So I started thinking, is happiness a teachable skill? And therefore, can we learn how to be happy at work despite it not filling our souls or not being our “purpose”?

To answer my own question I went back to Martin Seligman’s book “Authentic happiness”. The preface told me that studies show that we have a predetermined level of happiness already set in us, and you can’t change that particular level. That is why primarily unhappy people will never feel happy in the long run and neither primarily happy people will feel unhappy forever.

However, despite this setting, which can be lower or higher, there is another happiness level that we can modify, increase and keep high long term.

Happiness seems to be based on values such as hope, secutity and trust. Can we learn about them when what we do for a living sucks, when we are scared about our future?

Seligman goes on to say that empoverished, depressed and suicidal people worry about more things than just easing their suffering. They worry, at times with desperation, about virtue, purpose, integrity and meaning. He also points that the experiences provoking positive emotions make negative emotions to vanish quickly.

It turns out that whenever it takes us the use of our virtues and strengths, the positive experience lasts longer and makes your life better.

Ok, then having bad experiences and overcoming them through the use of my virtues and strengths makes that my memory of them don’t last as much as those where I either couldn’t overcome them or where I got a struck of luck.

This brought me to a post by Bob Sutton about the good aspects of having a bad boss. His point is that if we didn’t have bad bosses, we wouldn’t think about changing the way things are, we wouldn’t be better.

My questions then turned more metaphysical: do we really have to go through hell to reach heaven at work? How long does heaven last? Is there a correlation between how much heaven lasts and the amount of time we spent in work hell? Is there a higher purpose then for bosses and coworkers from hell?

I don’t have answers for that.

In any case, happiness as a broad concept, according to Seligman, can’t be taught (therefore learnt), the same way we can’t learn enlightment. It’s a subproduct of something else.

There is still hope though. What we can learn is how to develop our strengths in order to live a better life every day, hence, to also have a better worklife despite our “karmic” place in the corporate/business food chain.

We can learn to find meaning in our life, in what we do. That is something we can do, something we can learn. Happiness is not a competition with others, it’s just raising the bar for ourselves every day.

We raise that bar with our virtues and stregths.

Now, where’s that program again?

It’s my favorite trance song, and whenever I go road tripping in Europe, I feel Like I’m inside the video.

Turn up the volume, enjoy.

For several reasons, lately all I’ve done is work, eat and sleep. Ok, add to that commuter time, hygiene and a rock concert.

The fact remains that I’ve been utterly uninspired to write. I’ve been reading way too many technical things and all I could write about was just more technical stuff.

When you are unispired to do what you do for a living, a.k.a. “losing your mojo”, even temporarily, we have a problem.

You can find inspiration in everything going on around you. Every single thing can be related to a topic, to an experience, to a learning opportunity. However, the last 10 days my brain hasn’t picked up anything inspiring, which brings me to the subject of perception.

In PR school I was taught that perception is everything and we had countless courses about it. Why do you notice certain things at a precise moment and not another? There are libraries written on that. The research is fascinating, pointing to how the brain saves energy focusing consciously on certain aspects while your unconscious focuses on the whole.

That is very informative but, how do I consciously go back to finding inspiration in the events that surround me?

This week I have been exploring it and my findings are these:

1. be conscious about what is going on that drains your inspiration energy

2. consciously change your focus

3. force yourself to go back to what inspired you in the past

4. make time for reflection

I’ll go one by one.

1. Be conscious about what is going on that drains your inspiration energy

It could be that you’re working too much, or that you’re going through extraordinary circumstances. Do a mental inventory of all the events cluttering your life. In my case it’s been filling my coaching practice after launching a new business venture (nevermind I have a day job). This new business fills me with a lot more joy than my previous ventures so I’m naturally drawn to working a lot on it. Also I’m remodelling my flat and since I live alone, I’m the only one to deal with contractors.

2. Consciously change your focus

When you are clear on what is keeping the energy away from you, it is a lot easier to get the steps to deal with it. You can organize your schedule differently, you can choose to stop doing certain things, you can delegate or even find help. Instead of focusing on what you still have to do, you could focus on all you have accomplished so far. Just like seeing the glass half empty or half full. I chose to focus less on work and more on things that make me happy. Take yesterday: I didn’t have dinner while preparing more food, I actually sat down, in silence -no TV, no radio, no nothing- and focused on chewing. It’s called mindful awareness.

