Beyond Blue Monday – Tips for Surviving the Winter Blues

Beyond Blue Monday – Tips for Surviving the Winter Blues

Whew! We’ve just passed the third Monday in January, recently popularized as ‘Blue Monday’, the most depressing day of the year. According to some, it is the perfect storm of badness: all the bills from Christmas have rolled in revealing a very empty financial cupboard; the weather is at its worst; there’s no holiday on the horizon that we can look forward to; the warm glow of Christmas and New Years has long since worn off, the new electronic gadgets have either broken down or lost their ability to excite; and we’ve likely broken our New Year’s resolutions. If you’re adversely affected by periods of grey gloomy sky (that’s me), put on an extra 10 pounds or so having lost an unfair fight with Christmas shortbread (check), and are a mid-40s male (strike three), you’re likely trying to just survive January.

Thankfully, I am a trained economist and know how to deal with this. In terms of mid-40s males, there’s not much you can do about it. Recent research indicates that middle-aged guys are by far the least happy humans on the planet. Even when the presence of snarly teenagers, receding hair, expanding girth and other horrific middle-age realties are removed from the situation, there’s no arguing with the evidence. Mercifully, it only gets better from here. By the time we’ve reached our seventies, our levels of happiness are soaring. It’s not just a North American phenomenon. It’s across all cultures. Women, if you’re interested, are always a little happier than guys. However, they experience higher highs and lower lows.

The other factors are somewhat within our control. The grey Kootenay skies, in addition to keeping small aircraft from landing, are also brutal for some who have the winter blues, now referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). While some suggest special lights, ionized air or even the hormone melatonin, my therapy involves getting into the sunlight for exercise as much as I can. Without trips to the ski hill, outdoor hockey rink or brisk walks for those brief early morning moments of sunshine, I would be done for.

In terms of the weight gain, there are probably a million and one books on the subject. “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” by Gary Taubes offers a different approach. He recommends quality carbs. The more refined the carb (think white flour, refined sugar, potatoes), the more insulin the body produces. Insulin stores all this as fat. While your body might crave this instant fuel (research has discovered that it is not just a mind game – you’re also fighting your stomach), it’s important to resist by eating proteins, fats (yes, bacon is good says Taubes) and lots of low-sugar carbs like green veggies and berries.

Other research has indicated there are simple ways to overcome seasonal blues. Napping 20-30 minutes a day will improve fitness, memory, and mood (you might want to check with the boss before you lay out the mat for a midday siesta!). Socializing is also a time-tested mood booster. A Harvard study found that people without strong social connections – we’re not talking about Facebook – are two to three times more likely to die over a decade. Perhaps this is why coffee shops are packed on the dreariest of winter days. The other surefire depression-beater is volunteering. Helping others boosts happiness not just immediately but for days afterwards. If you’re looking to volunteer, there are dozens of West Kootenay causes and organizations that could use you.

Just remember, we’ve survived the worst of it. From here on in, the days are getting longer and warmer. Good luck surviving the rest of the winter!

Mike Stolte runs the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial
Leadership (CIEL – www.theCIEL.com ) based in Nelson. He also occasionally writes and blogs as the Happy Economist.

“Beyond Economic Survival – 97 Ways Small Communities Can Thrive – A Guide to Community Vitality” Released

More Needed to Survive in a Post-Recession Economy - Economist

ALSO ATTACHED – MINI COMMUNITY VITALITY INDEX – How Does Your Community Rate?

Nelson, BC - Does your community believe in itself? Do women consider it safe to walk alone downtown at night? Do young adults 25-34 consider your community a desirable place to live?

“If you’re not asking yourself these things you are not likely to have a viable community in the long run” says economist Mike Stolte, co-author of a just-published free guide to community vitality.

“Beyond Economic Survival – 97 Ways Small Communities Can Thrive – A Guide to Community Vitality” was released on the web this week by the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL – pronounced ‘see – elle’ meaning sky in French –www.theCIEL.com), a Nelson, BC-based organization that has worked with communities in Canada, the US, Australia & New Zealand.

