By Mark Kaplan / March 2, 2020
Work life balance is a time issue and a quality of life issue. In my parent’s days, survival seemed to be the main issue. Everything else was a bonus. Why have we begun to think of quality of life in addition to survival? Because we can. We know it’s available. We know if we are not enjoying a quality of life, be it work life balance, we are doing something wrong.
Employers in the past were not worried about a quality of life for workers because we didn’t have many choices. Now workers have more leverage because our learning skills have improved. Government says it cares about our quality of life because it is mentioned in the Constitution and we vote.
Taking Responsibility For Our Lives
We have approximately 75,000 days on earth. This should be plenty of time to find out who we are, our purpose, and what makes us happy. Failure to discover these three should be on our shoulders. Can I blame my boss if I am not happy?
Managing the 75,000 days is part of our time management. We could set long-term goals to reach our potential. Science would have us believe through proven studies that striving for our potential is our greatest source of happiness not discounting love.
Reaching for out potential helps us experience dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. These are happiness, not BMW’s. Objects make us feel the neurotransmitters and hormones, but our brain stimulated chemicals are the happiness.
Happiness Is Hardwired in Our Brain
There need not be a search for happiness. It is already in us. We all have it equally. We think the richest people have all the happiness, but they have stimulated their brain differently than we have. They can afford to buy things every day for perks, but how many rich and famous people self-destruct. Too many to count.
Are monks, extreme athletes, masters of any craft or talent, or passionate people less happy than rich people? These latter examples are people who spend more time doing what they want. Shopping may make us happy, but so does learning, creating, contributing, and getting fit. Our brain is hardwired to make us happy from behaviors that make us better. This takes time. It takes time in blocks. It takes recognition of what behaviors make us better.
Schedule Your Day
In the exciting Netflix movie Valor, the helicopter pilots tell their co-pilot, you have the controls. The co-pilot affirms, I have the controls. What does that mean? From now on whatever the helicopter does is up to the pilot. How does your day differ? You are the pilot with the controls. You can give the controls to someone else if you want and then you are not in control.
You can schedule your days. We often think we are not in control. Why? It’s a good question. Ask yourself why not? Are you ceding your 75,000 days to others and to circumstances? Are you not capable of making plans, creating new habits, focusing on growth, reaching your potential?
Create time blocks every day where you have the controls. You can exercise, learn, create, rest, meditate, love, contribute and get healthy. Who says you can’t? You could be the only one ceding the control of these habits.
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 all the posts at the bottom of landing 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”
