CHIEF IKIGAI OFFICER CERTIFICATION

Transform your workplace and increase your employee wellbeing with ikigai!

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HAPPINESS IS NOT THE ANSWER

Happiness is not the answer for workplace well being. If you set happiness as your primary goal, the further you put yourself and employees away from it. Happiness should be understood as a fleeting state not a prized goal to attain. We all know that happiness is best enjoyed when it is unexpected or serendipitous. As it is with life, happiness at work comes and goes.

Your goal is not to make your employees happy. Your goal should be to make your employees feel a sense of purpose and role satisfaction with the work they do. Give them autonomy and the opportunity to grow and happiness will take care of itself.

CHIEF IKIGAI OFFICER CERTIFICATION

IKIGAI

HATARAKIGAI

IBASHO THEORY

ROLEFULNESS

POSITIVE PYSCHOLOGY

The CIO Certificate is a program for HR managers, entrepreneurs, Chief Happiness Officers, business owners and other working professionals wanting to create a synergistic workplace where all staff feel safe, empowered and self-determined.


The program ties together ikigai, hatarakigai, ibasho theory, rolefulness, and positive psychology to create a holistic approach to workplace wellbeing.







THE PARADOX OF HAPPINESS

The paradox happiness surfaces when individuals overprioritize happiness: They find themselves more susceptible to experiencing gloominess and even depression. Obviously this phenomenon doesn't stem from happiness being detrimental. Instead, it is rooted in a fundamental issue of placing too much emphasis on the pursuit of happiness, as if it is the be all and end to our life and now work.

IKIGAI

Ikigai, Japan's most misunderstood word and culturally appropriated concept, is a holistic approach to wellbeing that combines purpose in life, rolefulness,  eudaimonic wellbeing as well as features of hedonic wellbeing: sensory pleasure and life satisfaction. Rather than focusing on one fleeting emotion to be the answer for your workplace wellbeing ikigai offers an approach that moves your employees towards a brighter future. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HAPPINESS

The concept of being able to generate and regulate happiness is a relatively recent notion. Originating from the Old Scandinavian root "happ" meaning chance, luck, or success, prior to the 18th century, the term 'happiness' primarily denoted the sensation of being blessed by God's grace; favorable happenings rather than intentional efforts. This serves as a reminder that happiness often happens by chance or luck. 


Around the 18th century, this connection between happiness and chance subtly shifted. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson declared in the American Constitution that every citizen had the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," suggesting that happiness was something attainable, even graspable.

Simultaneously, in Britain, the pursuit of happiness appeared to have become a trend among the educated elite, to the extent that English poet and satirist Alexander Pope ridiculed it: "O Happiness! Our Being's End and Aim! Good, Pleasure, Ease, Content! Whate'er thy name."

Today, happiness has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry, with self-help literature being the fastest-growing non-fiction category,  tech companies encouraging individuals to monitor their emotional states with apps and companies employing Chief Happiness Officers. Despite this abundance we aren't that happy. The global average of The World Happiness Index is 6 out of 10 with no country, not even any first country, reaching 8. The science of happiness isn't working. 

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