The guide comes about after four years of development. “We looked at more than 60 studies from around the world, had a blue ribbon national advisory committee, and have now worked closely with 50 communities in four countries to produce this guide,” says Bill Metcalfe, the report’s other co-author.

Stolte, CIEL’s Executive Director, says that most of the 97 indicators rely on perceptions - things like newcomers being welcome in the community or the community having a festival that generates a feeling of magic and excitement. “These important perceptions are often ignored in communities because they are hard to measure,” states Stolte.

To read full article click here.

Why Jamiaca isn't happy with being 3rd in Happiness

'The Happiness Index'
Excerpt from the Jamaican Gleaner article by John Rapley

Not everyone greeted the news with snickers. Some guffawed. Jamaica the third happiest country in the world? As much as we'd like to take pride in that, it's a bit hard to believe that happy, smiling folk would also top the league tables for killing each other.

The thing is, it is not a happiness index; it is the happy planet index. Put out by London's New Economics Foundation - a quirky think tank which, nonetheless, has its heart in the right place - the index is principally concerned with sustainability. The logic is that countries which are developing, without leaving too large an ecological footprint, create a happier planet.....


To read full article click this link

Disagreeing with Canada's National Newspaper - Should happiness be measured by economists? Can it?

Q: Should happiness be measured by economists? Can it?

A: Yes. Yes.

In response to the Globe & Mail's July 4th editorial ‘Comparing incomparables – forget the elusive ‘gross domestic happiness – economists should stick to facts and figures’, I strongly disagree. Fundamentally, we need to find better ways of measuring individual and societal well-being (NOTE: not to be confused with momentary hedonistic pleasure). Economists originally struck out to measure and maximize well-being in society. Gross domestic product (GDP) became a proxy for measuring this. It worked for a while as a world growing richer (at least in the West) lifted many beyond the chronic illness, premature death and subsistence living that plagued the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Unfortunately, GDP has not served us well for the last 50 years with self-reported measures of happiness declining slightly and rates of suicide, depression, stress, anxiety, all increasing. If our best indicator of well-being is broken, should we not endeavour to find other(s) as the French government is doing?

Can we actually measure happiness or well-being? Many countries, communities and individuals are already trying to do this. There have been great strides in recent years to find alternative indicators – Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI), CIEL’s Community Vitality Initiative (CVI) for small Canadian communities, Happy Planet Index (HPI) in the UK, the Atkinson Foundation’s Canadian Index of Well-Being, Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan and the New Economics Foundation’s National Accounts of Well-being where you can compare your relative happiness to those like you in many European countries.

Like the stockmarkets, however, be prepared for a rollercoaster ride.

Mike Stolte - The Happy Economist

http://happy-economist.blogspot.com/

Executive Director, Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL – www.theCIEL.com), co-developer of CVI

Can You Resist a Marshmallow? Your Happiness Might Depend On It!

By Mike Stolte

Can you resist a marshmallow? Psychologist Philip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect and creator of many renowned experiments, looks at the relationship between happiness and time, in a video mini-lecture at TED (Technology, Education, Design), a leading disseminator of 'ideas worth spreading.' If you can resist the marshmallow (as a third of 4-year-olds were able to do) for 2 more marshmallows later, your success in life is much more likely. Higher scores on the SATs (250 points!), more confidence, less trouble, more success.

In all societies we have a different 'time perspective', putting a different value on the past, present & the future.

Some people live in the past (positive to negative), others are more oriented to the present (hedonist to fatalist). In our Western society we place a premium on the future (life-goal-oriented to transcendental). Many of us suffer from the incorrect balance of these competing time perspectives. Those who solely value the future will sacrifice fun, friends, family, personal indulgences, hobbies, and sleep. They live for work, achievement and control.

Zimbardo admits he escaped his old neighbourhood that was fixated on old ethnic battles (past negative) and present fatalism by valuing the future. The ideal mix can be achieved with a mental shift in our orientation to:

• high - past positive (roots/groundedness around family and identity)
• moderate - future hedonism (giving energy to explore people, places, self, sensuality)
• moderately high - future life-goal-oriented (wings to soar to destinations and challenges)
  

It's worth checking out this relatively simple concept.

