Instead, studies tend to focus more on concepts like improving wellbeing or strengthening resilience.

Researchers have found that you can measure your wellbeing over time and examine your levels of resilience. When you have that depth of insight, you can make clear decisions about improving both.

How Might You Improve Your Personal Resilience and Wellbeing?

Self-reflection is essential in helping you explore what you could do better in your life. And doing things better can make you happier. Here are some key questions to consider:

• What’s the quality of your relationships with partners, family members, friends, with work colleagues? The question to be asking yourself is, “Are these relationships helping me be my best self?” If they are, how do you maintain them? If they’re not but you believe they can be, how will that happen? If they’re not and you want to change, what needs to happen next?
• Do you maintain an active lifestyle? Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity can make all the difference to how you feel. For example, even doing the vacuuming at home, cutting the grass, or cleaning the bath.
• What do you do to be mentally healthy? What are your self-care routines? What do you consciously do that preserves or improves your mental or physical health? If you need/receive treatment, how does that help you to be mentally well?
• What kind of diet are you keeping? Eating well-balanced meals throughout the day and the week can help your overall health.
• What’s your consumption of alcohol and smoking like? Both have damaging negative impacts on the body, so if this is an area of concern, what can you do to limit your intake?
• How do you actively reflect on how things are going for you? Take time out to think about what’s going well in your life and where things may be going wrong. Consider how to build up the good things in your life.
• What’s your sleep like? Sleeping for long enough and the quality of your sleep are vital for regular healthy functioning. For example, keep to a regular sleep routine if you can, and try not to check your phone as you’re getting ready to rest.

How Do We Think About Those Things in the Workplace?

One of the encouraging things about the ongoing research into wellbeing and resilience is the emerging picture of connectedness. Not only in the workplace environment, but also through best workplace practice.

In my experience, we’re starting to see more of the following approaches in organizations to help build resilience and promote wellbeing among staff.

Which of these ideas might you be able to suggest or adopt in your organization?

• Having breakout areas/canteens/kitchens where people can come together over lunch or coffee breaks.
• Having worktime wellbeing classes like yoga, pilates or mindfulness sessions. If people can do these things at work, it provides a way for them to actively change their focus. That means they can then come back to their work with a renewed sense of productivity.
• Training managers to recognize stress in team members. People may not be willing to be open about how they’re feeling or doing, and managers can provide support in these areas.
• Providing charity/volunteer days. If people feel they can give back to the community as part of work culture and practice, it strengthens team members’ connectedness and develops positive feelings of engagement at work.
• Encouraging people to use their annual leave. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to get people to have time off, but it can be. They have an allowance they should make use of! Even if it’s just time off at home, that helps with recuperation by resting the mind and body.

What's Next?

The pursuit of happiness is often cited as a worthy journey to go on. The problem with the analogy is that it suggests happiness is a destination – and that once you get there, you can stay there!

The reality is that happiness comes and goes as easily as any other emotion we may feel.

The suggestions and reflective questions above should hopefully provide useful guidelines to a more sustainable approach to improving wellbeing and resilience.

They are a starting point for continued self-understanding of how to be your best self.

Here are a few resources to keep you moving along that path:

How to Promote Wellbeing at Work. Discover a 12-step process for increasing wellbeing within your team.

Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Our Book Insight shares Martin Seligman’s groundbreaking views on positive psychology.

The Happiness Track. Learn about the science of happiness, and how to apply it to your career, in our Expert Interview with Dr Emma Seppala.

Tip of the Week

I Know You From Somewhere

By Kevin Dunne, Mind Tools Content Editor

There’s reason I’ve said “Hello mate” thousands of times – I can’t remember who I’m talking to.

There are infinite variations on this theme, from “What’s happenin’ bro?” to “Darling, how are you?”

All a means of covering up the fact we didn’t pay enough attention the last time we met.

And that’s the key to avoiding what can be an embarrassing scenario: paying attention.

Here are two techniques to help:

1. Face association: Examine a person's face discreetly when you’re introduced. Try to find a distinctive feature – their ears, hair, nose, or something else.

Create an association in your mind between that characteristic, the person's face, and their name. Maybe associate a rhyme of the name with the defining feature. So, Piers the ears, for instance.

2. Repetition: When introduced, ask the person to repeat their name. Use the name yourself as often as possible in conversation. The more you hear and see the name, the more likely it is to sink in.

For more tips, see our article How to Remember a Name.

Pain Points Podcast

Collaboration is crucial in the modern workplace. We innovate, problem solve, and get things done by working together. But in remote or hybrid workplaces, collaboration can suffer.

So, what’s the remedy? What can managers do to protect collaboration when we’re globally dispersed? Listen to this week’s episode of the member-only Pain Points podcast to find out!

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News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

Why Working From Home Is a New Glass Ceiling for Women

Flexible working and WFH has made work possible for millions of women who might otherwise not be able to work due to family and other caring commitments.

However, London newspaper The Standard revealed one damaging consequence of WFH. “You risk becoming invisible,” one City worker said. “A lot of senior people still prefer a deskside discussion. ‘Face time’ is still a big thing.”

But Racheal Smith, head of learning at Entelechy Academy, sees it differently. She said, “The primary cause of a woman ‘disappearing’ is that they are less likely to give voice to their achievements, or their desire for advancement.

“WFH means that they are then completely reliant on an effective line manager to call out their strengths.”

The solution, Racheal says, lies in speaking up for yourself. “If you want WFH to keep working for you, commit to making yourself visible from afar. Speak up, network, join groups within organizations: it is possible to assert yourself in a hybrid work environment.”

Vote No on Office Politics

If you’ve worked in an office, you’ll know all about office politics – gossip, verbal hostile sparring, and worse.

While toxic offices are a horrible environment to work in, they’re also bad for productivity.

Fortunately, Forbes.com ran a piece last month detailing “4 Ways to Avoid Toxic Workplace Politics.”

1. Don’t Engage

Try to remain neutral by not engaging in toxic behavior such as office gossip or backstabbing.

2. Act With Integrity

Follow your morals even when it can seem to be the inconvenient thing to do. Be truthful and transparent. Give everyone the treatment you expect for yourself.

3. Be a Friend to All

Treat everybody in your workplace with the same level of respect, kindness and professionalism. It might just spare you from becoming an unwilling participant in toxic office politics.

4. Don’t Mix Personal With Professional

Office politics can get nasty, especially when it happens outside of work hours, like at Friday drinks or Christmas parties. So in conversations, try to be selective about the topics you’re willing to discuss.

For more advice on how to navigate the sometimes dangerous waters of the office, see our Playlist Beating Workplace Politics.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mind Tools team!