Can you 'buy' happiness? - 5

(...contd...)

Give it Away

Okay, the final one to be happy is to give it away! Yes, you read it right. In a study, wherein some people were given a small amount of cash. Half of the group were asked to spend the money on others and the remaining half were asked to spend money on themselves. By the end of the day, these people were contacted again and the people who spend money on others were much happier than the people who spend money on themselves.

Spending money on others brings a sense of being content and happiness.

Go ahead, spread happiness!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This brings an end to this series. Lots of L.O.V.E.

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 4

(...cont'd)...

Make It a Treat

Sometimes, we are happier not only by delaying consumption, but also by reducing consumption. There was a study wherein chocolate lovers were asked to come to a lab on two occasions to eat chocolate, one week apart. During the intervening week, one group was told to abstain from eating chocolate; another group was sent home with a big bag of chocolate to eat; and the third group wasn't given any specific instructions. When the three groups returned after a week to taste chocolates again in the lab, the first group derived the most pleasure from eating chocolates. This simple, yet effective study proves that less consumption of existing things makes us happier.

I tried this at home myself. I gave myself a break of nearly 2 weeks between eating my favorite ice cream and chocolate. The effects were amazing! YUMMY!!

(...cont'd)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 3

(...cont'd...)

Buy Now, Consume Later

Earlier, I said that buy experiences - that's 'what' you buy to be happy. However, what's also important is 'how' you bought what you wanted. With the advent of buying stuff and experiences on credit, the buy now pay later scheme, creates a serious dent in a person's happiness. My own experience holds true in this case - when I paid all the money upfront, I was guilt-free and much happier being debt-free. There was a time when my credit bill was higher than I had thought - I had this constant stress about paying it off as soon as possible.

Delaying payments bring stress; however, delaying consumption bring as much happiness. How? By enjoying the pleasure of anticipation. This is something I tried recently, that is before I could blog about it. It was as simple as first delaying buying my favorite bar of chocolate for two days and then keeping it in my refrigerator for a week before consuming it. Oh my God! It tasted far more better than buying and consuming the chocolate immediately.

So, go ahead. Try this too.

(...cont'd...)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 2

(...contd.)

BUY TIME

A study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman shows that housework is the least enjoyable activities. So, what money can do in this case is to enable you to outsource these tasks to someone. Now, how you spend your free time will help you be happier than spending that cash in a mall. You need to think how a particular purchase will affect your daily life turns decisions about money into decisions about time. The bonus here will be that people start focusing on time rather than money and therefore, enabling them to spend time on happier activities.

(...contd.)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 1

Hello there!

I was reading BBC Knowledge and came upon this article - 'How to buy happiness.' And my first thought was people cannot 'buy' happiness! Yes, there is this short-term 'happiness' when I buy something I like. I like a particular piece of clothing - I quickly buy it. I am happy for that moment. I like this gadget - I buy it. I am again happy for the moment. But then what? Then move on to buy another set of clothes, gadgets, shoes, etc. etc. etc. The list can be endless. 

As the saying goes, 'money can't buy happiness.' Studies reveal that relationship between money and happiness is weak. How much money a person makes, may not make you happy as much as what and how you decide to use the that money. A person may make only Rs. 120,000 per year (about Rs. 10,000 per month) and be very happy because of the way this made use of - than a person making Rs. 1,200,000 (about Rs. 100,000 per month).

In this five-part series, let's see whether you can buy happiness or no.

BUY EXPERIENCES
There have been studies in recent past suggesting that people spending money on new experiences rather than on things are much more happier in the longer run. Why is it so? If I think about it, things bought are easily comparable. A touch screen phone of company X is comparable with a touch screen phone of company Y. Anything that you can 'buy' in a mall is comparable. An experience that money buys is incomparable. The experience is always etched in the memory.

