Ramdas Shenoy speaks with Henna on happiness and more.
What is happiness and why is it important?
People often believe that Happiness is when we reach a certain position, find the right partner or get a new job. Some feel it’s about laughter and staying positive. But ‘true happiness’ is when we create harmony between optimism & realism and our thoughts & actions. It is important as it helps us in leading a life full of joy and peace which we all strive towards every single day; at your workplace, following your passion, managing relationships or taking care of one’s health and well-being.
Happiness is very subjective, how does one then coach on happiness?
Let’s first understand what is coaching? it’s a process where you allow the other person to shine in their own greatness in a thought provoking way. While Happiness is subjective, it’s based on individuals thoughts and emotions. As a Happiness Coach, I use strategies that have been researched and proven to create positive change and authentic happiness to help the client create a meaningful life full of purpose and joy. We work together to discover what is happiness to the person and how we can achieve it. The revelations helps them clear what is not needed and build a life they love.
In today’s dog eat dog world, what should one focus on to be happy without being labelled as complacent?
Happiness is a journey and the choices that we make during that journey. For instance, the choice to focus on the chirping of the bird or the sound of the passing vehicle is ours. Just as the choice of noticing the blessings in life or the hurdles we face is ours. If we keep looking in the west we will never be able to see the sun rise even though the world will keep getting brighter and brighter. Ask yourself what choices I am making ? What is important for me? What will make me more joyful/peaceful today? Focusing on self-reflection, self-care and developing a growth and gratitude mindset is the key to being happy in a fast paced and complacent world.
One side of the spectrum you have a lot of unemployment and on the other hand we are told that we are in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation’, where is happiness in between?
There will always be two sides of the same coin. Most of us today in Co-Covid world are working from home, but when you find yourself at any airport there are many travelling. So there will be stories on either side. Today’s generation has their basic needs met. Employees today seek appreciation and meaningful purpose at work. Happiness at work is the need of the hour. Some of the organisations have been proactive in engaging employees with workshops and mentoring sessions to create happiness which has witnessed a positive impact on growth and productivity. We need to prepare ourselves for the next normal with the new skills such as emotional intelligence and resilience which has come in limelight during these unprecedented times.
Today’s children are bogged down by stress and expectations, how to ensure that we have happy kids?
Kids today are exposed to the world through social media at an very early age. FOMO and VUCA world has aggravated feelings of stress. What we need is more ways of communicating with them. With virtual schooling it’s even lesser communication with peers and parents. So find ways to communicate, connect and build better relationship with them. If possible, go outside, explore nature together. Most important is to model good behaviour, seek support and learn new skills as kids imitate us.
What does your Happiness and Hope coach sessions include?
We curate interactive and effective workshops based on the organisational needs, team sizes and industry concerns. ‘Hope and Happiness coach’ dot com provides individual and group coaching sessions, training and workshops especially curated as per the needs of the organisation. The sessions may include happiness at work, goal setting, happy leadership, mindfulness, stress management or work life balance along with many more tools and techniques. We have touched more than 10,000 lives through our virtual sessions in the last 2 years.
Your journey from a Maths graduate to Happiness coach?
Maths and happiness are both complex topics and people are always striving to understand it. So I enjoy solving the equation of life and learning the formula of unwavering peaceful state of mind.
