High on Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘Productivity’

Here’s a secret about happiness:  As much as it loves us to be in motion, it also loves us to be at ease.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not talking about being lazy, about sitting back and doing nothing.  (That has its benefits, too, of course.  But that’s a story for another day.)

I’m talking about taking the pressure off, about giving up the stress and strife of comparing yourself and your actions to some artificial standard of perfection.  I’m talking about being at ease with who you are and about recognizing that you’re always doing the best that you can with whatever awareness you have at any given moment, regardless of external deadlines or expectations.

If you could see a better way, after all, a way that was more joyful or efficient or effective, you would choose it.  The moment that you see that you need to be more mindful, you are.

Haste and tension are only obstacles that hinder our creativity and progress.  Forced speed creates more problems than it solves.  And anxiety blocks the very pathways through which solutions want to pour.  Flowing gently, with steadiness and ease, allows us to keep our focus, to remain open and attentive, to move with the energy of happiness, optimism and joy.  When you relax into the moment  it expands, and your awareness of available methods and resources increases.

All too often, we scold and criticize ourselves as if we weren’t our own best friends.  Carry a pocketful of imaginary gold stars around with you always to paste on your forehead when you need a reminder that you are beautiful and worthy and doing just fine.  Then, breathe.  Relax into the present, relax into the matter at hand, and harmonizing with it, flow gently on.

This past summer, I was following a discussion among a group of graduates in positive psychology about personality strengths.  So far, 24 strengths have been identified using a fixed set of criteria, and this group was brainstorming about strengths that might qualify to become number 25.

It was a beautiful, hearty discussion, and I loved the proposals and arguments the group contributed.  But one struck me especially—and not only because its name amused me, but because I saw it as a really important character strength.  Executive coach Margaret Greenberg proposed it to the group, and named it the ability to “Get-It-Out-the-Door.”

The person who possesses this particular strength, Margaret said, has learned how to overcome the tension between finishing something and keeping at it to make it better.  They know when things are “good enough” to send out into the world—even if they want to keep working on them for “another five hours (or years).”

People with this strength know how to take an idea and translate it into something tangible without taking a lifetime to do it.  They’re productive, prolific even.  They make the leap of faith that’s involved in getting started; they create their book, or business, or art work or product as best they can and they get it out the door.

They move on their ideas.  They focus and create and produce and then let the finished product go—regardless of the imperfections they may see in it.  They’re confident enough to say, “It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty doggone good,” and to send it out into the world to flop or fly as it will.  They don’t get bogged down in over-analysis, or in fearful obsession about every last detail being as perfect as possible.  Instead, they relish the act of production itself and revel in having a finished work to offer the world.

If getting it out the door is one of your strengths, congratulations!  Pat yourself on the back for it—and then get back to work!  If it’s not your strong point, polish up the strengths you do have.  And maybe, just maybe, think about borrowing a little energy from this one the next time you set out to tweak the quality of your life.  It’s a satisfaction-producer, for sure.