Want to be happy? Upgrade your cognitive app

Dubai - We keep upgrading our phones and apps, but how much time do we take to upgrade our cognitive app?

In a fast-paced and frantic world rushing about to get things done, it's time to focus on PAUSITIVITY rather than positivity, to take a moment to rest and reflect on all that you are grateful for.
This was the message delivered to the audience at a powerful session of Happiness Talks that saw speakers discuss happiness hacks and tools of happiness in real life situations.
"Happiness Talks lived its purpose again this April" said Rehan Naeem, organiser of the event and chief happiness enabler at the firm, Touch Points. "It's a proud moment for us to have delivered the fifth CSR event in the Year of Giving 2017, to spread mass happiness and have people adopt and spread happiness around them."
This month's happiness talks saw two main speakers - Dr Samineh Shaheem, a professor of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership and a Neuroleadership Coach, Eiman Al Khateeri and a special guest, Othman Al Madani, Director of Happiness of the Minister of State for Happiness Office.
Al Madani spoke briefly and invited everyone to join in and spread the Friends of Happiness initiative started by the UAE's Programme for Happiness and Positivity. Happiness is everyone's job and we all must choose to be happy, but also play a role in making the community a happier place, he said.
The Friends of Happiness is an initiative that invites everyone to be a part and share ideas, skills or an affinity for giving.
Tools of happiness
The event continued with the first speaker Al Khateeri, who spoke about the tools for happiness. She introduced her three Ps formula that focuses on Purpose, Positivity and Productivity, that go hand in hand for a happy life.
Reflecting on the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, "to take risk and fail is not a failure. Real failure is to fear taking risks" she concluded that we distort our happiness in the fear of the future and fear of failing, which must change. We should live in the moment and be happy now.
The next speaker, Dr Shaheem, had a powerful impact on the audience with her effective happiness hacks. She stressed that we keep upgrading our phones and apps, but how much time do we take to upgrade our cognitive app?
"Once your cognitive understanding is sorted, you'll get your direction, as you will know where you are, where you'd like to go. It is important to know, who am I, what am I capable of and how can I be more productive."
What you should do less to attain real happiness?
Dr Samineh said: "Avoid using platitudes and clichés such as 'money can't buy happiness or life is too short to be unhappy', as these are general expressions that don't offer proper advice."
She advised: "We need to get rid of the deep desire to get the approval of other people and who they want us to be and where they want us to go. Get rid of the 'tell me where to go' thinking. On an average, a motorist travels 1,296 miles extra in the wrong direction, due to total dependence on satellite navigation. We know the direction, but we are too lazy to learn."
Change negative thoughts
Also, she said we have a tendency to think negatively, which we need to consciously change. "We have on an average about 45,000 thoughts a day, 92 per cent of the thoughts are almost the same as everyday, and 82 per cent of those thoughts are negative. So today, I want you to switch that and develop a mindset to hang on tightly to the positive experiences. Let the positives be like a velcro that stick on and negativity be like Teflon that slides right off," she said.
The highlight of the evening was the adoption exercise that is also an integral part of the Happiness Talks. Event moderator Ghanim Al Falasi asked the attendees to write down the name of a person they are most grateful to and state why. He asked for volunteers to come up and to their surprise, call the person right away and read their words out to express their gratitude towards them. The volunteers called and expressed gratitude, live, to the person. Both the receiver and the audience were deeply touched by this gesture.
"We must be grateful all the time for all that we have around us, for us to happy and to make people happy. Gratitude is one of the main drivers of happiness and it has phenomenal effects when practiced," said Rehan Naeem.
Happiness Talks is a monthly CSR event supporting the national programme for happiness and positivity, in creating happiness as a lifestyle within the community.
In the Year of Giving, giving happiness tools and tips to make people and the community happy is one objective of Happiness Talks, said event co-organiser Adnan Butt.
saman@khaleejtimes.com