3. Force yourself to go back to what inspired you in the past

People get inspired by a variety of things, for example, a sunset, a dog in the park, a person on the train. Others get inspired by movies, books, quotes. There are certain activities or objects that were useful to draw inspiration in your past. Use them. Don’t try to find new sources as a muse, go that way only if the old tricks don’t work. If your brain is too overwhelmed, starting with familiar things will ease the stress. What I did? I read some inspirational blogs I like, like Zen Habits and The Happiness Project. That alone inspired me again. In fact, Leo Babauta’s post on inspiration, inspired me to write about… inspiration! See how it works?

4. Make time for reflection

What is all the money and fame worth if you don’t even realize you have them in the first place? If you are operating on automatic pilot, you cannot rave in your successes simply because you don’t have time, and maybe you don’t know you’ve “made it”. Take time to reflect and to ponder upon your accomplishments. Feel the joy of a job well done. Bask in the way you’re helping people, how the world is a bit better because you are in it. Does it feel selfish? Then embrace being selfish! Being uniquely you and doing things right is great in a world of copycats and cons. Enjoy being you.

Getting inspiration is not a matter of  ”doing” things but more about “being” yourself  in the midst of a cluttered life, of finding what brings joy to your day and applying it consciously.

Are you temporarily uninspired?  How important is it to get your mojo back?

Lately, I have been managing way too many things at the same time, in the same 24 hours we all have. Prioritizing didn’t work because most things were showing up after some other project was already under way.

An then there were emergencies. Real emergencies, like a pipe getting broke in my kitchen.

All while trying to keep a job, 2 hours of commute time a day, private clients, having a life and doing my best to take care of myself (forget the gym).

My answer to my own question is 3. More than 3 projects is way too much for me if I want to stay healthy and sane. Alas, last week I even got sick with a cold, I couldn’t afford to be in bed getting better.

This week looks a bit better. Emergencies have been taken care of. Not finished but the worst is over. Major projects for this week are under control, not perfect, but at least done enough to require only touch ups. I managed to get 2 days for myself after work later this week (now THAT is a luxury in my life). Saturday hell is breaking lose again unless I can organize my time.

What are your favorite strategies to put some order into real chaos?

What is it? It can be resumed in what consequences will your actions have in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years from now.

How exactly do you go by knowing how your decision will affect the next 10-increments in your life?

Suzy Welch, author of 10-10-10 A life Transforming Idea explained it like this for Oprah radio:

 1.- Decide on what you’re deciding. Make a decision about what issue needs to be addressed.

 2.- identify all of your options. Go beyond just yes or no and do target all options in between.

 3.- Look at the consequences that each option will bring to your life in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years.

 The trick comes in identifying your authentic values and contract them to your 10-10-10 consequences. You can explore your values by asking yourself questions like these:

• Who am I?
• How do I want to live?
• What are my goals?
• What do I stand for?
• What matters to me?

We all feel at a crossroads at some time, every week. I know I do. I’ll start applying this strategy and see what comes up, I’m pretty sure it will help me navigate everyday life easier.

Resources:

• 10-10-10 A Life Transforming Idea by Suzy Welch

I do have chaotic days both at the office and in my side business (on many occasions on the same day). Often, my brain reaches a state of oversaturation where I am forced to either stop all my activity or face having to re-do all my work because of the mistakes I make.

So I have complied a series of resources for myself that help me to center and rebalance while I’m surrounded by chaos. Here are my top 5:

1.- Make yourself some tea

There is something zen about drinking tea. It really doesn’t have to be any particular type of infusion. The idea is to get up, walk away from your desk and watch the bag soak in the hot water for a while. That and cooling down the tea will give you some precious minutes. Sometimes that’s all you need.

2.- Organize your workspace

Decide to stop doing what you’re doing and organize yourself happy. Getting your desk clutter free will keep you happier and even more productive. Besides that, it’s a good excuse to take a break and make you focus on something totally different.

3.- Go for a walk outside

If you are allowed, make up the excuse that you’re hungry and must get some food now and get out of the office. I work in front of a gas station so, sometimes, I just grab my wallet and go get myself a soda or a chocolate. I come back soon but just the act of changing the air for 10 minutes is enough to slow me down.

4.- Deliver those documents to the other side of the office or building, in person

Sometimes you’re not allowed or it is against your best judgment to leave the premises. In that case, you can always play the internal mailboy and deliver that envelope yourself or you can say that you must go pick up [fill in the blank] at some other department. It’s an elegant way to leave your desk and grab some other office’s air.

5.- Mini meditations

If your internet surfing is not tracked, these mini meditations are a favorite. I used to watch them using my noise-isolating buds. They work. Now all internet my activity is tracked at work but I can use them at home to unwind and refresh my brain. If you have ore than 1 minutes, try these meditations.

What are your favorite ways to slow down?

Let’s try to wake up and pretend we’re teens listening to The Rasmus’ “In the Shadows”.

I learnt at the Sibelius Museum in Turku, Finland, that this song produced more royalties for Finland than all of Sibelius works all the time. Not sure if that’s good or bad. What I do know is that everybody is a goth in Finland. Must be the weather. Black hair-dye is a serious business all ove rthe country and parturis (hair salons) abound. That’s why you’ll notice blond beards and black hair in the video.

So, turn on your speakers, click play, let it buffer, and wake up.

• Business owners are the happiest, followed by professionals and by managers/executives
• Those 3 categories are those with the highest household incomes

However, not only the rich are happy.

• Those working in farming, fishing and forestry are the 4th happiest worker category even thou their income gets tied with the lowest earning categories.

Here are my thoughts on this.

Those working in contact with nature are normally the kind of people who would die in an office or factory. They value freedom over toys and couldn’t care less about running a business or going up the corporate ladder. To me it’s all about having a different value system.

Would I name them part of the self-actualization crowd (in Maslow’s terms)? Probably not, but then, it could be a prejudice coming from my big-city, corporate girl mindset.

I don’t know much about farmers et al. I know more about business owners, professionals and managers/executives.

According to myself, those 3 categories can be labelled as the self-actualization strata crowd described by Maslow. Why? Because they’re past the rest of the basic needs we humans have.

Business owners are living their dream of being their own boss. Granted, sometimes it can feel like hell but for the most part, doing what they want must be the main reason why they’re the happiest group, even if they are making less money than professionals and managers/executives.

Professionals supposedly work in their chosen field. Since work is where we spend a big part of our day, if they have this part covered doing what the chose to do, they are a long way ahead of the pack (I can’t picture a child saying “when I grow up, I want to be a waiter, or a production line worker like that robot” while we all know a child who wants to be a vet, a pilot, an engineer, an astrophysicist -ok, the last one is a tough one-).

Managers and executives are a breed in themselves. One guess is that they love to compete and achieve better positions, and are generally happy they got themselves where they are. They can point to results, achievements and pats in the back. Plus, they make more than enough to cover basic needs. If that’s not enough to start making you happy, I don’t know what is.

The Yahoo article doesn’t point to gender. Are men and women in these categories equally happy?

It seems they aren’t. According to yet another survey going for 30 years now, women are a lot unhappier than men. There is an analysis of the results (and more questions than answers) in two posts Marcus Buckingham has written for the Huffington Post, read them here and here.

We are all looking for happiness. What is happiness after all? How do you know you ARE happy?

To me, it starts knowing that, at least, I’m NOT UNHAPPY.

How do you know on what side of the spectrum you are? How do you measure happiness in yoru own life?

I already said that I prefer tea to coffee and how it gives you tranquility while on a hectic day. Today I need to stay awake. And to be in a good mood because there is a company cocktail and since it’s THE time to mingle with big company names, I’d better smile a lot instead of wearing a frown. It would also be nice to be alert as I have my “wine tasting-in-French” course today (and I’m supposed to be speaking French, you know).

So, the challenge is, how do I stay awake without caffeine?

One of those energy drinks would awake me… but I won’t be able to sleep for the next 48hs.

