In the WorkWell Podcast, by Deloitte, Jen Fisher — Human Sustainability Leader at Deloitte and Editor-at-Large, Human Sustainability at Thrive Global — sits down with inspiring individuals for wide-ranging conversations about how we can develop a way of living and working built on human sustainability, starting with ourselves.
This week, Stephanie Harrison, founder of The New Happy and author of New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That’s Got It Wrong, discusses her science-backed approach to happiness and explains how accessing our unique gifts and giving back to our community leads to joy and fulfillment.
On the causes of unhappiness:
“I came to believe through the course of my research that three core lies are making us unhappy. The first is the belief that you’re not good enough as you are, that there’s something wrong with you. The second is that you have to achieve — you always have to do more and more to be happy. And then the third belief is that you have to do everything by yourself and you’re not allowed to rely upon other people. In order for us to be happy, we actually have to start unwinding these beliefs so that we can move forward in a better way.”
On the essence of her approach to happiness:
“I define my ‘New Happy’ philosophy as being yourself and giving of yourself to help other people. The first step is about discovering your unique gifts and talents, things that light you up. Then start sharing them right away with other people. I think we should always be focused on the question: What can we do to help other people and positively impact our corner of the world? What I’ve discovered from my research is that the greatest win-win is when we can make ourselves happy and make other people happy at the same time.”
On the need for connection:
“I wanted to figure out the common message that has persisted across different cultures, and across different times in history about what we need to do in order to be happy. And I found the same thing over and over again: there’s a need to be part of a community, experience a sense of belonging — and contribute to your community.”
On how to be happy at work:
“Take an audit of the things that bring you joy at work, and your unique gifts. Just take a minute to write those down. Then ask for feedback from your team and managers. Ask them, what is it that I’m good at? Because often we tend to be almost blind to our own strengths. Then ask yourself, how can I do one of these things today? How can I use one of my gifts in some way in the work I’m doing or with my team? You don’t need to change your life. You just need to start prioritizing some of these activities that bring you joy.”
To hear more from Jen and Stephanie, listen to this full episode of WorkWell here, available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the WorkWell library for the full collection of episodes.