Watch the six minute video http://tinyurl.com/lb4vk3

Recession Porn - Let's Change the Channel

Economic News got you Down?

Let’s Change the Channel


I’ve heard it described as ‘recession porn’. In the media, you find an economic forecast or story that is awful and you run with it. It sells papers or gets people watching (kinda like the car wreck mentality).

Lately, however, we may have turned a corner. The Globe & Mail recently used the decline in the usage of the terms ‘depression’ and ‘economy’ in a Google search as a sign things may have bottomed out. A couple of weeks ago I was at an economic development conference where a keynote speaker suggested we’re not REALLY in a recession – if you compare us with 2002, a year more typical than the crazy and unsustainable boom years experienced more recently. Maybe these people are grasping for straws or maybe it’s the natural optimism that comes with spring.

One thing that the current economic downturn provides us with is a chance to

look differently at the way we measure the world, our communities and maybe ourselves.

In Canada we’re guaranteed ‘peace, order and good government’. Our American cousins get the much sexier ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ in their Constitution.

But how often do we actually stop and consider our own happiness. Lately, there’s been some great research that’s suggested our continued fixation on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a sign of how well we’re doing is about as wrong as having an all-lard diet. In other words, we’re watching the wrong channel.

In the early 20th century when GDP went up, society became better. People lived longer healthier lives, enjoyed more school and were generally happier. (Believe it or not, early economists were trying to make society happier.)

However, that relationship started to change in the west 50 years or so ago when people didn’t get any happier while incomes continued to rise. In fact, rates of suicide, depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and mental illness all started to climb. It didn’t take long for people to start criticizing GDP as a bad measure of progress – GDP goes up when people smoke more, when insurance claims for vandalism are filed, or when more is spent on prescription drugs.


Economists and others searched for meaningful ways to answer ‘where are we?’ and ‘where do we want to go?’. ‘Can’t measure, can’t manage’ is a common adage in management circles.

There was some promise with Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI), which also tried to measure the well-being of people in a country. It tries to separate between good and not-so-good growth and factor in things like costs of resource depletion (deforestation), crime, family breakdown, etc.

In 1972, the King of Bhutan proposed Gross National Happiness (GNH), trying to ensure Bhutan, a tiny mountain kingdom above India, would preserve its unique cultural and spiritual features when opened to the world. GNH tried to balance four pillars: promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment and establishment of good governance. Bhutan has struggled with measuring this but it is, to its credit, the only country among the world’s 20 happiest countries, as documented in a well-regarded study by the UK’s Adrian White.

The Happy Planet Index (not the smoothie company that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson co-founded) takes things a step further. It looks at well-being and wealth but then subtracts ecological footprint and adverse impact on one’s neighbour. Therefore, a gas guzzling country that fires missiles into the neighbourhood would score low. Canada and the US do not crack the top 100 in this.

The New Economics Foundation, a group based in the UK, are certainly shaking things up with the Happy Planet Index. They claim to do economics as if people and the planet mattered. They’ve caught the ear of many governments, including the Conservatives in Britain.

Sure, it’s interesting to play with numbers when they’re all rolled up at the national level, but do these measures of well-being help us in Nelson or the Kootenays?

My work at the community level on business vitality and community vitality has been trying to generate meaningful information from perceptions (do young people want to live here?) because there is no data.

That’s why I propose Nelson becomes a leader in measuring personal and community well-being as a way of REALLY charting how we’re doing and deciding where to go next. Nelson is quickly asserting itself as a leading community for food security, pesticides, and producing top-notch cultural products (community theatre, music, KCR’s radio programming). Why not be a front-runner on well-being (happiness) as well?

We could start by asking ourselves these key questions:

• How would you describe your overall quality of life/happiness?
  
• As a citizen in this community, how satisfied are you with the overall quality of life in it?
  
• In the past 5 years, do you feel it’s improved/stayed the same/worsened?
  
• What do you think will be the answer in 3 years?

Perhaps it’s time we changed the channel.

NOTE: If you want to see how your well-being stacks up against our European cousins’ check out www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org. The cool graph at the end is well worth the 15 minute investment.



Mike Stolte is Executive Director of the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL – www.theCIEL.com). He also writes as the Happy Economist (www.happyeconomist.com).

