10 May Happiness is balancing cooperation & solitude
Check out these posts article from this morning’s eNewsletter
Happiness is, in so many ways, a balancing act. We all like to strive to achieve, and setting meaningful goals is definitely part of living a good life, but at the same time we need to learn to live in and to enjoy the present moment. Similarly, happiness comes at least in part from living a full and active life; so long as we don’t overdo things and ignore rest and recovery. This week, we bring you two articles with one focusing on the benefits of collaborating with others and the second highlighting the need to spend time on your own. Get the balance right and happiness will be yours…
Winner’s Circle Network with Lou Tice – 4/5/10 – “Cooperation”
Today, let’s look at cooperation and why it is so important to have, as you move toward achieving your goals. Change seldom happens in a vacuum. As we move toward our goals, we must often work together with other people. When you know how to cooperate, you are much more likely to get the help that allows you to change and grow successfully.
If you try to change without cooperation, you may find yourself stuck or even failing. Cooperation can mean the difference between being supported and being sabotaged. It is an important skill to have.
How do you get others to cooperate with you? Well, remember that we reap what we sow, so look for opportunities to help other people and listen to their concerns. Along the same lines, stay open to suggestions and support when they are offered. You don’t have to wait for them to be offered. Ask for what you want and need, and that means knowing specifically what you want and from whom.
Be willing to negotiate. Refrain from making demands. Compromise and trade favors, instead. Be realistic about what you expect from others, and don’t try to get all your needs met from just one person. Ask more people to do less, rather than expecting few people to do more, if that will make it more likely to get what you want. When cooperation works as it should, everybody gains something, nobody loses, and you will move more smoothly toward your goals.
Lou Tice – The Pacific Institute (www.thepacificinstitute.com)
And another one…
As regular readers of this eNewsletter would well be aware (and at the risk of contradicting the previous article) happiness is not a solo-sport but rather, a team effort. That is, happiness and living a good life comes largely from connecting with others and from building positive relationships.
That being said, we all need time on our own (some more than others); and to some extent, there’s an argument for saying we may well be losing the art of enjoying time on our own. We’re more connected than ever before with Facebook and Twitter and a range of other social networking options easily accessible via increasingly impressive technologies (such as Blackberries and iPhones etc).
But I think we should be cautious about losing our solitude; and I’m clearly not alone. In yet another great article from Leo Babuata’s Zen Habits, the benefits of solitude and how to find it are clearly outlined.
Read more from Leo about finding happiness on your own – just click here