ACHIEVING HAPPINESS-1:Finding happiness and enhancing your personal life, The key to happiness

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Human Relations MGMT611

Lesson 36

ACHIEVING HAPPINESS-1

Quotes:

Happiness, a state of joy, pleasure, goodness, or satisfaction.

A lifetime of happiness: no man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) Irish playwright.

Happiness is not best achieved by those who seek it directly.

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970) British philosopher and mathematician.

There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest

of mankind achieve the second.

Logan Pearsall Smith (1865 - 1946) U.S.-born British writer.

Finding happiness and enhancing your personal life

This lecture takes an overview of the major issues involved in leading an enriched personal life, with an

emphasis on the pursuit of happiness and achieving a good relationship between business partners and life

partners. A lot of research is being conducted on happiness. According to a research Denmark is the top

happiest country. Germany is the second happiest country.

1. Achieving happiness

Research and opinion about happiness indicate that people can take concrete steps to achieve happiness.

Planning for happiness is possible because it appears to be somewhat under people's control. Many

researchers consider happiness to be a natural human condition.

Lyken observes that those genes that combine to produce a happy person were favored by natural selection.

The spheres of life and happiness

Happiness is a by-product of having the various components of life working in harmony and synchrony.

The various components of life must spin together like 6 gears. The components for many people would

be:

(1) Work and career,

(2) Interpersonal life including loved ones,

(3) Physical and mental health,

(4) Financial health,

(5) Interests and pastimes, and

(6) Spiritual life or belief system.

For the long range, a state of happiness is dependent on all six spheres working in harmony. People vary

with how much importance they attach to each sphere of life.

Yet a gross deficiency in any one sphere detracts from happiness.

The key to happiness

Keeping the spheres of life in harmony is one framework for achieving happiness. In addition, a wide range

of opinion and research suggests eleven keys to happiness.

1. Give high priority to the pursuit of happiness.

2. Experience love and friendship, and value relations.

3. Develop a sense of self-esteem.

4. Work hard at what you enjoy and achieve the flow experience.

5. Appreciate the joys of day-to-day living.

6. Be fair, kind, helpful, and trusting of others.

7. Have recreational fun in your life.

8. Learn to cope with grief, disappointment, setbacks, and stress.

9. Live with what you cannot change.

10. Energize yourself through physical fitness.

11. Satisfy your most important values.

12. Lead a meaningful life.

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Human Relations MGMT611

Human Relations Skills-Building Exercise

Achieving Happiness

The following exercises will help you develop attitudes that contribute mightily to

happiness.

1. Start the day off right.

Being each day with five minutes of positive thought and

visualization. Commit to this for one week. When and how do you plan to fit this into

your schedule?

______________________________________________________________________

2. Make a list of five virtues you believe in. Examples would include patience,

compassion, and helping the less fortunate.

______________________________________________________________________

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Human Relations MGMT611

3. Each week, for the next five weeks, incorporate a different virtue into your life.

On a sample index card, write this week's virtue in bold letter, such as "helping the less

fortunate." Post the card in a prominent place. After you have completed one incident

of helping the less fortunate, describe in about 10 to 25 words that you did. Also record

the date and time.

______________________________________________________________________

4. Look for good things about new acquaintances. List three students, customers,

or coworkers you have just met. List three positive qualities about each.

______________________________________________________________________

5. List the positive qualities of fellow students or coworkers you dislike or have trouble

working with.

Remember, keep looking for the good.

______________________________________________________________________

6. Think of school assignments or job tasks you dislike and write down the merits of

these tasks. Identify the benefits they bring you.

Source: Dubrin, Andrew J. `Human Relations: Career and Personal Success', Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

References:

Dubrin, A.J. (2005). Human Relations: Career and Personal Success. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,

07458.

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