My examples. When I earned a lesser salary, I couldn't afford to buy much stuff. However, I could save enough to buy things needed. For example, my mother feels very hot during summers - we didn't have an air conditioner (AC). I could save up enough to buy an AC. The experience that followed & still does is far more happier for me than I could have imagined. Now with a higher income, I started searching for happiness in buying stuff from malls. A Hidesign wallet. A Fabindia kurta. An Anokhi skirt. However, I am still not happy as I should be after buying these from a mall. What still makes me happy or brings a smile on my face is - a white water rafting trip in Rishikesh (obviously I paid); a trip to Jaipur when I was in class 3 - incidentally my first trip by air (paid trip but very happy as first trip from school and I went by air - I got a window seat - how happy it was for me as a child of 9 years to see below from a plane!); the happiness to see the fresh snowfall after driving all the way (spending on petrol and hotel just for the experience of snowfall). These memories are still etched in the memory. Not some Hidesign wallet or a Fabindia kurta I bought 6 or 7 years back.

Go ahead. Buy experiences. Pay for these experiences, which you won't find in malls. I'm going to start again for sure. Buying experiences for sure. Will you?


(...contd.)

iPhone 4 | Minor bug | Fix-at-home

I've been an iPhone user since 2008 and now I cannot change to any other phone. It was iPhone 2g earlier and now I am using iPhone 4 for the past 7 months.

Few days back I dropped a few drops of water on my phone. I cleaned it; however, what I did not realize was that some water seeped into the cover I keep my phone in. It was after an hour did I realize what had happened due to water. I received a call and I found out that my phone had gone into headphone mode automatically! No matter what settings I tried changing, the phone wouldn't get back to the ringer mode.

While I was searching for an Apple service center where I could give my phone to be serviced, I found that this was a minor bug in iPhone 4 - the phone going in headphone mode. At times, without the phone getting in contact with water. There are few fixes you can try at home for this problem. You never know what works for you.

1- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Clean the headphone socket with a dry cloth. At times, there could a dust particle lodged inside the socked, which your phone may think of as headphones. Switch on the phone and check.

OR

2- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Suck air from the headphone socket a few times. Switch on the phone and check.

OR

3- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Next, take a zipouch (you know, the plastic bag that you can zip from one side) and fill it with raw rice. Put the phone (which you have switched off) inside the raw rice and close the bag. Ensure that the phone is totally covered with rice. Keep the phone like this for at least 24 hours. More, if the water damage is more than a few drops. Take out the phone after 24 hours & switch it on. VOILA! The phone is back to the ringer mode.

Well, I tried all three of the above methods. The third one worked for me.

More later.

L.O.V.E.

Tu jaanta hai main kaun hoon? (do you know who I am?)

Well yes, you guessed it right. This is one question that plagues many people. Wait - add another question, "Tu jaanta hai mera baap kaun hai? (Do you know who my father is?)" - this is when the father of a son/daughter is a person in power. My response to these people will be - don't you know who your father is?

In India, people have this tendency to be 'egoistic' rather than proud of what their parents achieved. Yes, it is great that their parent(s) achieved in their lifetime. And much appreciated. However, it is the achievement of the parent. Not the child. The father or mother was a governor. Or an IAS officer. Or the business tycoon. Or a beauty queen. Or someone in Indian politics. But, what have you done as a son or a daughter? Be proud of your own achievements; not of others.

L.O.V.E. 

Natural beauty - Are you listening Mr. Yadav?

Recently, I went to Delhi - yet again. I wanted to take my child to a park and what better place than South Delhi! This was his first visit to a park, which had flowers of multiple colors. This park is the 'Lake Park', also known as Sanjay Park, and it is located in Laxmibai Nagar. In this time of the year, flowers are blooming & the weather is neither too hot nor too cold. This park was named as Lake Park because it houses a small lake that has a beautiful small bridge running over it. Then there are ducks - at times left lose in the park. And flowers. Lots of flowers. Colorful flowers! You'll find squirrels nibbling away at tit bits, birds chirping. And on the opposite side of the entry to the park, after the boundary wall, are railway tracks where sometimes a goods train may pass now and then. Oh my! Is this a perfect place to spend evenings with family and friends!

