How to Create Multiple Happiness Streams in Your Life Mental health is crucial to success in every area of our lives. Here's how to tap into sources of happiness.
By Thomas Edwards, Jr. •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When it comes to increasing financial wealth, many experts have said it's wise to diversify and create multiple streams of revenue or cash flow.
The same goes for increasing happiness.
Happiness is the biggest challenge I see entrepreneurs struggle with as their business grows. There are many things that go by the wayside in the rest of their lives that impact their overall happiness and wellbeing as they focus on their business to make it more successful, secure and valued. They don't spend a lot of time doing the same thing for their happiness.
Related: 5 Actions You Can Take to Increase Your Happiness Quotient
The reality is most people don't. Instead, they rely on one stream of happiness. Relying on one source creates a dependent relationship and can become troublesome, especially, in the case of a pandemic, if that source becomes unavailable to you. Just like any financial expert will tell you, using that similar mentality won't be great for your financial success.
A way to resolve this is by creating multiple streams of happiness.
The following are three key streams of happiness that will level up your business, wellbeing, and fulfillment.
Level one: People
"You're the average of the five people you spend time with the most."
It's a catchy quote that only matters at a high level. People are the easiest source to tap into your happiness.
If you're not spending a lot of time with anyone, but specifically those who make you happy, this will severely impact your happiness, business, and eventually, health. Loneliness has proven to be an actual killer and this isn't something unfamiliar for those taking the lonely entrepreneurial path.
As entrepreneurs, we are very aware of the stories of depression, increased anxiety, lower motivation, and lack of physical care-taking.
Related: Shark Tank Star Mark Cuban: 'Money Can't Buy Happiness'
To combat that, it's vital to instill social connection as a daily practice. Having close connections has been proven to lessen susceptibility to premature death, increase the ability to survive a fatal illness, and in day-to-day application, better your ability to handle stressful events.
Creating more social engagement, especially during this pandemic, when we're not able to be physically close, has become more important than ever. These connections will provide you happiness and joy. Studies have shown even talking to strangers can make you happier. This is the complete opposite of what we've been taught growing up. Yet, your business and future are dependent on connecting with strangers.
In addition, this stream includes the people you want coming into your life as you continue to move forward in yours. Who are those people who will be in your circle? They can be made up of possible mentors, influencers, friends, and associates who have strengths you'd like to improve in your life.
Whether or not you have close relationships with them, are having conversations with them over zoom, or just shooting a text, having social engagement is vital to your health and happiness stream.
Level two: Places
We have the ability to create or go to environments that bring us joy. During a pandemic, you may feel limited in where those places are. Let's take a look at three types of environments.
The first is inside your home. This could go without saying but as we now live in a "work at home" world, it's even more important to have spaces inside your home that aren't work-related and specifically designed to make you happy.
Related: 7 Keys to Unlock Your Happiness
For example, working from the couch or bed doesn't make those places fun when you're not working. Having a designated space for work and leaving everything there (laptop, accessories, etc.) will allow you to have the rest of the space to yourself.
The second is public and available open-air locations such as parks, beaches, or trails. Exposure to these places (and vitamin D) will ground you and naturally increase your self-esteem and happiness.
The third are virtual places. We can use video conferencing tools and other tech platforms such as social media and meetup apps to socially engage. While social media is a go-to platform to connect with others, I personally recommend using it with caution, as excessive social media use is tied a decrease in happiness.
Whether it's attending a virtual concert, yoga or meditation class, or pub trivia, finding and knowing you can always have access to these places will virtually (pun intended) guarantee you moments of joy, especially if you haven't had those experiences in a while.
Level three: Things or experiences
"What do you do for fun?"
While it's nice to have people around and places to go have fun, what you do to have fun is vital.
Personally, no matter what happens in life, video games will always be that source for me. I can always play video games at any time, knowing it'll make me happier.
The more time you experience these moments of joy, the less you worry about the stresses that come as an entrepreneur, and the more you experience gratitude.
Even though combining these three streams create the maximum impact on happiness, using them as separate streams will make life happier, more joyful, and in the long term, create more success for you as a well-balanced entrepreneur.
Whether it's through (social) engagement, environments, or experiences, having diversity in the creating of joy will create sustainable, long-term happiness, even in the most stressful of times. If one becomes unavailable or temporarily boring, which will happen, you can pick up another source and create variety.
While being able to rely on a single source creates security in anything, what creates even more security is expanding beyond just one source of reliability. And this applies to virtually everything in life. Take this time to create more streams of happiness.
Your business and soul will thank you.
