A 27-Year Study Says 1 Thing Is Key to Happiness and Longevity in Work and Life

In today’s world, work and life are intertwined beyond separability. We’d love to work longer, more productively, with more passion, and live that way too. Which is why a study published in May 2019 caught my eye.

The study was published by a team of University of Michigan researchers. The team analyzed data from the 27-year-old Health and Retirement Study (a U.S.-based, nationally representative well-being study) and found that one thing led to people living longer.

That one thing is inescapably interwoven with happiness, fulfillment, and maximum productivity at work.

Working and living with a sense of purpose and meaning.

The researchers found that those who had meaning and a sense of purpose (as measured by answers to questions from well-being self-assessments) lived longer lives than those who'd self-reported little to no sense of purpose and meaning.

Other University of Michigan research (2010) clearly shows that working with a sense of purpose and meaning leads to far greater engagement, motivation, productivity, and retention.

Purpose is the profound “Why?” Having it creates a sense of mission to do something worthy. It’s your significant “yet-to-do” in life. Purpose integrates who you are with what you do. It inspires us to renew our commitments and stretch further to manifest it, which is why having a sense of purpose in your work is so powerful.

So the case for working and living with a sense of purpose is crystal clear. But how to enable that?

One word: introspection.

In my book Make It Matter, I shared a set of introspective questions, the answers to which can help you identify your work and life purpose. I’ll share a selection of those questions here. To unlock your purpose, consider each of the following:

1. What are your superpowers?

Don’t be modest. You know what you’re really good at. How can you leverage that strength, like a superhero, to do good for the world? When you choose to use that strength towards a purpose, something bigger than yourself, it elevates to superpower status.

2. What are your values and beliefs?

What do you most strongly believe in--to the extent it helps guide your everyday actions? Staying true to those non-negotiable values is one of the simplest, most direct ways I encourage people to work and live with a sense of purpose.

And when people at work see you unswervingly living your values, even in times of adversity, it’s downright inspiring.

3. What would you do for free?

Pay attention to what you’re doing when you lose track of time. What do you daydream about? Those things you get absorbed in can be signals of something you were meant to do and that if you pursued further would bring profound meaning.

4. What have been your happiest moments?

What were you specifically doing in those moments and what about them brought you such joy? Look for themes. The common threads can provide clues as to what your purpose might be.

5. What have you learned from career misfires and triumphs?

Wrong turns in your career, while also being valuable learning experiences, help you bring the contrasting triumphs into focus. Reflect on what was happening during both misfires that brought pain and victories that brought joy. Who were you in those times? What did you excel or flounder at? Clues to your purpose lie within.

6. What deed needs doing?

What is your cause? What problem needs solving? What does the world need that you're well suited to provide? Note the higher-order, bigger-than-you, nature of each of these questions. Our purpose often feeds something greater than ourselves.

7. What would co-workers miss if you weren't there?

This speaks to those inspiring, magnetic characteristics you have that others are drawn to and well-served by. What would be missed could be telltale signs of what you can perpetuate and accentuate in service of your purpose.

8. What would people say you were meant to do?

What characteristic would others feel compelled to speak about in your absence? What have others said about your talents? Have you ever heard the phrase, “Wow, you could be a ______”? Still more clues on the path to purpose.

So be purposeful about discovering, articulating, and living and working with purpose. Lots of things will be longer (and deeper)--your work, life, happiness, and fulfillment. 

By Scott Mautz is a keynote speaker and the author of Find the Fire and Make It Matter.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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The Benefits of Spending Time Alone

While I enjoy spending time with my loved ones, I do treasure moments to myself too - it is my way to disconnect from the distractions around me, while also giving me a moment to tune into and reconnect with myself. Seeking solitude is something that I take the time to do often, and over the years, I have found that being alone has had its benefits on my health and well-being too, contributing to both physical and psychological effects.

Here are six things that I have learned in seeking solitude.
The Benefits of Seeking Solitude
Solitude allows you to reboot your brain and unwind.

In today's constantly connected world, our minds are continually on 'on' mode, whereby, we hardly give our brain a chance to rest and replenish itself. Spending time alone, however, with no distractions, is one of the best ways to clear the mind. It enables us to focus, to think more clearly and it also gives us the opportunity to revitalize, not only our mind but our body too.

Solitude helps to improve concentration and increase productivity.
Seeking solitude takes us away from distractions and interruptions that bombard us every day. Without these distractions, we are better able to concentrate, thus enabling us to get more work done in a shorter amount of time.

Solitude gives you an opportunity to discover yourself and find your inner voice.
Being part of a group, be it family, friends or colleagues, means that we are often more likely to go along with what the group is doing or thinking. But this may not always be the action that we would take, nor would it be a decision that we would make had we been on our own.

Solitude provides time for you to think deeply.
Everyday chores, responsibilities, as well as stress and worries, can often get the better of us. This constant motion, of feeling as though we continually have something to do or to think about, prevents us from engaging in deep thought and reflection. But not taking the time to reflect on our life can often inhibit creativity and lessen productivity.

