Flex Your (Academic) Muscle: Happiness is a Skill

 Flex Your (Academic) Muscle: Happiness is a Skill

1. Boost your happiness in Academia this year by intentionally honing these skills and shifting your mindset. 

    “Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.” — Mark Twain

   
   
   Covid-19 has altered our daily lives as well as the perspectives of individuals and corporations. It's not simply our bodily well-being that's under jeopardy. With the economic uncertainties, intermittent lockdowns, and the change to remote working, our mental health has taken a blow as well. As a consequence, according to the Globe Health Organization and the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health, workers throughout the world are experiencing record levels of stress and worry.

   If growing costs of living, job pressures, and the ongoing pursuit of work-life balance caused a lot of stress before Covid19, the obstacles are much higher today. It's no surprise that companies and organizations are redoubling their efforts to put employee well-being first. Regular "check-ins," mentorship programs, and company-sponsored mindfulness training are all becoming more common.

   Is there anything we can do on an individual level to safeguard our health? What can we do as individuals to demonstrate our own resiliency, manage stress, maintain our sense of purpose and happiness, and bring our "best selves" to work in the face of uncertainty?

   Learning the skill of happiness is an excellent place to start.

   The ability to be happy

   People who are happy are more resilient, productive at work, and pleasant to be around, according to research. When we are pleased, we are just more successful.

   Feeling happy may seem difficult, particularly when we are stressed, but there are a variety of real actions - attitude changes – that we can do to improve our happiness, according to Dr. "K", Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior.

   Like painting a portrait, playing the guitar, happiness is a talent that can be mastered. It's a mental talent; the ability to modify how we see, analyze, and interpret our world and the objects around us. It may be cultivated in the same way as any other skill.

   The strength of our relationships with reality, ourselves, and other people determines the level of our happiness. And realizing that pleasure is a state of mind.  We make the mistake of identifying happiness with external variables such as the fulfillment of specific aspirations such as riches, love, or compliance with particular norms; hedonistic pleasure; or other people's approval.

   The trouble with seeking approval from others is that you lose touch with your inner compass and begin to measure your own worth based on how other people see you — how clever, beautiful, or successful they believe you are. And it may lead to feelings of inadequacy, as well as anger or even envy of people who you believe are better than you.

   Looking for happiness via pleasure or the fulfillment of wishes, on the other hand, might set us up for failure in our quest for happiness.  Life is full of ups and downs, surprises, and things we don't have control over.  Because pleasure is ephemeral, equating happiness with pleasure is incorrect. Once you've become used to a particular "high," you'll merely be on the lookout for the next one, continuously on the move – but never arriving – on the so-called "hedonic treadmill.

   The same may be said about achieving or obtaining your goals - a published manuscript, a tenure-track job at a top research University, or promotion to tenure. All of those are things we desire for ourselves that may or may not be beneficial for us, or at least not in the long run professionally.

   Happiness, rather than being something that occurs when we grow content with reality, whatever that reality may be, is a superior approach. She claims that mastering the happiness talent entails coming to terms with yourself, other people, and the world you live in. So, how does one go about doing it?

   There are five mindsets that you should embrace and cultivate in Academia (especially for women.)

   1. Recognize that life is tough and that pain is unavoidable.

   Technological advancements and bettering living circumstances have led us to believe that life is simple and that we are entitled to a pleasant existence. Indeed, as the epidemic has shown, life is essentially unpredictably unpredictable, while loss and suffering are unavoidable. Suffering is sometimes hidden - we don't always know about other people's problems or discuss our own – yet it is always there, large or little. When things go wrong, letting up of aspirations of an easy and ideal existence and recognizing the reality of change and loss may help reduce frustration.

   2. Anticipate and accept unfavorable situations and feelings.

   If pain is to be anticipated, we must also expect to experience bad feelings from time to time. Being joyful does not imply that you are always in a good mood. People that are content have their own set of bad feelings. It's important to become comfortable with being uncomfortable at times if you want to be happy.

   3. Stop debating reality.

   Fighting or opposing something that is a reality is a waste of time and energy. As the epidemic has shown, complaining about things over which we have no control is pointless. Accepting realities and moving on is more preferable.

