12 Ways to Discover Your Happiness
Living with a positive and healthy mindset while being productive and enjoying WFH is a challenge for many during these turbulent times, especially for IT and BPM professionals who work around the clock, spending more screen time. Within the past 2 years, we’ve all faced many challenges, yet have we given due importance to our mental wellbeing which is a vital contributor to our Happiness? VitalHub Innovations Lab thought this to be a very timely topic, especially coinciding with the World Mental Health Day which falls on 10th October every year.
Prof. Piyanjali de Zoysa, Clinical Psychologist at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo joined VitalHub Innovations Lab in providing insights to IT and BPM professionals with 12 Strategies to Discover Your Happiness.
1. Realize – We all need to understand that our lives are a combination of challenges and good times which are inevitable.
2. Actual sources of Happiness -
· Joy and regular happiness (hedonistic) - Though some happiness is short-lived, they are essential for human life. Eg: enjoying your favorite coffee
· Living a meaningful life - If we need more long standing and deeper sense of happiness, we need to do more work on ourselves. We need to live a meaningful life. Long standing happiness is achieved through experiences of meaning and purpose
· Psychologically enriching experiences - Those are the experiences given by challenging life situations. It broadens our perspectives of life if we allow it to be broadened
3. Consider - Life gives us great opportunities to consider and understand what life is. Such opportunities are rare in our usually hectic lives. We can use these opportunities to develop a better version of our lives.
4. Living in the Present - Living in the past or living in the unknown future is not very healthy. We can get depression if we live in the past, or anxiety if we dream too much on the unknown future. As a result, we can be overtaken by all the unwholesome emotions like anger, worry, frustration etc. The best is to live in the present with complete awareness.
5. Count Blessings – Be grateful for what we have. Think of how blessed we are rather than complaining. Eg: Maintain a Gratitude Journal every night.
6. Altruism - We can be good and kind to others. It’s going beyond our gain, for the well-being of others. It gives a deep sense of upliftment.
7. Be Connected - Our connections with other people and friends are the best source of happiness. We can call or text them to see how they are doing.
8. Spirituality – Connecting with religious teachings broadens horizons of our perspective on life. It brings about a sense of calmness within us.
9. Humor - Humor is the greatest softener of the mind. If you feel low or sad, listen to happy music, watching humorous movies and associate with friends who will uplift your spirits
10. Maintain Your Daily Routine - Having a structure in life is very important. Have a schedule for everything you do. Eg time for exercise, time for sufficient sleep etc.
11. Limit – Limit exposure to news sources as there is a high possibility of getting fake news and information from unknown sources. Check only the legitimate sources when necessary Eg: During the pandemic watching too much of news, social media posts on the pandemic, fake forward messages
12. Box Breathing- This is a technique of reducing anxiety and panic.
Breathe in 4 counts, hold 4 counts, breathe Out 4 counts and hold 4 counts. Repeat this. This method has an effect on the body can reduce anxiety
VitalHub Innovations Lab hopes, IT and BPM professionals are empowered to Discover their Happiness through enriching their mental wellbeing.
Special thanks to SLASSCOM for being the Strategic Partner of this webinar.
Recording of the full webinar can be accessed below.