My toddler enjoyed this visit so very much - even though it was a very short visit. He could show his displeasure and unwillingness to come back home - and without any words.

Look at the beauty!

Few days back, I was searching for parks near the place I live. You know, similar to Lake Park, where I can take my child during evenings or maybe for a picnic once in a while. The results that came up were - amusement and theme parks, IT parks, logix techno park, royale park (a hotel), Park Plaza (yet another hotel), software technology park, unveiling of a concrete park, so on and so forth. So basically, there are no parks for children here. What used to be parks meant for children to play, have been turned into concrete jungles of sandstone elephants and meaningless structures by Mayawati. She spent around 680 crores (allegedly) on converting a green park to a sandstone park, which is apparently closed for the public. So, my question is why? I didn't understand it then, I don't understand it now.

Can Akhilesh Yadav convert these parks back into green parks again? Are you listening Mr. Yadav?

Pourquoi?

Why does an employee leave an organization. Is it because of salary? No. Less or no hike? No. Promotion or none in a year? No. Not enough leave benefits? No. Not good benefits with the job? No. If you really will understand why an employee will leave an organization, just look at the immediate supervisor of that employee. An employee leaves his/her manager - never an organization. If the manager is a leader and a charismatic one on top of it, the employee will always be loyal by default. And give in the best at work.

I can share my examples. When I started working, I had a great immediate supervisor - I won't publish any names here - let's call him S. He had a great rapport with all his team members and always backed his team, sorted their issues, helped the team members as and when required. A great asset for the team. And I did not want to leave my job, despite the low pay package, because I had a great supervisor! Then my project completed. I got a new project to work on and I got a new supervisor and a new team member. Let's name the supervisor S again. And at the fag-end of the project I cried - thanks to the team member & the supervisor. That's the point I nearly left my job. Thankfully, the project was about to end and got delivered successfully. And I got a much better supervisor after many more projects. Let's name her G. Even though the team was a pain in the wrong place. G left the organization after some time and so did I. We've remained friends till date. Whenever I would resume work, I'll follow G for sure & be loyal to her come what may. Great leader and a supervisor.

So, you can say an employee leaves his/her manager - never an organization. Organizations - buckle up! Ensure good leaders as supervisors. Not managers as supervisors.

Unrelated to this post - I read somewhere...
"If you succeed in cheating someone, don't think the person is a fool. Realize that the person trusted you much more than you deserved!"

Dream.

What is it that saddens a parent the most? As a parent and the phase I am going through, I think it is when the child is not doing well, health-wise. Being a mother of a toddler, the most unhappy moments are the ones when my toddler is down with fever or cough & cold, or the most recent one - stomach infection. I introduced a new food last week - perhaps it did not suit him and it led to stomach infection. He is recovering; however, the recovering it's taking its own sweet time. And seeing him go through such pain is extremely painful for me.

As a child grows, I am sure parents have different set of issues to deal with at different points of time. Which school is the best for my child? Will my child get admission into a good school? Once admitted, is my child giving in his/her best at studies and extra-curricular activities? And always hoping that children don't fall into bad company. Will my child be able to understand right from wrong, good from bad, ethical from unethical?

I think the answer to the last question and the statement before it is more to do with the upbringing. What children watch at home and comprehend according to their understanding help them not cross the thin line between right & wrong, good & bad, ethical from unethical. And it is the upbringing that helps a child not bend to peer pressure.

I've seen so many parents asking their children to do things because of what the society will say. "Aisa karoge, toh log kya kahenge?" People will say things anyways. Someone will try to bring down another, maybe because someone could not do something himself/herself. The main thing is follow your dreams and let people say things. If people don't say anything about your dreams, I feel your dreams are not worth following. If people don't say anything about your dreams, you are doing what everyone else is doing.

Dream. And rock on!