When most of us think of happiness, there are two words that often creep into our minds. ‘If’ and ‘when’. If I can achieve x% growth this year, I will be happy. When I reach x amount of clients, I will be happy. Amongst small business owners, happiness is always seen as a destination, somewhere that we will reach when certain goals have been reached, or certain conditions have been satisfied. But how many times have you thought like that and nothing has changed after you’ve reached your goal? There’s always something new to be achieved, so where does it end?
Well, it doesn’t. And that’s because we mix up happiness and achievement. Achievements are great because by setting ourselves goals, we strive to be better than we are now, but they are not the be all and end all of happiness. They certainly factor in how happy we are, but there is something more, something deeper to being truly happy.
Happiness is, of course, experienced and measured differently by each person but as entrepreneurs in the same boat, we probably all have quite similar metrics. Revenue, growth, profit and so on. Our guest on this episode of the number one small business podcast is going to talk us through why most of us have this whole happiness thing back to front. Rather than achieving success in order to gain happiness, we should be making sure that we are happy in order to achieve success.
Rather than burning ourselves out chasing success at work, we should be focusing on making ourselves happy and then there is a greater chance of achieving success. Think of it this way. If you are stressed out, tired, irritable and grouchy, are you going to be working at your very peak? How about if you’re relaxed, calm, content and focused? Now, that doesn’t mean that running a business will always be the most relaxing experience, but there are steps that any of us can take to enjoy a little more happiness. They don’t take up a great deal of time and the benefits to our lives and businesses can be huge.
Frederika Roberts is joining us to discuss her work and how focusing on happiness before success can do wonders for us, our families and our businesses.
Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:
How can I make sure that I am focused on my happiness while running a small business?
About Frederika:
Frederika Roberts is an expert in happiness, a renowned public speaker and workshop leader, social media marketing specialist and author. As the Happiness Speaker, Frederika has shared her expertise with businesses, government organizations, schools and charities. Her seminars and workshops aim to help those in attendance become happier, more resilient and more successful at achieving their goals.
Frederika is with us on this episode of Excellence Expected to share some of her experiences and wisdom on the topic of how small business owners can be happier, healthier and more productive.
Actionable Tips:
* Volunteer your time. Research shows that altruism is being selfishly selfless because helping others can have a great impact on your own life. Giving your time, when you don’t have so much of it, will give you an enormous sense of wellbeing and help those in need. Be nice, help people out and say yes to conversations and it will come back to you in many different ways.
* Exercise and laugh. It’s really important to find ways to laugh even when you’re not in the mood. Check out laughter yoga on YouTube and you will get an abdominal and facial workout and you’ll release endorphins and reduce the amount of cortisol in your body. It will clear your mind and make you so much more productive. Exercise has the same effect and it doesn’t need to be a heavy workout at the gym. Even something like dancing around your living room can have an energizing effect on your body and mind.
