“What is the meaning of life? To be happy and useful.”

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

The dictionary definition of happiness includes good fortune, pleasure, contentment, joy. According to Charles Kiefer of Innovation Associates, “We are only one thought away from a happy thought.”

We are happy when we:

• go for a long walk in nature
• wake up to the smiling face of our grandchild or other loved one
• hear our 97 year old mother’s desire to get off the phone so she can  return to reading the new Steve Jobs biography
• watch a leader we respect move forward in their organization
• coach an inspired entrepreneur to fulfill a dream through sustained action
• facilitate a powerful conversation that moves a team’s game-changing project forward
• contribute our resources to organizations that stand for values we hold sacred

John De Graff and Linda Sechrist, in their article on Economics of Happiness: The New Economy¹, write:

“We’ve had enough of the official mantra: Work more, enjoy less, pollute more, eat toxic foods and suffer illnesses, all for the sake of increasing the gross domestic product. Why not learn ways to work less and enjoy it more; spend more time with our friends and families; consume, pollute, destroy and owe less; and live better, longer and more meaningfully? To do all this, we need fresh solutions.”

English writer Storm Jameson said, “Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” What does happiness mean to you… as an individual, as a family member, as a working person, as a business leader, as a global citizen?

 “Gross National Product measures everything,
 except that which makes life worthwhile.”
Robert Kennedy

We often associate happiness with success, and success with material well being. Chip Conley, in his February 2010 TED talk entitled Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile, reports and comments on the work and focus of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who offers an alternative view of success — one based on GNH (gross national happiness) rather than GDP(gross domestic product.).

“Most world leaders didn’t take notice and thought this was just Buddhist economics. This was the first time in 200 years (since Thomas Jefferson) that a world leader suggested that the intangible of happiness was something we should measure and value as government officials.

The exciting news is that there are now 40 countries around the world today that are actually studying their own GNH. Bhutan offers all of us the possibility of “the ultimate export… a new global currency of well being.

In Western countries we focus on the pursuit of happiness as if it is an object we have to go out and get… or many objects. The Bhutanese in contrast offer an “equation for happiness”:

Happiness =  Wanting what you have (Gratitude)
                        Having What You Want (Gratification)

And this leaves us, not one thought away from happiness, but rather in the midst of happy thoughts.”

What does happiness mean to you?

• Name a happy experience you had this week.
• What do you do to create your own happiness?
• Can you be happy when others around you are not?
• What “fresh solutions” do you have to offer?
• How did you use your time today in ways that made you happy?
• How do you contribute to the happiness of others in your personal world, in your business world, and in the world at large?

 Ever since happiness heard your name,
it has been running through the streets trying to find you.
- Hafiz ofPersia

At birth, Miriam was given the name Nancy. Her parents told her it means “happiness.” In her growing years she experienced her name as an invitation to embody happiness – happiness inside her own being, as well as happiness inside her family and community. As she matured, happiness was always connected to the existence of social justice in the world. What connections do you make between your own experience of happiness and your family?

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.
- Chinese Proverb

 Practices:

• What practices do you engage in that support your happiness and well being?
• What practices will you begin to enhance your own and others’ happiness?
• What changes will you commit to making to support your own and others’ well being?
• How can you contribute to GNH on a personal level? In your relationships? Your family? Your business? Your world?
• What conversations can you have to explore happiness, and with whom?

Resources:

Economics of Happiness: The New Economy

 http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169D249:0D7CA2881E1DFAE51EE4CFBB181403D0B4B847859706E37D&

Be The Change: Explore research on well-being, at the New Economics Foundation.

 http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=169D24A:0D7CA2881E1DFAE51EE4CFBB181403D0B4B847859706E37D&

We specialize in leadership development, systems thinking and organizational change based on resilient relationships, clear communication and integrity.

Over the next several months we will explore the power of our relationships to produce sustainable results that ensure satisfaction, profitability and contribution to the greater good. These questions and others will be the focus of our exploration.

• How do you create satisfying relationships?
• What are the keys to a working relationship, whether personal or business?
• How do you achieve a consistent balance between task accomplishment and relatedness in your business?

The Context for Creating Satisfying Relationships

Everything that occurs in life occurs within the context of relationship. Our interconnectedness is expanding by degrees every day, whether in our personal communications or in global business transactions.

Everything that works in life works because of our relationships. We depend on our relationships to nourish and sustain us through times both good and bad.

Everything we learn in life we learn through relationship. When we discover our ability to create successful relationships, we experience relationship as a gift to ourselves and others.

Relationship is the ground upon which we stand – at home, at work and in the world. According to Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, “We Inter-Be.” Even though the truth is that we are all interconnected, experiencing connection consistently takes practice. In order to have satisfying relationships, each of us must learn what it takes to make our relationships work. Recognizing this, we can master being in right relationship with others in the moment and over time, whether an intimate partner, a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a member of our community, a business colleague, or a stranger.

As we begin this conversation, we invite you to consider the following questions. Take a few moments to see what action you might want to take in response to what arises.

• What do you most cherish or appreciate about your current relationships?
• What do you find most challenging and difficult?
• Where do you want or need to be more fully engaged?

What opportunities for learning and practice do you see? Take a few moments to consider one action you could take today to increase your satisfaction in your current relationships?

“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.”

Margaret Wheatley