Happiness

In this world where we live, there should be more happiness, so much joy you can give, to each brand new bright tomorrow.

Happy Friday friends.

The words above are from one of the most stone bonking best ever songs about Happiness written by an old 60/70s comedian called Ken Dodd. (Google it kids)

It’s International Day of Happiness today, and if you know me at all, you’ll know I treat this one less like a “day” and more like a full-blown personal festival.

Now, I’ll admit it upfront, I’m a self-confessed happiness enthusiast. Not in a fluffy, head-in-the-clouds sort of way, but in a deliberate, conscious, roll-your-sleeves-up and choose-it-daily kind of way. Because that’s the truth of it, happiness isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we practice.

I’ve always preferred a smile to a scowl, optimism over pessimism, and finding the good in situations, even the ones that arrive dressed as absolute chaos. One of my long-standing bits of advice (and I’ll repeat it until someone chisels it onto my gravestone) is this:

Don’t save love up for a rainy day, chuck it around like you’re made of it.

But here’s the interesting bit – what actually is happiness?

We talk about it endlessly, chase it relentlessly, and yet so often misunderstand where it lives. Be warned about “happiness addiction” that dangerous idea that happiness, like dopamine exists somewhere else. In the next job. The next deal. The next relationship. The next milestone.

It’s a trap, of course.

Because if happiness is always “over there,” it will never be “right here.”

That idea isn’t new. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it far more eloquently years ago: “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. And while that phrase gets thrown around so much it risks losing its punch, the truth behind it remains rock solid.

Happiness isn’t a finish line, it’s a way of travelling. There is no greater social impact than making others happy.

In the business world social impact has become a strategy and ESG must have. No brainer though really isn’t it?

I’d challenge anyone who disagreed that employee welfare, health, safety, and wellbeing, diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI), human rights and labour practices, community engagement and impact, supply chain ethics isn’t the right and moral way to go about doing things.

And happiness works exactly the same way.

So, if we strip it all back, how do we actually do happiness?

Well, first off, just give it away.

Seriously. Happiness is one of the few things in life that multiplies when you hand it out. A compliment, a kind word, a genuine “how are you?” that you actually mean. Pay for someone’s coffee. Send that message you’ve been thinking about. Tell people you appreciate them, don’t assume they already know.

Kindness is a force multiplier. It creates ripples you’ll never fully see, but they’re there all the same.

And don’t underestimate the power of something as simple as a smile. It sounds almost too basic, but it’s remarkable how often the smallest gestures carry the biggest impact. In a world that’s permanently switched on and racing ahead at full throttle, choosing to slow down and connect, even briefly, is a bit of a superpower.

The benefits are obvious, what you give is what you receive, do unto others as you would have them do to you, it’s an age old concept, I didn’t come up with it.

Then there’s the small stuff. The real gold.

The smell of fresh bread drifting through the kitchen. The first proper warmth of spring sunshine on your face. Birds making an absolute racket at 6am like they’ve just signed a record deal. Rain tapping against the window when you’re somewhere warm and dry.

These aren’t headline moments, but they are life. And noticing them, really noticing them, is where a huge chunk of happiness quietly lives.

In many ways, taking time to savour those moments is a rebellious act. It pushes back against the idea that everything has to be bigger, faster, louder, more.

Sometimes, enough is already right in front of us.

And we can’t talk about happiness without mentioning gratitude. It’s the anchor point for all of this.

Taking stock, properly, of what we have rather than what we lack is transformational. Your health. Your people. Opportunities. Even the simple fact you woke up this morning with a chance to do something meaningful with your day.

Gratitude doesn’t ignore life’s challenges, it just refuses to let them dominate the narrative, if you could bottle it I’d have it prescribed on the NHS.

So as we mark International Day of Happiness this week, here’s my gentle nudge, no grand gestures required. Be intentional. Choose your outlook. Notice the small things.

Take the step in front of you, whether that’s in life, in business, or on the journey to a more sustainable world.

Because in the end, happiness, like NetZero2050 isn’t something we arrive at. It’s something we can create, moment by moment, choice by choice.