Happiness

LittleBitHappier

Happiness is a state of mind. It is influenced by four elements. I call them Four Pillars of Happiness. These are – Health, Money, Relationships, and Mindfulness. Happiness rests on these four pillars. When either of them is unbalanced, it effects our happiness. No one in this world is completely happy, all the time. Things happen. Life happens!

But all of us can improve upon our happiness, a little bit at a time. Overtime, we develop skills to cope with unhappy elements and work on them – to be a little bit happier.

As with anything, in order to fix anything, first we have to know what to fix! We need to identify the source of unhappiness, diagnose it, understand it, analyze it, and figure out the solution. Then we need to have the courage to fix them. Most problems in life can be fixed – if not completely, but at least a little bit. We can improve most situations, if we try. So, let’s try to understand these four pillars.

Four Pillars of Happiness

  • Good Health – This is the most important pillar. If we are in any kind of physical pain, from minor headaches to a life threatening illness, it is difficult to be happy. Staying healthy is the key, before we get sick. Prevention is always better than cure. This includes eating healthy, exercising on a regular basis, and engage in positive activities. When we do get sick sometimes, most often it is temporary, sometimes it may be chronic, and in some cases, it may be worse. But, in any situation, we can learn to adapt and improve our chances and happiness.
  • Financial Freedom – I was trying to think of a better word for this, but there is no substitute. Bottom line is, living costs money. Food, shelter clothing and everything else costs money. If we don’t have it, even for the basic living, it is not possible to be not worried and unhappy. Here also, something can always be done to improve. At least we can try!
  • Positive Relationships – This is often the biggest cause of unhappiness. We the humans deal with relationships every day. At work, at home, everywhere. We have to deal with co-workers, bosses, spouses, children, while shopping, restaurants, everywhere. Some are fleeting encounters, while others are unavoidable. People can both make us happy, and unhappy. We need to understand each relationship we have and develop coping strategies.
  • Engaged Mind – In fact, I wanted to call this pillar Mind Engagement. But it may be difficult to grasp without some explanation. Mind Engagement means having something to do and something that we enjoy doing. As the old saying goes, an idol mind is devils workshops. When we have nothing positive and interesting to focus on, we get bored. Negative thoughts creep in. Mind wanders. Anxiety and depression after creep in. It becomes especially difficult after retirement. Therefore, it is important to find something to get interested in, that we enjoy doing, and offer us an opportunity to engage with other people.

Workshops

I conduct workshops on how we can be a LittleBitHappier. I walk through each pillar and help you analyze your situation. I suggest strategies how to work on improving on each pillar. But, I DO NOT offer any solutions. No one can. No one can make anyone else happy. Only we can make ourselves, or a LittleBitHappier. It is often said, happiness is a choice. After careful analysis of my own life over 50 plus years, I have come to realize and accept this fact. Most often unhappiness came in my life, it was due to the choice I made in the given situation. Looking back, I could have made a different choice. Why we make the choices we make, that is a very complicated question. Some choices are unavoidable; they are imposed on us. But we can do something about many others, if we chose it It often takes courage and effort.

I have spent my entire life in data analysis. Therefore, by nature, training, and experience, I take a data driven and fact-based approach to most things, both consciously and sub-consciously. The program I have designed for LittleBitHappier also works well with this approach.

Please do check my professional profile on LinkedIn at the following link.

If you are interested in attending a Workshop, please let me know in comments below. If enough are interested, at least ten, I will organize a workshop.

DISCLAIMER

I am not any kind of LICENSED THERAPIST or a PROFESSIONAL. I do NOT offer any solutions. I simply share my life experiences, thoughts, and ideas. I only help people think through in a guided manner to discover their own solutions.