Perfect Life Project

A share of the action

I recently took a bold step with my business and began a profit-sharing package for my employees. OK, so its not exactly a new idea, plenty of businesses do it....but for me it has been a big step.

My business is a boutique advertising agency in Australia. I have a small and focussed team who are all very good at what they do. Since buying the agency 2 years ago (and hiring 2 of the staff) we have grown the business and improved our profitability significantly. Those who have been following this blog will know that I have implemented a few work practices such as the 80/20 rule, Parkinson's Law, and a certain amount of freedom and autonomy for my staff. As a result the business has flourished and I have an agency that is enjoyable to work at, doesn't cause me much stress and has been personally rewarding.

Goodbye wealth, hello happiness

Another thought provoking article from the Sydney Morning
Herald, author Peter Hartcher August 17, 2007

One of the rising fashions in world affairs is the advance of the so-called "happiness agenda".

It is no longer just a fad in the self-help aisles of the bookshops but is beginning to intrude into the mainstream of politics and public policy around the world.

Happiness studies start with the ancient - and stunningly obvious - fact that money doesn't make us happy. And they seek to find things that do.

The new happiness agenda takes it further by seeking to make it a responsibility of the state. Not content to leave it to individuals, life coaches and swamis to help us grope our way to greater wellbeing, there is a movement to make it the business of politicians and bureaucrats.

While it was once the province of New Age practitioners, it is now a staple in the business press.

The serious American business magazine Forbes last year reported an academic comparison of the happiness of rich, high-powered business executives with the Masai people of East Africa. They didn't find much difference between people who make $100 million a year and those making $100 a month.

It is long established that rising incomes deliver a diminishing return to happiness. Professor Ruut Veenhoven, a psychologist at Erasmus University in Amsterdam and publisher of the Journal of Happiness Studies, maintains a 90-country happiness database.

Keep Fit, Feel Young

Probably the most important aspect of what I consider to be a Perfect Life is health. When I began this study I identified 4 crucial criteria for a perfect life; Health, Income, Relationships, Freedom (HIRF). Up til now my posts have been concentrating mainly on Income and Freedom. This is not because I value them more highly, but from my point of view they were areas that needed to be addressed early.

My Health has always been very good. I have been a competitve sailor, windsurfer and cyclist as well as takeing part in many other sporting activities. I am fairly lean and strong with no major health issues.

Nonethess, as we age things change, and I have noticed some of those changes in recent years. Slower recovery, easier weight-gain, and some general "ageing signs". OK I am only 38 years old but I do believe that addressing potential Health issues sooner is better.