This article was originally published in the Nelson Daily News.

You are God For a Week - Bhutan, etc.

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
Time Balance, Financial Security Biggest Barriers to Happiness in Capital

You are God for a week. You have one more miracle left. You can cure the blind or relieve chronic back pain.

Which choice will make for a happier world? Hmmm. A difficult decision isn’t it?

Surprisingly, relief of chronic back pain is the clear winner. Like lottery winners who get happy for a short burst, or, at the other end of the spectrum, paraplegics who lose the use of their legs and become depressed for a time, we humans get used to things quickly and return to a certain steady state of happiness. Those ‘cured’ of their blindness will likely get used to seeing and return to a level of happiness somewhere near where they started. Chronic pain, however, is a constant irritant and, unless treated, will make us very unhappy for a long time.

The economics of happiness looks at evidence to better make these trade-offs. The trick is finding and measuring things in a systematic, meaningful and accurate way. If the pursuit of happiness seems silly to you, consider that the World Bank, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations and others have recently declared developing better measures of progress – happiness (also called subjective well-being), quality of life, sustainability – as priorities.

When last I left you we were somewhere in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, population 700,000, trying to find ways of measuring their country’s progress using a newly developed Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index. No policy or program can be developed without considering GNH in this country that’s twice the size of the RDCK.

The Bhutanese have recently tried their first happiness survey, one that takes seven hours to complete. Ouch! One of the survey’s developers, Mike Pennock, an epidemiologist for Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), thought the idea so great, he brought the survey home and tested it in Greater Victoria. Not the seven hour version, though.

With support from eight organizations including the province, the regional district, VIHA, the United Way and Victoria Community Foundation, Victorians became the guinea pigs for the rest of the world in November 2008. While questions of well-being have often been part of surveys, this survey was ALL about happiness and satisfaction.

Greater Victorians scored 76 out of a possible 100 in both happiness and satisfaction, scoring highest in freedom from deprivation (92) and availability of social support in times of crisis (83). Some of the lower scores were in interpersonal trust (69), ability to participate in cultural, arts and recreational events (65), satisfaction with governance (67), and the quality of the local environment (63). The lowest scores were in the areas of satisfaction with financial circumstances and security (53) and time balance (46).

Pennock was surprised at the very low score in time balance. He believes that financial and time-related stresses are affecting many people as well as people trying to care for and provide activities for their kids. Interestingly, the richest and poorest reported the most stress. Long commuting times are also taking their toll, with commuters from Sooke, Colwood and Metchosin scoring much lower than those living in the core of Victoria. About one in four Victorians spends little or no time doing what they really enjoy.

When Victorians were asked what would given them the most additional satisfaction in their life, less stress and more financial security were the top two answers, with 66% of the 2,400 respondents wanting these. Only 6% believed more possessions would bring them additional satisfaction.

While Victoria’s score of 76 may seem high, it ranked 35th of 45 Canadian communities recently surveyed using the basic happiness and satisfaction question. The highest scoring community was Granby, Quebec with many East Coast communities also scoring near the top. Pennock credits the East Coast dominance to their tight social networks. In a country comparison, Canada stands in the top 5, slightly behind leaders Denmark (82) and Switzerland (80).

With Greater Victoria’s survey information, the Capital Regional District and its partners hope to make some decisions that improve the happiness and satisfaction of Victorians. For instance, more resources may go towards chronic and mental illness, changing commuting patterns or better informing Victorians of what makes them happy (study after study shows we’re pretty hopeless at recording our happiness accurately unless we keep a record and ask the right questions).

With a few tweaks, the survey next travels to some Brazilian communities. Now that is has a benchmark established, Victoria hopes to do an on-line version of the survey on a yearly basis and offer a toolkit to other interested communities. If you’re interested in bringing this to the Kootenays, please e-mail me at happyeconomist@gmail.com.

Who knows, maybe we can solve the riddle of my chronic back pain or at least get happier trying to find a solution!

Mike Stolte is Executive Director of the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL – www.theCIEL.com). He also writes as the Happy Economist (www.HappyEconomist.com).

Originally published in the Nelson Daily News.