Don't be happy, be meaningful

There has been a lot of ranting about happiness. People run a happiness project, do happiness events, write books about how to be perennially happy. Yet, everyday people crib about everything. Jealousy takes up as core sentiment and growth at business becomes a predominant priority.

As a coach to senior executives, I often listen to a common emotion. Clients express their need to find more meaning at work. My coachee Naveen Sharma started a food tech company, which he successfully grew to over 20 crores in revenue. His Investors were very keen that Naveen should expand and take up more investment to start another company.

Naveen actually sold that company and joined Teachers without borders. An NGO that works for bridging the education gap and believes that teachers across the globe can only make a difference in the world. " I had to find something more meaningful. This is going to a difficult life but that one was not making me happy at all as it hardly means keep starting companies one after another."

Interestingly, Gallup has published a report called, " The World's Broken Workplace." It says that According to Gallup's World Poll, many people in the world hate their job and especially their boss. The conclusion made by Jim Clifton, speaks that this is why global GDP per capita, or productivity, has been in general decline for decades.

To demonstrate the historical seriousness, stress and clinical burnout and subsequent suicide rates in Japan have caused the government to intervene. The current practice of management is now destroying their culture and a staggering 94% of Japanese workers are not engaged at work. What the whole world wants is a good job, and we are failing to deliver it and even more particularly to millennials. This means human development is failing, too. Most millennials are coming to work with great enthusiasm, but the old management practices like filling forms, work and education gaps and daily or weekly reviews grind the life out of them.

Now if being engaged at work does not exist, happiness is far fetched theory. Not feeling meaningful at work would mean the ripple effect on life too. So here goes being happy out of the window.

What's the difference between feeling meaningful and feeling happy.

Time factor: Happiness is a volatile feeling. Fleeting and dynamic, it changes with the situations. Brenan Reiner, a scholar of psychological dynamics mentions that even getting a half-melted ice-cream or lukewarm food when you expected a piping hot one, is enough to rob your happiness of the day. Not only so, but that place also remains etched in the memory long enough to bring back the unpleasantness again.

Having a meaning does not deal with such situations. You find meaning in the work you do, small stuff gets ignored easily.

Emotional anchors: The recent tragic event of the death of VG Siddhartha has brought up an age-old debate. Should you not have someone to confide in? An emotional anchor to hold on to? And how does it help to get meaning? Research says, getting help from anyone makes you happy. And in the process of giving help, you find a meaning. The process enriches both. A lot of "gyaan" is being doled out on social media post the tragedy of VG Siddhartha. It is about having a simple life. Ever thought that why most people who claim to have a simple life are actually unhappy and jealous of high fliers? Stress, rivalry, and struggle of daily life do reduce happiness, but in order to find meaning in life, to create and leave a legacy, it becomes an identity crisis if one is not part of the game.

A lot can be written about meaning in life. But to find it, just remember that life is not only about deliverables. The bigger purpose in life, like setting up a company, getting a high promotion or sending children to the best education may need a lot of work but ultimately that's what meaningful life is. You need to look behind your shoulder and say, "it was worth it and meaningful". Nothing else matters than that.

The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing