Dr Rajesh K Pillania
Last week, on March 20, the world celebrated the International Day of Happiness, and for a few days, there will be heightened interest in and discussions of happiness. This interest and discussion are good, but one needs to find the right way to make happiness a part of one’s daily life.
The secret of a happy life is a happy daily life.
Oneneeds to start working on the happiness journey by working on each day. To do this, divide the day into three significant parts.
The first part is the right start of the day. Start the day with three simple steps. Be happy about getting one more day of life. Make the bed. Making the bed sends the signal to the brain that one has completed the task of sleep, and it is a good feeling to start the day with the achievement of the completion of a task. Start the practice of meditation, maybe with a 60-second meditation to begin with. Be consistent and keep increasing the duration as one gets used to it.
The second part is the rest of the day. Before breakfast, work out, do yoga, or play sports. Throughout the day, from breakfast to work to lunch to end of work, alternate between work and some short breaks of as little as a few minutes to do some fun stuff one enjoys, which may be having a coffee, a quick chat with a friend, take a short walk, a one-minute meditation and so on. Research in brain science shows that peak concentration works best for about forty-five minutes, so taking one to five minutes to take a break after every hour is good.
Those one to five minutes should be used for things that make one happy.In any stress/failure situation, after one has done one’s best, get one’s learning from it, and let it go. It will also pass. Just take a few deep breaths, laugh and move on. Stay focused on what matters for better work and save time for yourself. After work, spend some relaxing time playing sports or with family or friends.
The third part is a happy ending to the day. One can do simple and relaxing activities such as writing in a gratitude diary about some positives from the day, however small they might be. To start with, follow it up with a few minutes of meditation. Finally, close the day with a smile.
When taken daily, these simple, small steps build a life of lasting happiness. These simple things, shared here are based on research in happiness across multiple disciplines. This has worked for a number of my students, and it should work for you, too.
(The author is a Professor at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon)
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