The Three Keys to Happiness

Pleasure, Challenge & Meaning

Each on their own is insufficient to create enduring happiness but together, or even better, combined, they do have capacity to aid in our happiness.

Pleasure - is about creating immediate, positive sensations.  Sensory things like a nice bath, a massage, a glass of wine do this.  Emotional triggers can also produce pleasure - like laughing at a joke.  These pleasures are often short lived but highly enjoyable at the time.

Challenge - these are the things that stretch us, that expand our capability.  Interestingly enough, the things that challenge us may often not give us sensory pleasure at the time but will produce a sense of accomplishment after the event.  The sorts of things that challenge us may include:

• doing something we are skilled at or that uses our strengths
• learning new skills
• solving something difficult or challenging
• persisting when the outcome is in doubt

Meaning - this is generally the notion that our actions (be they work or play) contribute to something that we consider worthwhile.  Meaning is derived from a sense of greater purpose.  For example, a cleaner at NASA was asked what he did,

"Helping to put man on Mars" was his reply.

Now.  While each of these things are good in their own right the magic really happens when these things are combined.  The diagram shows the overlapping areas, if you can combine two or even three things the theory suggests you're going to get great satisfaction from it.

So.  How does knowing that help me?  Unfortunately, it doesn't much right now.  I'm in a bit of a funk as I lost another chunk of work the other day that I could scarcely afford to lose.  I s'pose it helps to make sense why I get pleasure from doing things that when doing them, I'm wondering why in the heck I'm actually doing it (challenge).  It also raises the question "what the hell do I take meaning from?" and as for pleasure, I'm finding it hard to feel like I deserve to do things that are 'pleasurable' so that's off the radar for now.  :-(

I guess what I've got to do is slap myself, sit down and think about what my life is meant to be about.  I think the meaning aspect is the bit that's really missing for me.  I used to think my work was meaningful but the seed of doubt has been well and truly sown when clients keep cancelling.  Although its not really their fault, GFC's floods and cyclones ARE a little unpredictable, but still if my services are so quickly dropped, then it's hard to convince myself they see it as valuable. 

On a positive note.  I literally dragged myself to Crossfit tonight, still feeling a little sick (flu) and managed to punch out a really good session.  Funny that, the times you really don't want to go or think you can't often turn out to be the best workouts.  Is that a fact or is it more about low expectations?  You tell me.

Till next time.

Be Happy.