Happiness/Have a Happy Job

<Happiness How can we be happy in our profession?

Wikipedia: ''Despite a large body of positive psychological research into the relationship between happiness and productivity, happiness at work has traditionally been seen as a potential by-product of positive outcomes at work, rather than a pathway to success in business. However a growing number of scholars, Boehm and Lyubomirsky included, state that it should be viewed as one of the major sources of positive outcomes in the workplace. The use of positive psychology in business has become an increasingly popular and valuable tool with which to manage and develop staff. One of the main benefits to a business with a well-planned and well-run program is increased productivity through greater output and less down time. Through a successful positive psychology program, staff can develop a deeper satisfaction in their workplace relationships, and therefore the quality of their work tends to improve, as well. A proactive business manager in today’s business world caters to the needs of his or her staff either by ensuring a well-run in-house program or by bringing in experts to facilitate the development of one.''

The choice of profession
(Nils) My son has graduated the high school. Now he faces the big question, what profession he should adopt. What should I advise him? The choice of profession is a very important decision in one's life. I think about the situation.

My son is grown now. This means that he is principally responsible for his own life. He must make his own decision. If he makes a bad decision, he will have to bear the resulting suffering. If he makes a good decision, he will receive the blessing. I'm aware that I am no longer responsible for his life. I give the responsibility for the right career choice entirely to my son. I let him decide this question.

Nevertheless, I should have an opinion on the subject of career choice: "The more information you have and the more thoroughly you think about a decision, the better is the decision. Especially with the career choice you should make the best possible decision. You should find out just about all imaginable professions. You should analyze your own interests and capabilities thoroughly. You should think about your personal life goals. You should take enough time and decide when the time is ripe for decision. Then you should consistently and successfully go your way. Thus live winners. This gives you a successful life."

So what is my advice to my son? First, it occurs to me that he should think long term. He should not think only until tomorrow, but until the day after his death. He should have his whole life in the eye and ask what he wants to achieve in his life. Does he want a good career, a lot of money, lots of external consumption and enjoyment? Does he want to help with his work to build up a happy world? Or is it the main goal for him to develop his inner happiness and to become enlightened?

A great master of inner happiness was Swami Sivananda. He said: "Let your hands work in service to humanity. Work that is done for your ego, bonds you. Work done for the common good, frees the soul." What does this mean? If we focus ourselves on the happiness of all beings, this resolves the long term our inner tensions. We strengthen the positive in ourselves. We are developing an awareness of the unity of the world. A unity consciousness activates the Kundalini energy and leads to enlightenment. The way of embracing love (Karma Yoga), in conjunction with enough rest and daily spiritual exercises (reading, prayer, yoga, mediation, walking) causes enlightenment. Our profession makes us happy, and even creates a happy world around us.

If a person works on the other hand primarily for his individual benefit, it reinforces on the long run more and more his ego structures. It strengthens his attachment to the body, to external things, to other people, to worldly pleasures and worldly recognition. He lives primarily for his ego and by this he creates growing internal tensions. His inner happiness shrinks in the long term. He has less and less inner peace, inner strength and positivity. He grows more and more into the inner suffering. We can see this clearly at the most working people.

What is a karma-yoga job? A karma-yoga profession is a profession in which the main goal is not making money, but the work for the common good. Ultimately, almost all professions can be practiced as a karma-yoga job. Inner happiness comes more from the subjective view (positive thinking) as from the external activity. Although there is a correlation between the two areas. It is most important, that we can see our profession primarily as a karma-yoga job. The point is, when does your subconscious believe that you are living primarily for the happiness of the world. We should structure our lifes so that a karma-yoga-consciousness arises. We should do a sufficient number of daily karma yoga activities. We should begin each day with spiritual exercises and finish. Then we will be happy in our job and our life in the long term.

I worked my whole life for a happy world. The money came somehow always by its own. I only had to take it and to be economical with it. And I was always happy in my job. I did many jobs. As a schoolboy I was a class president. As a student I was a political leader. I was a lawyer. I was a researcher at an university. Then I worked as a psychotherapist, yoga teacher and writer. My relationship came to an end, my son was grown up and I turned to be a hermit. This for me is a fulfilled and a grace-full life. I got to know the whole life and my focus is on God. I look positively into the future. In my feeling the light is with me.