Then there is coffee. I don’t like coffee. I will drink it if it’s very cold and there’s nothing else… but I will need milk. Forget black coffee, I can’t stand it.

After that comes tea. Less caffeine but it normally puts me to sleep.

Since I’m in Argentina, the “national” hot beverage is mate (yerba mate). It’s funny when I read of people in California who drink yerba mate in teabags as a sort of RedBull drink. Unbelievable what marketing can do. If mate would give you that, our people in the northeast, Uruguay, Paraguay and the south of Brazil would be rushing the whole day. And they don’t. Actually it’s the opposite.

Cool girl sipping mate

The image of the lazy gaucho sipping mate, crying over a lost life or a woman, nostalgic about the past, proves that mate will not give you the rush you’re looking for. Uruguayans have the hot water thermos surgically sewn to their armpit and they sip mate when having a stroll, on the train, in the street… and they’re very quiet and gentle people, very far from the Speedy Gonzalez image.

Mate is out of the equation too (hey, it does have quite a bit of vitamin C, good to guard against the flu).

What should I do then?

I’m going to keep myself intellectually challenged. Maybe that will tire me so much that I won’t think about my future tennants, the repairs in my flat, the launchings I’m doing and obviously the job I’m paid to do

What do YOU do to keepyourself awake?

Once because after 2 weeks in the job my manager decided he didn’t like me and that there was a “skin feel” issue (words used by the HR manager).

The second it was plain downsizing, me and many more were fired during a recession (and 2 days before my birthday! I will always be grateful for my “best” birthday ever… knowing I wouldn’t get a job again for… 2 years!) . Never mind there were “procedures” about how to fire people in that company.

I don’t know what managers think when they fire you. Usually it happens on a Friday, at the end of the month. Very original.

Anyway, in both cases there were clear signs that my days were numbered. If this is happenening to you, beware. Get a parachute, you’re going to fall.

1.- Your accesses are never restored

Many companies reset access to systems after a set number of days. After they expire, you must request or enter a new access. If your access is never restored and you only have access to your mail and your local drive, beware. They might tell you a variety of reasons why it’s happening but if your are the only one with problems, be scared.

2.- You are not given assignements

Funny how sometimes you see everybody buzzing from here to there, really nervous about deadlines and you have nothing to do. Nothing at all. Your coworkers surely know nothing, but your manager does. If you ask for work and there is an excuse, beware. No manager EVER will tell you there is nothing to do. There is always soemthing to do, even if it’s filing. If your manager has nothing to do as well, be very scared.

3.- The problem you had with your power co worker seems to have disappeared after talking to him… too good to be true?

Yes! You have been having problems with your coworker who happens to a management favorite. It’s so unbearable that one day you gather courage, you take him to a meeting room and you talk. You clear the air. You feel that it’s done and that you have reached an agreement. You think you will be able to work in peace now. Wrong. You’ll be fired. I saw this happen to two different people, in two different industries, in two different countries.

4.- Your manager avoids you blatantly

When you’re going to be fired, your manager is more scared than you. Unless he’s a pyscho, no matter how much he hates you, the moment the decision is taken, he has to tell you you’re fired. He doesn’t like this moment, mostly because he doesn’t know how you are going to react. They never tell you the real reasons why they are firing you and not someone else so he must tell you something credible. That is difficult because no matter what he says, you will fight back, his arguments will fall short and you will leave bitter and sad. If one day in particular your manager doesn’t dare to even say hello to you and runs to find refuge in his office, be very, very scared.

At the end of the day, there is nothing we can say or do to avoid being fired. No matter what you have done or haven’t done, what you said or didn’t say, once they decide YOU have to go, there’s no turning back.

The real reasons why you get fired in general have nothing to do with your productivity. It’s most likely political, that you were the last to arrive to the group or the first (and you’re now too expensive); or a matter of your attitude. Managers will prefer to keep the useless but gentle employee to the grumpy star. Unless you work in Wall Street, of course.

Have you been fired? What were your warning signs? Were the reasons they told you real or just an excuse? (managers, I know you’re supposedly smarter than me but, we always find out later why you really fired us).