Having a Vision Increases Happiness

In his book, Authentic Happiness, bestselling author and psychology professor, Martin E. Seligman, Ph.D., describes how having a vision for work increases both the happiness of a leader and people throughout an organization. Here’s how he describes what is needed:

“Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.” He says that life will have more meaning because of “attachment to something larger than you.”

In their popular book, From Teaching to Thinking, Ann Pelo and Margie Carter share examples of vision statements from a program called Hilltop Children’s Center. This is Hilltop’s vision statement for educators:

“We want educators at Hilltop to be on fire about their work; to feel competent, excited, curious, and profoundly attentive to children. We strive to be a program in which educators move between theory and practice, with a solid understanding of the thinking underneath our teaching practices and with lively teaching practices that set each classroom alight. We commit to knowing the children intimately, and to living alongside them in ways that communicate our affection, delight, and regard.”

And Holly Elissa Bruno, in her bestselling book, Happiness is Running Through the Streets to Find You: Translating Trauma’s Harsh Legacy into Healing, writes about how she transformed painful childhood experiences into a meaningful vision for her life’s work:

“To speak up for wounded children, I claimed my truest voice. My greatest vulnerability became my greatest strength…I have spoken for survivors because, as Diana Nyad says, ‘Freedom lies in being bold!’”

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