Ten Keys To Happier Living with Vanessa King - a podcast by Michelle McQuaid

Vanessa King is a board member of Action for Happiness, which is a UK-based not-for-profit that focuses on proactively building skills for psychological well-being and resilience. She’s also the architect of the Ten Keys to Happier Living. She joins me on this episode to talk about

In this episode, you will hear Vanessa’s Ten Keys to Happier Living, which form the acronym, GREAT DREAM.  Vanessa lists these ten keys and describes how they can bring about happier living.  She also talks about her program, Doing Well From the Inside Out and describes some of the success she’s seen through that program with building well-being in the workplace.  As technology changes the landscape of business and the future becomes more difficult to predict, getting back to the basics with well-being is more important than ever.

Connect with Vanessa King:

Action for Happiness
Ten Keys to Happier Living

You’ll Learn:

• [01:45] - Vanessa explains that the Ten Keys to Happier Living are areas that we can take action in to help ourselves and other people be happier.  
• [02:14] - GREAT DREAM is the acronym for these ten keys and Vanessa walks us through each of the keys.  
• [05:40] - Vanessa talks about how people can stick with these shifts.  She explains that approaching these changes with an attitude of experimentation rather than lifestyle transformation where to set expectations.
• [06:30] - Vanessa explains how sharing what you’re doing with other people can help create momentum through accountability.
• [08:57] - The evidence is still out on these strategies, but Vanessa shares why she believes it’s possible long-term improvements in people’s well-being.
• [11:40] - Vanessa emphasizes that these are ten keys to happier living, not ten keys to happiness.
• [14:06] - Vanessa talks about her program, Doing Well From the Inside Out, which helps build well-being in the workplace.  
• [15:47] - Vanessa shares a few stories about participants that went through this and other programs who experienced transformations.
• [18:34] - Vanessa explains how she presents these strategies to businesses.  She shares there’s a need to think about organizations systemically.
• [22:30] - Technology makes it difficult to predict the future in business.  Vanessa explains that requires us to get back to the basics with happy living.
• [23:14] - The Lightning Round with Vanessa King.

Your Resources:

• Mindful Compassion: How the Science of Compassion Can Help You Understand Your Emotions, Live in the Present, and Connect Deeply with Others - Paul Gilbert PhD
• Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself - Kristin Neff
• Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul - Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.  

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Special thanks to Vanessa for joining me this week. Until next time, take care!

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