How to Experience Joy at Work (and Beyond)

One of our Core Values at SnackNation is "Spread Joy & Optimism." But what is joy and how does one attain it? If you don't have it you can't share it! With this in mind, I recently sent an email to my team at SnackNation about joy and how to increase the experience of it in our lives. Thought to share these words with you to perhaps inspire the creation of more joy in your day today. 

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"A friend recently recommended that I read The Book of Joy a co-authored book by the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa (one of the key figures in ending Apartheid) and Douglas Abrams - a Buddhist, a Christian, and a Jew. I started reading this yesterday, and after starting two of my early mornings off with it, I can say "wow" - the book is wonderful.

The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop spend the book speaking about the meaning of joy and how to attain it - that is, lasting happiness. Not the happiness one gets from external forces occurring in our favor, but rather, contentment that exists even when external forces are not happening the way we prefer. Happiness in the face of struggle, sacrifice, and suffering. True, real happiness, not just fleeting pleasure.

A quick summary of what they said.

Joy can only be created by:

1) Experiencing significant struggle/challenge/pain/sacrifice/suffering and coming out the other side (that is, conquering something difficult that is usually unwelcome)

2) Giving to others and taking focus off of oneself.

To back this up, recent scientific studies show that for us to be happier in life, there are only three things that really matter that we can control (and why care about anything that we can't control...that's just called useless worry ;) 

i) Reframing our situation more positively (i.e. when going through a challenge, don't feel bad for yourself but rather recognize that everyone in the world experiences challenges, and the challenge is here to make you better. Without pain and discomfort you cannot get better, and thus, you should welcome discomfort when it appears and consider challenges a gift).

ii) Experiencing gratitude (i.e. be thankful for what you have in life, not what you don't - having a high level of gratitude also happens to be the #1 commonality Google/Amazon found in their highest performing employees)

iii) Choosing to be kind and generous (i.e. selfish thinking will only increase suffering while giving to others lessens it and gives us a greater sense of purpose, meaning and a connectedness to all of humanity...and understanding that we're much more connected than we are separate and are all in this together...this is a choice!)

Archbishop Tuto says:

"Nothing beautiful in the end comes without a measure of some pain, some frustration, some suffering. This is the nature of things. This is how our universe has been made up. And, in a kind of paradoxical way, it is how we face all of the things that  seem to be negative in our lives that determines the kind of person we become."

And the Dalai Lama says: (in speaking about a painful experience of his own):

"By simply shifting my focus to another person, which is what compassion does, my own pain was much less intense. This is how  compassion works even at the physical level."

At HUMAN, the company from which SnackNation was inspired, we used to have the Core Value "Crave and Devour Challenges." If we learn to actually crave challenges, we will absolutely have grit (and thus exemplify "Grit without Ego" or at least the first part of it), and will also be in a fine position to create real and ever-present joy in our lives regardless of what we're experiencing.

When thinking about all of this, I've asked myself:

1) How can I reframe challenges in my life so that I experience them more willingly, and thus, have a much better chance of conquering them and experience real joy when doing so?

2) What are all of the things I'm grateful for that I sometimes take for granted? What are all the ways my life is filled with abundance? 

3) How can I take focus off of myself and instead place it on those around me, specifically those at SnackNation, to help relieve the suffering I'm currently choosing to experience, live with compassion, and be more connected to my purpose?

At the end of the day, if we have more joy in our lives, we will be better in every way. This is my wish for each of you - to create, nurture and hold joy so you can experience a good life and also spread it and inspire it to all of those around you.

May we go forth and crush the challenges that each of us has in front of us, recognize that the difficulties we're experiencing are meant specifically for us (and are actually gifts!), and understand that we're all in on this "challenge conquering" thing together. By doing so we will be living our mantra of #BetterEveryday.

Regardless, I wanted to share with you what I believe to be powerful teachings and reflections and hope that they lead to you having a more joyous day, week, and life."

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How have you experienced struggle/challenge that has lead to big triumphs or joys in your life, your workplace, relationships, or in your business?

I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to add to the conversation in the comments below and use #SpreadJoy to get the conversation going.