More on happiness

Some time ago I wrote about the Happiness Tsar, and my second list on health and wellbeing reminded of him, because the list comes from the BBC who did a large-scale experiment on increasing the happiness and emotional wellbeing of a whole town. They also developed a happiness manifesto from which the following steps are taken:

1. Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week
2. Count your blessings - at the end of each day, reflect on at least five things you're grateful for.
3. Talk time - have an hour-long uninterrupted conversation with your partner or closest friend each week.
4. Plant something - even if it's a window box or pot plant. Keep it alive!
5. Cut your TV viewing in half.
6. Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger - at least once a day.
7. Phone a friend - make contact with at least one friend or relation you have not been in contact with for a while and arrange to meet up.
8. Have a good laugh at least once a day.
9. Every day make sure you give yourself a treat - take time to really enjoy this.
10. Daily kindness - do an extra good turn for someone each day.

My only quibble with some of these is that they assume a certain lifestyle already - it may not be possible for some people to treat themselves each day; nor might having a good laugh be a possibility. That aside, it isn't a bad list.

In the photo, Regina Spektor reacts to the welcome given her by the fans at the opening of her set.

Leaders keeping on learning

In the book, Supervision in the Helping Professions, the authors discuss the need to continue to learn and flourish in your work environment. Since this relates to National Mission's ongoing concern for the health of ministers and leaders in the church, I thought I'd add here a couple of lists they include in their chapter on the topic (notes in brackets are mine).

Firstly, in relation to being effective at work:

1. Be in love with learning. Stay at your learning edge and have a learning project.

2. Be clear about your learning style and keep expanding it. [Knowing your learning style helps you be sure that you're learning at your own pace, not at the pace of others.]

3. Attend to your emotional well-being.

4. Increase your capacity to relate to and engage with others. [They suggest going outside your comfort zone of people you relate to easily.]

5. Attend to your physical well-being - diet, exercise, sleep, breaks. [Days off!]

6. Have a personal or spiritual practice. [For Christian leaders, this means not neglecting those spiritual disciplines - they're often one of the first things to fall off this sort of a list.]

7. Find a group of good co-learners/fellow travellers. [People who encourage you - people who can mentor you.]

The second list will appear in a separate post.