By Mark Kaplan / March 1, 2020
We grow up thinking that happiness occurs after a long line of accomplishments. I don’t remember my parents ever saying happiness was important. My daughters as millennials place a great emphasis on happiness.
What has changed? We may have learned that to be more effective, we have to be satisfied with who we are and the life we are living before we exert more effort. A common goal is work life balance. What we are looking for is life satisfaction. We burn out quicker when we are toiling and not meeting our life expectations.
What is Happiness?
The $50 million dollar annual expenditure by business for Well Being is trying to find the magic formula. Many advisory firms counsel on finding the path to happiness. It seems to be a basis of decisions for worker loyalty to judge whether they are happy in their current situation.
Happiness has a scientific basis even though the media tries to steer us toward products to find happiness. We can engage in both positive and negative behaviors to experience dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. These are the hormones and neurotransmitters Nature created to induce us to engage in happiness behaviors.
What Are Happiness Behaviors?
Happiness behaviors come before achieving goals and therefore we can have happiness before success. What a concept. Nature, surprisingly, isn’t as concerned with goals as she is with behaviors. Goals are a human concept.
For 3 billion years, Nature has urged life to find food, find mating opportunities, build communities, and contribute to the bigger picture. Consider ants.
In the modern era, these survival opportunities to stimulate happiness brain chemicals are easily found in learning, creativity, contribution, health and fitness. They may not align with your concept of happiness, but they are a sure formula for enjoying happiness as proven by studies and science.
Why You Can Enjoy Happiness Before Success
The behaviors of Nature’s happiness will help you grow in value and achieve health. Career success is difficult if you are not continuously learning. You must learn to reach summits and learn more to reach the next summit. In the process you are experiencing dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
Creativity is a wonderful behavior of self-expression. We may engage to find our potential, solve problems, or contribute to the larger picture. We are flooded with happiness brain chemicals for our engagement. Creativity is found in entertainment, art, mathematics, science, athletics, and entrepreneurial pursuits. We are engaged before we reach goals.
Physical activity is a lifestyle for millions. Once you experience endorphins, it is difficult not to go back for more. Man is meant to push physical limits and gets a blissful reward for pushing his envelope. You can experience this every morning.
Set Your Happiness Schedule
Happiness is best experienced in time blocks. I have several a day. I have exercise, creativity, learning, and relaxation blocks. These blocks ensure I am making progress on a daily basis and lead to milestones. Not only do these behaviors help me experience my potential every day, they create the insurance I am living life on my terms.
Managing your time for growth activities is at the pinnacle of autonomy and independence. You feel gratitude for your opportunity to shape your life. You are feeling the happiness every day as your reward for the right behaviors. If you are not growing and getting healthier, but feel victim to your circumstances, you have to get better control of your time.
Read Habits of a Happy Brain by Loretta Graziano Breuning Ph.D
Read The Good Life Plan by Mark Kaplan See Excerpts
Read Creating Your Own Happiness- Lifestyle Self-Coaching Course by Mark Kaplan See Excerpts
Return to the Home Page
See Post Happiness, Fitness, and Mindfulness
See Post How We Enjoy Intensity without Stress
See Post Life Style and Work Life Balance
See Post Creativity Can Be Career Changing
See Post Increasing the Flow in Your Life
See Post Fitness Nutrition and Weight Management
See Excerpts for my Book “The Good Life Plan”
