Does being Happy & Healthy really make you Successful? 70% Indian Professionals say so!

What is success according to you? How do you differentiate personal and professional success? I’m sure that these questions are always on the back of your mind throughout your career and I can tell you that you still don’t have a clue for these.

According to a recent survey from YouGov, commissioned by LinkedIn, most of the Indians define success as ‘being happy’ and ‘healthy’. The survey was conducted across 16 countries and Indian professionals ranked third in feeling successful behind UAE and Brazil. Theoretically, happiness is a state of mind and for some, they have their own definitions of being happy like going to a specific place, going out with friends and many more.

Reacting to the survey, Anviti Sangwan, Human Resources Director, Adecco, says, “In my opinion, I completely agree with the other 70% Indians. Keeping a positive frame of mind and staying happy leads to good health and being more productive. I have seen this not only at work but also in personal life. People who are generally happy not only are extremely successful but also create an environment around them that encourages others to be much more effective and efficient. Same does with health. So, I strongly advocate that healthy mind and body lead to great future.”

Does Happiness really give you the Success you Intended for?

Do you really think that focusing on happiness can actually makes you feel good? Well! Think again, as the ancient Greek poet, Solon, said, “Count no man happy until he be dead” gives us the idea of ‘pursuit to happiness’ is an endless journey which brings the heavy burden you carry throughout because it is something that can never be fully achieved. On the contrary, there are some researchers who found that more miserable the employees are, better the outcomes will be and these points out the negative correlation between job satisfaction and productivity. Hence, it is still debatable that happiness can bring out the best in you or not.

Set your Goals, maintain a Healthy Body and Success is all Yours!

Most of the successful people around the globe do take exercises in the morning very seriously and they claim that a small workout session in the morning helps them maintain focus and energy throughout the day. Also, several studies show that there is a clear link between physical fitness, brain function and reduced stress levels at work. Apart from this, the food we take plays a crucial role in our life, unfortunately most of them doesn’t look for the nutrients it contains and the only thing they care is the pleasure they get from the flavour. A study from Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) shows that people having a healthy meal and getting regular exercise not only performed better on the job, but also had a lower absenteeism.

Speaking about the current trend in young professionals, Mukul Chopra, Director HR, Huawei Technologies, says, “The current generation of young professionals always find the help of handheld devices to be engaged and the aim for being successful in life is something they care very less about. Having proper food and getting proper sleep is very important in your work-balance life. I have always suggested them to do more physical activities like yoga, swimming, and playing games to maintain a healthy body which automatically makes them more efficient in work.”

When it comes to professional success, people these days see their career as a race and the resulted outcome, i.e., Stress, is not at all linked solely to the amount of work they have but it depends on the relationship they have with their co-workers as well. Imagine, for example, how incentive procedure works in your company? It focuses mainly on the individual performance than the team performance. If you value corporate success more than the personal success, then there are more chances of you losing it because of the emotional and social consequences that result.

In a country like India, where over six million IT professionals work, around 1,000 employees were surveyed and they place social success over professional success, which is indeed a good thing to see. Firms nowadays invest money on happiness coaches, team-building exercises, gameplays and more to boost the morale within the team aiming at more productivity. The definition of success can be different to different people, but however it is refreshing to see that work-life balance; family time and health are prevailing over a six-figure salary or a promotion in your rank. 

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