Book 2 Post 2
After finishing the Happiness Track, I felt like I had learned a lot about the real life applications of how the principles of well-being and happiness can be used. I thought it was very thought-provoking and inspiring to hear a well-established and successful author and woman of Emily Seppala argue that success and happiness are not mutually exclusive, and in fact they go hand-in-hand (or at least, that is a healthy way to view life).
One takeaway I had overall was that self-compassion and self-care is extremely important and cannot be ignored or delayed in the name of productivity or “getting things done”. In fact, productive procrastination and being present in the current moment is paramount in ensuring you can genuinely and substantively connect with both yourself and others around you. Forming and maintaining positive and meaningful social connections is a powerful source of happiness for many and a must for feeling fulfilled and supported.
I appreciated the examples of the companies like Next Jump and Lewis’ law firm, both of which implemented programs and tests on their employees to see how happiness and mindfulness tactics affect their lives. At Next Jump, they encouraged many personal development opportunities and offered programs and workshops, along with yoga and meditation classes, food education and implementation, and work-life balance sessions. I liked seeing how this improved the lives and turnover of employees, and even increased revenues! Culture is so important at companies, so in my current career thought-process this story solidified the importance of a company caring about its employees and their happiness over just focusing on “success” in a traditional sense.
Hi Claire, I had a speaker in one of my classes talk solely about self-compassion and its importance. Her lessons really stuck with me. It is okay to be easy on yourself sometimes and learn to love yourself! We often are too hard on ourselves and cause unnecessary stress and unhappiness in our own lives. I loved the examples you mentioned of programs companies offer to enhance personal wellness. The increase productivity proves how important preserving your mental health is. I liked reading your post!
ReplyDeleteI like the comment "success and happiness are not mutually exclusive." There's such a push for people to slave away in the corporate world in order to be successful, even if that comes at the expense of personal happiness. I think it's great to remind everyone that the definitions of these concepts are relative and can happen simultaneously!
ReplyDeleteHi Claire, I like your focus on how self-care and self-compassion cannot be compromised for productivity. I think as students in a competitive program, that can be easy to forget. At the end of the day, taking care of yourself should come first and productivity can build off of that.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a super interesting read. I completely identify with the idea that we need meaningful social connections to feel fulfilled. I would categorize myself as someone who actively needs to be surrounded by supportive friends 24/7 to feel fulfilled. It's nice to hear that companies are considering their employees well being and happiness.
ReplyDeleteClaire, I like how you mention that self care cannot be sacrificed for the sake of productivity. This is something I have been struggling with recently but have been working on remembering. I've found that setting aside time to myself makes me less burnt out and tired, which ultimately makes me more productive in the end. This book sounds like it was a really valuable read!
ReplyDeleteClaire, I like how you mentioned that self care and self compassion cant be delayed in the name of productivity. I think our society views self care as coming second in a lot of instances especially in America as I believe it is common for people to feel overworked and stressed out. I believe a good balance between work and maintaining social connections is a way to increase the quality of one's life.
ReplyDeleteHi Claire! This seems like an interesting book to read, I really liked how you included some of the programs companies have implemented to help achieve a healthy work-life balance. I think that sometimes it is really easy to forget that we need to prioritize our self care as well!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog post on the Happiness Track as your takeaway is one that is highly relatable. It is definitely important to remember to prioritize self-care and compassion. Oftentimes, I become overwhelmed with responsibilities and prioritize completing work before caring for myself, however I find that remembering to give time to care for yourself allows me to be a more productive person. I think I will give this book a read in the future.
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