Solitude helps you work through problems more effectively.
When we are constantly distracted by incoming information (be it through electronic means, or from people), it is hard to think of an effective solution to our problems. Seeking solitude gives us the time to think through our thoughts and our issues.

Solitude can enhance the quality of your relationship with others.
Spending time alone will give us a better understanding of who we are and what we desire in life. It also enables us to make better choices about who we want to be around. And, we also tend to become more appreciative of the relationships that we do have, once we have spent time alone.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Neuroscience Reveals How Gratitude Literally Rewires Your Brain to Be Happier

We are often advised to be grateful in order to bring positivity in life, but scientists have bow proven that gratitude literally transforms our brain.

A Mindfulness Awareness Research Center explains that by regularly expressing gratitude, one can literally change the molecular structure of the brain, since it will support the function of the gray matter and make us happier and healthier.

Gratitude is the best way to stimulate feelings of happiness, which affect the nervous system and bring positivity and peace. 

The researchers conducted a 10-week study to evaluate the effects of gratitude.

Participants were given one of three tasks, and they all kept a journal each week. The first group was asked to depict things they were grateful for, the second wrote about things that annoyed them, and the last group was asked to write about neutral events. 

Findings showed that participants in the gratitude group felt 25 percent better than the others, and had exercised an average of 1.5 hours more.

Another study involved adults suffering from congenital and adult-onset neuromuscular disorders (NMDs), most of them, suffering from post-polio syndrome (PPS). It found that participants who expressed gratitude felt more refreshed after waking up and felt more connected with others.

Researchers have discovered that people who felt grateful for little, everyday things, were able to make sensible decisions as they were more patient, in comparison to individuals who didn’t feel very gracious on a day-to-day basis. 

A group of  researchers showed that higher levels of gratitude were linked to better sleep, and lower anxiety and depression rates.

To enjoy the benefits of gratitude, follow these practical steps:

• Keep a journal daily, and write down at least three things you are grateful for before you go to sleep
• Every morning, while brushing your teeth, think about something you have done well recently
• Every day, tell your friend or partner something you appreciate about them

Gratitude has countless benefits, and besides a higher happiness set-point, it will also:

• Improve your sleep
• Boost your productivity and creativity
• Help you feel less isolated and more connected
• Boost your energy levels and fight fatigue
• Strengthen your immune system
• Help you experience a deeper relaxation
• Help you look and feel more attractive
• Make it easier to bounce back from difficulty
• Make you feel more confident and stronger
• Improve your emotional equilibrium

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Warmer temperatures may boost women's productivity

Turning up the thermostat at the office may result in higher productivity for women, according to a study which found that women performed better on math and verbal tasks at higher temperatures.

The study, found that as temperatures increased, so did women's performance on tasks, while the opposite was true for men. When temperatures were lowered, men performed better, although the relationship between temperature and men's performance was less pronounced. The study suggests that gender is an important factor not only in determining the impact of temperature on comfort but also on productivity and cognitive performance.

"It's been documented that women like warmer indoor temperatures than men -- but the idea until now has been that it's a matter of personal preference," said  an associate professor. "What we found is it's not just whether you feel comfortable or not, but that your performance on things that matter -- in math and verbal dimensions, and how hard you try -- is affected by temperature," he said. A total of 543 students participated in the laboratory experiment, which was conducted in Berlin. For each session, room temperatures were set at various increments ranging from about 16 degrees Celsius to about 33 degrees Celsius.

In each period, participants were required to complete three different tasks -- monetarily incentivised based on performance -- within a given amount of time. In the math test, participants were asked to add up five two-digit numbers without using a calculator. For the verbal task, participants were asked to build as many German words as possible given a set of ten letters. In the last task, the cognitive reflection test, participants were given a set of questions framed so that the intuitive answer was the wrong answer.

The researchers found a meaningful relationship between room temperature and how well participants scored on the math and verbal tasks, while temperature had no effect for men and women on the cognitive reflection test. "One of the most surprising things we learned is this isn't about the extremes of temperature," he said. "It's not like we're getting to freezing or boiling hot. Even if you go from 60 to 75 degrees, which is a relatively normal temperature range, you still see a meaningful variation in performance," he said.

 

The researchers note that the increase in female cognitive performance at warmer temperatures appears to be driven largely by an increase in the number of submitted answers, which they interpreted as evidence that the increased performance is driven in part by an increase in effort. Similarly, the decrease in male cognitive performance was partially driven by a decrease in the number of submitted answers. The increase in female cognitive performance is larger and more precisely estimated than the decrease in male performance. 

The researchers said the results "raise the stakes for the battle of the thermostat," suggesting that it is not just about comfort, but also about cognitive performance and productivity. The findings suggest that in mixed gender workplaces, the temperatures should be set significantly higher than current standards to increase productivity. "People invest a lot in making sure their workers are comfortable and highly productive," he said. "This study is saying even if you care only about money, or the performance of your workers, you may want to crank up the temperature in your office buildings," he said.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

                                                                                                                                                     FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/  

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