negativity. Instead, let’s face the reality of all situations and let’s face challenges head-on. Look forward to the sense of accomplishment, don’t avoid it. We don’t have to “cut the happiness crap” completely. Let’s just keep it in perspective.