MONDAY BYTES – May 19, 2014
When and why does happiness occur in your work life?
In his terrifically fun and thought-provoking TED talk Happiness by Design Stefan Sagmeister makes a list of clear moments of happiness in his life and finds that over half are design-related.
Sagmeister goes on to unpack happiness relative to design work. He discusses the possibility of design generating happiness for others.
And it’s tantalizing to consider how you can design happiness for yourself by focusing on generating happiness for others.
Of course, it’s easy to assume that our work as musicians brings happiness to our audiences through our performances and recordings.
But what about our ongoing daily work? This may be another story: what are we bringing to rehearsals and in our teaching and administrative work that generates happiness in others?
In the best scenarios, we can, in our daily interactions and through our work, generate happiness for ourselves as well as our audiences, students, colleagues, funders, etc.
Consider: are we doing our work for ourselves, for own gratification, or are we doing it for others?
Think of this as the good Karma approach to happiness: ask yourself, what’s the positive energy you are putting into the world today?
For this week: notice opportunities in your daily work where you can help generate happiness for others (because it will come back to you multiplied).
Note: This isn’t about pleasing others or being a doormat. It’s about celebrating what’s good in others and what’s delightful and energizing in life. It’s about being fully present.
As always, I’m interested in your experience with any of this and your feedback!
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Dream big, Plan smart, Live well!