Stress at work
Too much stress is one of the main problems of today's professional life. Someone who is constantly under immense stress, in the long run harms their health and inner happiness.They foster negativity, becomes weak and often suffer with various illnesses as a result. Those who do not learn to deal with stress exhaust themselves physically and mentally.

The root cause of job stress lies in our current economic environment. It creates profit for a small number of people and the majority of the world population suffers from increasing poverty and destitution. It produces on the one hand a lot of unemployment and on the other side many working people having an extreme pressure in their job. In the long term we need to make the inner happiness to the center of a new economic world order. The economy must be organized so that it provides everyone with sufficient food and labor, that the health of the working people is protected, that there is no destruction of the environment, and that the inner happiness grows. Not the profit (the money), but the love must be the engine of world economy. In the short term we will have to live with the unwisdom of the ruling politicians. The more important it is that all people care good for themselves and secondly, that we work as powerful as possible for a better world.

Every working person has to do enough exercises every day for his body and his soul. With a lot of stress at work for everyone a daily health and relaxation program is absolutely necessary. The law of life is relentless. Who does not care for his body has not very long something from it. A well maintained car lasts twice as long as a badly treated car. A human body can live 20 to 30 years longer if he is properly fed, sufficiently relaxed and moved well. Who wants to live healthy, must first take a clear decision. Only this gives him the self-discipline for a healthy life. He must clearly define his health goals and create a strong will to do the necessary things. Just then man has the strength to live a long healthy and positive life.

Second, one must look closely at his life situation. One has to recognize what his body and his mind exactly needs. One must consider how to organize his life so that long-term he maintains his health and increases his happiness. One must create a clear daily schedule of sport, relaxation and a healthy diet.

Third, you have to implement your health care plan at least two months every day consistently. Then your mind gets used to it. The daily health practices are then part of your life.

Incorporate the necessary health exercises creativity in your life. At least you should go for a walk on the weekend for an hour. You can meditate on the train or during breaks at work. You can use any contact with your fellow human beings to practice love and full of positive thinking. The big secret for more energy while working is to sensitively put many small breaks in the workday. Anyone who takes a break five minutes every hour, doubles his work force.

Chronic stress we must avoid. If we cannot work long term in our profession relaxed enough, we are not suited for the job. Then we have to change something in our life. We should always think long term. Our job should feed us, and he should contribute to the happiness of all beings. He should not destroy us in our health and inner well-being. If our work over calls us, we must reorganize something, work less, or if necessary, change our profession.

The most important thing in life is to live in the essence. The essence of life is health and happiness. We should take good care of us. Who cares good for himself, sometimes must say "no". He must say "no" to self-defeating thoughts and self-injurious behavior. We alone are responsible for our life. We should organize our lifes so that we at the end are happy with us. Not our job is the center of our life, but the spirituality. If you look at things this way, you can live much more relaxed. You can work relaxed. And you can let go your profession, if it needs to be. You set the priorities in your life right. Those who live by the right goals, know when and how they have to act.

The Happy Manager
(Quotes from Managerin glücklich.doc) How to discern the happy manager?

First. The happy manager is a lover of life. In practice, it depends on what you do with what you know. Knowledge is universal, situational practice, and each situation is unique. So the knowledge is never enough to cope with situations. This requires the wise person: self-willed, resourceful, inspired.

Second. The happy manager as role model. People orient themselves to humans, not methods. In the company it is not different to schools. Students learn, if they love their teachers. Employees work well, if they admire their boss. Small example from the school sector. A class in Switzerland ruined in two years six teachers. Now comes the seventh one, a 25-year-old woman teacher. Will she make it? "Yes," said one girl, "I see it in her eyes." The eyes are the window to the soul. As will be seen: love of life, happiness, strength, humor. Students need an incarnate desire to learn. To see their teacher it can show them that it pays to get involved in learning.

Third. The professional knowledge is of little use, if we don´t love our work. We must like what we are doing: the product, the service. Otherwise we'll never find in our element. The happy manager has a libidinal relationship to his product. He treats his product as the lover his beloved, spoiled it, refined it, brings it in top form. The customers see it on the product that it is loved. And they use it, what makes the manager completely happy.