{"id":2567,"date":"2012-01-31T11:52:26","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T10:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2012-01-31T11:52:26","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T10:52:26","slug":"happy-vs-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/2012\/01\/happy-vs-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Vs Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of my work is about helping people be happy, sometimes it\u2019s called stress management, sometimes leadership, sometimes resilience. Many people I\u2019d guess would\"\"<\/a> agree that being happy, and hopefully assisting others to be happy, brings meaning to life. Right now, I\u2019m very happy in life, I do the things I teach, which are based on both modern psychological research and wisdom traditions – see below for a list of these – and have had some good luck lately too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also not that interested in fun. This may seem like a bit of a shocking statement as I believe there is an implicit message in the Western world that fun is the meaning of life and we all entitled to be having fun all the time. This for me is problematic as fun is often the enemy of happiness. Fun – which I\u2019d define as short-term hedonistic pleasure – is presented as an antidote to \u201cwork\u201d – the not-fun stuff we \u201chave to\u201d do. For me this framing does not lead to much happiness. A better question than the usual, \u201chow can I minimise work and maximise fun\u201d might simply be, \u201chow can I be happy throughout the week?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ancient Greeks philosophers were very interested in happiness and many associated \u201cthe good life\u201d with both happiness and virtuous behaviour – not just pleasure, while other were hedonists. I am a supporter of the former in relation to the modern workplace.<\/p>\n

Happiness at Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

The normal story is that work isn\u2019t meant to make you happy but funds stuff that is supposed to make you happy. For me this is a deeply deeply sick consumerist narrative as:<\/p>\n

a)\u00a0 we spend so much time at work we would be miserable half our waking lives<\/p>\n

b)\u00a0 it leads to dehumanisation, low motivation and poor quality work<\/p>\n

c)\u00a0 it trashes our relationships at work and home because of a) and b).<\/p>\n

Now an alternative: what if it were the business of workplaces to help employees be happy. Not just to have fun by throwing them the annual Christmas party, dress-down Friday, \u201ccakes Tuesday\u201d or lame teambuilding \u201cjollies\u201d, but to help employees use their strengths, align their work with their values and build meaningful working relationships based upon care and respect. This would not just be good for the employees but good for business due to higher employee engagement, lower-turnover and sickness, etc. Let me be again controversial by stating that a business with no purpose beyond syphoning money from the poor to a rich elite is psychopathic, outdated and no longer needed.<\/p>\n

Play vs Fun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lest I be branded a kill-joy Calvinist I\u2019d also like to say that I\u2019m a big fan of play. Play is our primary way of learning and connecting as human beings, and fun may be a by-product of this. It\u2019s also not the point. A rapist may find what they do \u201cfun\u201d, but it isn\u2019t play and nor will it lead to happiness. This is an extreme and emotive case but one that I hope serves to illustrate the huge potential gulf between fun and happiness. Happiness as I\u2019d define it is connected to our own and other\u2019s well-being. This is what matters as work as well as at home. Let\u2019s stop the insanity of \u201cwork\u201d and \u201cfun\u201d and get on with being happy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

List of Things Scientifically Proven to Make People Happy<\/strong><\/p>\n