In preparation for a future CPE Book Club webinar, I have been reviewing books on happiness. Two of my favorites are Shawn Achor’s best-selling book on positive psychology, The Happiness Advantage. And the other is Exploring Happiness by the American philosopher, Sissela Bok.

Bok was asked why she wrote a book about happiness when there is so much suffering in the world (she wrote Exploring Happiness in 2010 not long after the last recession), and here was her answer:

“It is precisely, I think, in times of high danger and turmoil that concerns for happiness are voiced most strikingly and seen as most indispensable.”

So, I’m thinking the time is right for a little exploration of happiness right now. Don’t you agree?

Achor, the positive Psychologist, deals with the connection between happiness and success.

Bok, the Philosopher, deals with the connection between the pursuit of happiness and doing what is right.

Happiness… Doing what is right… Success. It seems to me all are important – especially in tough times.

Maybe you can relate to one of these statements?

• Happiness is harder to come by…
• Doing what is RIGHT is being pushed off to the side to just get the work DONE  to “meet the numbers” (or keep them from declining even more)…
• And success… well, success, is just plain limited when we can’t operate our business as “usual.” (Remember, I am a speaker/trainer for a living – and not everyone is open to moving to virtual. So I’m speaking from my heart here.)

Anyway – to help me, and perhaps you, let’s see how the experts connect the dots on these three things.

First, neither expert offers any evidence that any one factor (health, wealth, faith, etc.) correlates positively with happiness. Let’s face it, there are plenty of examples of scoundrels that seem to be pretty happy and some particularly virtuous people who are not. There is no magic formula for happiness, but I do think Achor and Bok both offer some good tips for happiness. So here you go:

Achor Tips for Happiness

Anchor cites many, many studies that indicate the happy people are more productive, creative, and more successful in general:

• Optimistic salespeople sell more;
• Doctors in good mood make better decisions;
• Happy students score better on tests;
• Customer service reps are more effective if content with life.

Achor‘s advice is to understand that success follows from happiness, not the other way around.

So, stop chasing the brass ring. When you get there, the goal posts just move and you never reach true happiness that way. Waiting until you are successful to be happy is a bad strategy.

The good news… Achor thinks people can become happier: pessimists can become optimists, negative brains can be trained to see more possibilities, and bad habits can be reversed. And he has some tips to do so. The book is full of things like:

• Focus on the positives; speak encouraging words and think positive thoughts.
• Meditate, exercise, find something to look forward to.
• Commit to conscious acts of kindness.
• Lighten up, a joke is a good thing! (PHEW!)
• Frequently recognize and encourage others (helps you and others feel better).
• Ensure positive interactions beat negative at least 3 to 1 (ideal is 6 to 1).
• Be a negative spam filter; filter out the negative and look for and focus on the positive.
• Make a daily list of good things in your life: job, career, life, spouse, children, etc.
• Concentrate on small manageable goals; happiness comes from a feeling of being in control.
• When adversity hits, look for ways to come out the other side even happier. (Turn lemons into lemonade perhaps?)
• Be a thinker. The “think, then react” strategy leads to more happiness.

Lastly, Achor believes that “making social investments” is most important – the more social support you have, the happier you are. Relationships matter more than anything else when it comes to happiness.

So, what will your social investment be during this time in your life? I already started working on mine.

Bok Tips for Happiness

Bok would say “wait a minute”… studies show that success isn’t everything.

True happiness has as much to do with doing the right thing… doing what ought to be done… not just what can be done to become successful.

Happiness is a function of making good choices under the most difficult of circumstances – living by a set of values.

One of my big takeaways from Bok’s book is her suggestion of always asking “yes, but” questions about all of our decisions in our pursuit of our own happiness.“Yes, but” what if our pursuit of happiness involves the “deceit of others” or “cruel, unjust, exploitative” behavior. “Yes, but” what if it means “blinding ourselves of the needs of others.”

Bok is all about the moral and ethical implications of seeking happiness. If you find yourself in a situation where there is a conflict between being happy and being good – always choose good.

Food for thought.

Be honest, have you ever felt “happy” for a minute when the cashier gave you an extra $10 in change? Remember, that happiness will fade. Your conscious won’t.

So, in the pursuit of happiness during these times, we should all take a little from Achor and Bok. Always consider our social investment in others… and the consequences on others… in our own personal pursuit of happiness. Follow Achor’s tip of “think, then react” and Bok’s tip of asking more “yes, but” questions.

Bottom line:

Always. Choose. Good. It’s the only true road to happiness.

Amanda “Jo” Erven, CPA, CIA, CFE, is the President and Founder of Audit. Consulting. Education. LLC. After a successful career in external/internal audit and accounting, Jo is now an active Internal Audit Strategist, Management Consultant, Higher Education Professor, Author, and Trainer/Speaker, providing Continuing Professional Education (CPE) hours, live and virtually, to organizations across the globe. Jo’s motto says the most about her personal and professional outlook: “Good things come to those who wait… but don’t. You deserve better than good.” Every one of her books and presentations focuses on that proactive stance, and how we can immediately connect our actions to our values.