Hi!
A revenue stream is a source of income for you or your business. Last week we talked about an idea sparked by one of the guests on The Resilience Think Tank (the brilliant and creative Varun Mahajan, MD) about having a revenue stream for happiness. I expanded that and asked you to not only consider your happiness revenue streams but to diversify them – have multiple sources so that you could be reliably happy whenever you like.
Then I asked you to share some of your happiness revenue streams with me and wow did you deliver! And no one more than Dr. Christena Ward who challenged her team at EyeTech Optometry to find 4 different sources of happiness (two work-related and two personal) and share them. The picture of their results are here
At the end of this are some of the most common (and a few of the most surprising) that you all sent me.
It’s an interesting question – what role does happiness play in work life? And the resilient answer is summed up in some new research from Oxford University – higher happiness ratings from employees correlates to a 13% increase in productivity. So yes, this matters. Whether you own your own business, work with other people or are raising people who will be employed (we parents all hope they will be employed, right?) – understanding streams of revenue happiness makes life better.
I also promised to share my own list, and thanks to all of you my list is growing. Here are some highlights:
- The perfect mug of tea
- Knocking something off my to do list
- Sending a voice message to someone I love
- Researching a vacation (Newfoundland, anyone?)
- Pitching the media
- Kayaking
- Sending follow up messages to people I’ve met at conferences (really)
- Listening to an audio biography of someone I admire
- The West Wing with my guy
- Petting my dog
- Orangetheory (even though I don’t ever feel like going, I feel happy after)
- Making treats for my boys
- Reading your responses to my weekly email
Here are some of the highlights of your lists:
My pets
Reading
Journalling
walk in nature
Editing a book
Lifting weights
Asking for help
Sunny mornings
exercising at the Y
Listening to music
Playing basketball
A beautiful sunrise
Witnessing wildlife
learning new things
lifting others’ spirits
writing my memoirs
meeting new people
making people smile
Smiles from strangers
Riding my bike to work
snuggling with my kids
enjoying my outside flowers
cultivating existing friendships
Holiday family meal discussions
Walking my dogs in nature unplugged
sending cards to friends on special days
When my grandkids say something funny
Indoor plumbing in the middle of the night
Going to bed without having to set an alarm
Reading – with a hot cup of tea/coffee by my side
Watching and re-watching an episode of Outlander
Watching young parents with their child or children
Playing Uno with my son and listening to him laugh and trash talk
reading a book or listening to a podcast that makes me think/learn
My garden – jungle, plants, new bamboo shoots and orchid blooms
eating something with complex flavors so all my attention is focused on deconstructing it
Snuggling with one of my cats’ soft furry bodies directly on my chest, so that their purring resonates in my own chest
Did you see one that inspired you to try it or make you think of one on your list you hadn’t remembered? Comment and let me know!
All the best,
Dr. G
