Gift a smile every week in the new year

It is that time of the year, when we think of new year resolutions. Most of us make resolutions to reduce our weight or get healthier and so on but break it within a fortnight of the new year.

This year I thought of a novel idea, which may not be difficult to implement but may also be sustainable for the rest of our lives. Why not we try to make at least one person smile every week of the year.

I initially thought why not make someone smile every day but then to make it more practical and sustainable ,thought of once a week. Anything which is not sustainable may fizzle out even before we imagine it.

My definition of happiness in life is attitude, contentment and gratitude. A positive attitude to life and living, being happy with what we have and not worrying about what we do not have and being grateful to all the people, who have made us successful in life.

I further realised that happiness is contagious. If you make someone happy, you are not only happier but you spread happiness to others connected with them too.

Another great learning in life is that you do not need to be wealthy to be happy or to make others happy. If we are content with what we have and we learn to live in absolute, then we are bound to be happy.

Happiness is a state of the mind. I have met people, who have nothing in life but are very happy. On the other hand, I have met millionaires, who spend sleepless nights to protect their wealth and multiply it. I am not sure if these millionaires will ever have the time to enjoy and be happy in life.

Happiness is to celebrate every moment of life. It is not something you can wait for ,to enjoy in the future. It is ephemeral and in a way spiritual. You can feel happy but can never buy happiness from others.

Another insight is that if we give more, we get more in life. If we spread happiness, we are bound to be happier ,every day of our lives. It could be spending time with your friends or relatives.

Just playing with your kids or vacation with your family can make you discover happiness. Even calling friends in distress and enquiring about their health or welfare could make you happier. Visiting your parents for no reason ,can make them happy. Visiting a school or college teacher after many years of passing out, can give them immense joy.

Happiness is self discovery. It comes from within more than from outside. This may be learnt ,as we experience life. Material things can make us momentarily happy but sustainable happiness comes from love and joy.

I have resolved to try to make at least one person happy every week in this new year. How about you trying out this idea ? You could visit a friend or your relatives. Just call someone and express gratitude for all that they have done ,in your childhood.

It could be just meeting a security guard in office or your gardner in your community and enquiring about their welfare. Life is happier when we make others happy. We need to try to experience this moment of joy in life.

As in the photo above, my friend’s daughter came all the way from New Jersey to Bangalore to spread happiness amongst differently abled children by sharing her dancing prowess.

Let us resolve to make at least one person in our lives smile every week. If we can do every day, it may be better ! Let it become a habit for the rest of our lives.

Let’s start today. Wising all of you the best of health and happiness in 2024

S Ramesh Shankar

1st Jan 2024

“Goal” or “No goal” – which is better ?

I was reading an article recently on whether having a goal for anything is better than not having a goal at all. This was insightful. I always believed that it is important to have a “goal” in life and at work so that we have something to look for.

The author of this article challenged this mindset of mine. She said if you have a goal, you may get limited in your thinking. You may think if you have achieved your goal, then you have arrived in your life. However, if you do not have a goal, your search for excellence never ends. It is an unending quest to improve yourself.

I liked this idea and hence decided to reflect on the same. I love driving and always plan for the same. I am clear on my destination and the stops on the way. I book my accommodation and even plan where I would have my breaks for food and so on. This is like setting a goal in life or work.

However, on the other hand, imagine going on a drive without a destination in mind. Just take your car out and drive on any road which you like that day and let it take you to an unplanned destination. Isn’t this exciting ?

I recently was driving from Chennai to Bangalore in my car. Both me and my wife all of a sudden decided mid way that we will divert our journey to Salem and take a break. We neither had planned for it nor were prepared for it. We bought some clothes, booked a hotel online on the way to Salem and spent a few days there. This was one of the most exciting holiday of ours.

Life is no different. It may be a good idea to plan a goal and put in all our efforts to achieve that goal. But once we achieve that goal, we may sometimes wonder what next and set another goal. Sometimes on our new year resolutions, we keep resetting our goals to suit our needs. This way the goal itself may become infructous.

Even at work, it may be a good idea to set our goals and strive to achieve it in our given time frame. But then if we reach a stage of life or work when we are able to excel without even setting a goal, we may have achieved “nirvana”. A stage where we are able to thrive in life without any goals, we may reach self actualisation.

What I enjoyed about this article was it challenged and changed my mindset. We sometimes start believe in everything to be structured and finite. Sometimes a pandemic may challenge the way we live and work. It may be a necessary situation to challenge our mindset. For eg, the pandemic made many CEOs & CXOs believe that “work from home” is a viable flexible option and need not hamper productivity at work.

Everything in life is similar. We start believing that what has worked for us over the years and what we have learnt from our elders and seniors are the only way to do things. An alternative view may shock us sometimes but if we are willing to be open and challenged, we may look at life with a whole new perspective.

Lets us keep the windows of our mind open always. Life is fun this way.

S Ramesh Shankar

16th Oct 2022

Employee wellness to wellbeing

World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (illness).” WHO defines wellness as “the optimal state of health of individuals and groups,” and wellness is expressed as “a positive approach to living.”  After having worked in the corporate world for more than four decades I have experienced the same and cannot agree more , to this concept of the WHO.

If we look back at industry, we realise that organisations primarily focussed on physical health of their employees.  This was starting with pre-employment checks, routine medical check ups ,to maintain good physical health and ensure employees are able to give their best in their roles, within the organisation.  This was also stipulated by labour legislations, which mandates periodic medical check ups for certain roles.

However, as organisations became more pragmatic and grew beyond the narrow lanes of what labour legislations mandates, they started looking at employee wellness in a more holistic manner. Many progressive organisations in India and outside employed counsellors and other healthcare professionals to support employee wellness.  They realised that employee wellness was an optimal state of health of individuals and groups , as the WHO has proclaimed.

As a next step, organisations realised that employee is an integral part of the family as a social institution and hence we need to care not only for the employee but for the family as a whole.  This led to periodic medical check ups of spouses and other family members.  Many leading organisations also tied up with external wellness organisations to provide support to employees and their family members to tide over physical, mental, emotional and social stress through professional help.

The pandemic has helped organisations and individuals to realise that apart from physical and mental health, emotional and social health are critical for the well being of the employee.  This has led to organisations moving beyond their boundaries and providing support for employees, family members and communities ,for overall well being.

I personally realised during the pandemic and thereafter, the value of emotional support to the vulnerable  individuals and groups.  I volunteered for a support group called “the goodwill tribe” and wrote “letters of love” to help individuals to tide over emotional distress in different forms.  This was not only an awakening for me ,but made me realise the value of emotional anchoring as a role for managers and team leaders in organisations.

It is now the time to realise that employee well being is much beyond employee wellnesss.  All of us and especially team leaders and managers have to evolve as “emotional anchors” to employees , as their health is beyond physical and they need emotional, psychological and social support in different forms ,to survive and grow.

This concept of well being beyond wellness ,has to applied by individuals and groups within families, in the communities they live and society at large.  After all, we never know who is in distress , when and what type of support individuals or groups need at any time.

Let us together resolve to work on overall well being of society from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

7th July 2022