Day 8 in the 10 Days of Happiness: Volunteer Time One-on-One or to a Group

Research shows that happiness comes more often via pro-social behavior.

“Happy people tend to be energized by the social world and thrive on the company of others” says Mark Holder, associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, who studies the science of happiness.

Most people will agree that one of the many benefits of volunteering is the opportunity it creates to socialize. Today our focus was on volunteering one on one or to a group. Anita Smithson, a special speaker, business coach and a life mentor says volunteering allows you to practice the 2M.E.I systems of success. In other word every time you Motivate, Encourage and Inspire (MEI) you are volunteering. Volunteering do not have to consume a lot of time.

You could work to a mother struggling to keep two or three to behave at the grocery store and just put your hand on her and say “you are doing a great job with these kids” or giving a hand to someone at working needing  help to get a project complete. The benefit is win-win. They get the help they need and you a wonderful feeling of being useful.

Ron Meier, a consultant, coach and regular volunteer in commercial nor-for-profit organizations, explain the different ways to volunteer; filling a need at an event, becoming a board member or applying your skills to build a website, create social media presence or bookkeeping for an organization are just some of the ways to reach out. He also emphasized that you do not have to focus on charitable organization alone as Commercial sector can yield a lot of opportunities to volunteer; like trade shows or industry groups are great example of ways to gain new knowledge while volunteering at the same time.

In the end most people go to volunteer without focusing on what they get. The focus and intention is to give. Most people just want to give back because they feel blessed, some do it to increase their profile in the community and yet others, remember, we are pro=social behavior, do it to socialize.

Whatever the reasons you go out to volunteer, continue to do it and if you have never done so, try it, because there are a lot of organizations like the I am happy Project who could use the help and you will increase your happiness rating in the process.

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Day Nine of the "Ten Days of Happiness" will focus on smile more and learn to laugh at yourself      

For information about how to call in, listen to previous days recording and other details visit http://iamhappyproject.org. 

That is it for now. Remember: "Do not allow the past or the future to rob you of your present" 

Stay happy,

CHO