   4. Maintain an optimistic attitude

   Our attention is like a spotlight; whatever we concentrate on gets illuminated by its beam, and that becomes our reality. This indicates that we have the option of focusing on the good rather than the bad. The idea isn't to be deluded or to deny unpleasant realities; we need to be completely aware of reality in order to be happy in the long run. It's more about realizing that reality is more than what our eyes see, and that when things are ambiguous, the same occurrence might be viewed differently, some more positively than others.

   5. Don't believe everything that comes to mind.

   Our inner voice will tell us all too frequently that we aren't good enough, clever enough, or successful enough. However, merging with fleeting thoughts and sensations and mistaking them for reality is the polar opposite of actual awareness.

   People who can look at their own thoughts from a distance, hear and observe their emotions, and hear and observe their inner voice without getting taken away by what is going on in their brains are happier. Instead, they doubt the legitimacy of such voices and strive for a more honest and productive inner voice.  But it isn't simple. Because most of us are programmed to concentrate on our flaws and limitations, this is the case.

   Focusing on our flaws might detract from our performance, advancement, and overall well-being. It is possible to get around this by imitating the habits and strategies of successful sportsmen.  For example, athletes of the highest caliber make their own highlight reels, capturing their best moments on the field and track. Then they examine them to see how they might duplicate and enhance their results. It works for them, and it could well work for us as well.

   How much better for your development, optimism, performance, and well-being would that be than self-doubt?"

   Professor Cable presents a wealth of ideas and practical approaches in his book Exceptional: Build Your Personal Highlight Reel and Unlock Your Potential to help us recognize our talents and harness them to improve performance, resilience, and wellness. To bring our best selves to Academia- wherever and whatever it is – he calls this "work making."

   The most important concepts, I recommend to my graduate students, is to link your skills to chances to bring fun and creativity into the Academic workplace; to discover moments of playfulness or ingenuity when you can exhibit your strengths while increasing pleasure, engagement, and excitement - in yourself and others.

   I also recommend bringing your personal life into the workplace—somewhat. Don't go crying to your departmental Chair that your boyfriend cheated on you and left you to pay the rent and took the dog. However, don't dismiss the abilities you've been neglecting at home. They may be those three-times-a-week park runs or becoming a master party planner. You may be creative with how you incorporate these attributes into your professor life if you put in the effort to figure it out.

   There has never been a better time to "lighten up" your interactions with colleagues, to experience and disseminate excitement, and to alleviate the strains, worries, and anxieties of work, he argues, than now, when the lines between home and work life are more blurred than they have ever been.  Focusing on and expressing your abilities can help you stand out; it will brighten your day and energize you to contribute more of your best self.  And that's a win-win situation for everyone.

   Keeping exercise a priority in your life

   The majority of us are aware of the health advantages of exercise. But what about the advantages in terms of mental health? According to recent study at the London School of Economics, exercise may help you concentrate and feel more powerful, with improved self-mastery and a mentality that offers you greater control over your life. 

   However, getting in shape, like everything else, needs dedication. Who hasn't signed up for a gym, paid their monthly membership fee, and then never showed up? JTTT's top advice for integrating exercise into your life – and keeping it there – are listed below.

   1. Make it easy

   Whatever fitness activity you choose, make sure it’s convenient. Find a gym, say, that’s close to home or to the workplace, and build it into your weekly schedule. Remove as many obvious obstacles as possible. And remember: consistency outranks intensity every time.

   2. Make it attractive

   Choose something that you find fun and make it part of your workout. One academic study looked at the impact of keeping audiobooks in the gym and only allowing subjects access to their audiobooks when they worked out. The result? A significant increase in gym attendance. Whatever you find fun, build it into your fitness schedule – even if it’s keeping your favorite snack in your locker for afterwards.

   3. Make it social

   Find a way to involve other people. Being around others boosts your serotonin levels, which make you feel more positive and dynamic. There’s also a “peer” dynamic at play whereby just seeing other people working out makes you want to exert more effort yourself. Then there’s the commitment effect: find a friend who will commit to a class or a match or a session and stick to it together.

   Similar Posts:

1. 7 Ways to Regain Happiness in your Academic Career
2. 5 Easy Steps to organize the PUBLICATION PIPELINE for Academics
3. 12 Sentences That Should Be Included in Your Academic Cover Letter

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