Business is no longer a joyless venture. Instead, the modern perspective nestles the visionary businessperson comfortably in “cloud nine” territory.
So why is that “over the moon” feeling a perfect alignment for success? Quite simply, joy-centric approaches to business lead to competitive advantage. Breaking barriers to joy increases productivity, creativity, and innovation, leading to both personal and professional growth.
As a pleasure-seeking human, your nervous system is wired to recognize joy as the highest positive state on the emotional spectrum. Joy is often triggered through a sense of meaning and purpose so profound that it brings you back to yourself.
Empowering Joy
How many of us are waiting to be led to joy? Rather than wait for joy to show up, focus on reaching within to intentionally access more joy.
Step 1: Cultivate inner joy, while spreading joy outwards
- Practice gratitude by reflecting on three things that bring value to life.
- Express gratitude to others by recognizing their efforts.
- Focus only on the positive impact.
- Connect with others to optimize joy.
- Stay focused on solutions, not problems.
- Find pleasure in every seemingly insignificant task.
The rewards that carry joy are not loud declarations, but more like whispers that are just enough to nudge a smile.
Step 2: Practicing mindfulness
- Slow down.
- Connect to the five senses.
- Resist distractions and noise.
- Extract joy through nature and learning.
- Rather than look back or project forward, stay in the present.
Learn to extract as much information as possible from the 3-Dimensional world. Information in itself, is a source of joy. Information allows us to appreciate the complexity of this world and approach it with child-like awe.
Learn how to be comfortable with being alone, and how to carve out time for personal reflection. At the same time, humans are social beings and it’s important to reach out to others to create and share more joy.
Step 3: Build relationships
- Connect to loved ones and coworkers.
- Spend quality time.
- Practice active listening.
- Engage in more joyful interactions that emphasize quality communication.
- Seek out spiritually uplifting connections.
- Build a joy-driven organizational culture.
- Build a joy-oriented brand awareness.
It’s important to expose yourself to people who consistently give you their best version. As important, the joy-minded individual must always project their best version to others, particularly when confronting an organizational challenge like implementing change. The most successful brands have built brand equity and loyalty by weaving joy into their customer experience.
Step 4: Practice self-care and attention to well-being.
- Prioritize physical, mental, and emotional health, because an empty cup cannot pour anything out.
- Through prayer, strive for a balance and harmony that enhances receptiveness to joy. Remembe,r joy is available around every corner, depending on how the turn is approached.
- Develop resilience and flexibility in daily life ,and the practice of finding joy in the most ordinary moments will become a natural flow of habit.
It’s crucial to consider all the domains of well-being that impact joy, including physical, emotional, social, and psychological domains. When using a joy-centric approach to growing a successful business, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be used, such as Life Satisfaction Scores (LSS) and Positive Emotion Index (PEI), to assess well-being.
Cultivating joy in business is not just a feel-good strategy but a prudent approach to driving success and growth. By prioritizing joy, companies can create a positive organizational culture and build strong relationships with customers and employees. By making joy a core principle embedded in the organizational mission, values, and vision…. businesses not only unlock the power of joy… they unlock the full potential of their various stakeholders and commit to a more promising and profitable future.
