The concept of actively improving happiness is becoming a major talking point, with organisations such as Action for Happiness striving to make the world a happier place. Following World Happiness Day in March, it really does seem as though people are starting to take happiness seriously.
This week, I’ve seen Facebook friends sharing 3 positive things that have occured in their day, and over the last few months, I’ve seen hundreds of people sharing their #100happydays with friends and family. It’s amazing to see so many people finally taking control of their own happiness, and starting to appreciate the little (and often free) things in life.
Random acts of kindess are a fantastic way to improve your own happiness. Doing good feels good, and there are hundreds of small (but powerful) acts that each of us could undertake thoughout our lifetimes to improve the lives of others – and ourselves. Websites such as the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation generate ideas and tips for doing good things for others – from sticking a pound coin to a vending machine, to taking an elderly neighbour shopping, there’s something that everyone could take part in.
However, for a while, I was convinced that it just wasn’t that easy to fit random acts of kindness into my working day. There was always so much to do, and so little time, that thinking of something imaginative was always a challenge. But then it occurred to me that performing a random act of kindness isn’t about scale or size – it’s about recognition. And I’m not talking about getting credit for being kind…the recognition needs to come from you.
Why does doing good feel good? One of the key reasons is that we recognise that we’ve done something positive for another person. It’s a purely altruistic act, for which we have no real gain – other than the emotional elation that the majority of us feel when we help others. We’re putting others before ourselves, and create a sense of community, often with perfect strangers.
“We often think that happiness comes about because you get things for yourself,” says Richard Ryan, a psychologist at the University of Rochester. “But it turns out that in a paradoxical way, giving gets you more – that’s an important message in a culture that’s pretty often getting messages to the opposite effect.”
The point is, you can do something small and everyday to achieve that unmistakeable buzz – you just need to recognise that it’s a random act of kindess. You don’t have to do something wild and spontaneous, you just need to look out for those everyday moments where you could stand to be kind to someone else.
For example, how many of you have let a person jump in front of you in the queue at the supermarket? We all have, but how many of us recognise this as an act of kindness? If you do something good, recognise that you’ve done it. It’s only in the recognition of an act that we begin to attach any real emotion to it – so the next time you chase after someone who’s dropped something, or buy the barman a drink, make sure you recognise it as the random act of kindness it is.
Want to go one step further?
After some time, I realised that I could squeeze extra random acts of kindness into my day, above the day to day things. It wasn’t time consuming and it does make a difference – and it doesn’t take time out of your working day. Here’s how:
- Call a colleague you know is struggling, and ask them how you can help – even if your own workload is heavy
- Bring a cake into the office on a normal day, to share with your colleagues
- Refill the cups at the water cooler or hot drinks machine while you’re waiting for your coffee, so that it’s one less job for another person
- Send a hand written thank you note to a helpful colleague, thanking them for making your job easier
- Donate double on dress down days or charity days in your office
- Take time to leave a recommendation on a colleague’s Linked In profile
These are just a few acts that you could perform to make someones day a little brighter. If you’ve got any ideas for random acts of kindness at work, we’d love to hear them – just comment in the box below.
