Creating the potential for human flourishing
More than 2000 years ago, Greek philosopher, Aristotle introduced the concept of “eudaimonia.” Aristotle defined eudaimonia as “the state of having a good indwelling spirit, and activity in accordance with virtue.” He was attempting to define the state of mind that accompanies happiness. Today’s thinkers say the closest translation for eudaimonia is “human flourishing.”
Aristotle may have started the quest into how to realize the potential for a flourishing life, but today the work is being advanced by SHINE (Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).
Researchers at SHINE have identified six essential domains of life that promote flourishing:
- Happiness and life satisfaction
- Mental and physical health
- Meaning and purpose
- Character and virtue
- Close social relationships
- Financial and material stability
In an interview with Aduro Human Performance Coach and Content writer, Janssen Judge, we learned that in our quest to find a state of flourishing, we must keep the big picture in mind. She says the common approach to finding happiness and developing a state of flourishing is to try to compartmentalize well-being by addressing just one piece of the puzzle at a time. Watch the interview.
It’s just like putting together a puzzle, all of the pieces are essential. Promoting flourishing means seeing people as a whole.”
Coach Janssen
And more importantly, Janssen emphasizes, is understanding that fulfillment or lack of fulfillment in one area will always impact the entire system.
On an organizational level, supporting the flourishing of individual employees results in more creativity, more engagement, and more success in both their work and life. Flourishing helps to address the epidemic amount of burnout currently facing the average workplace.
A person who feels supported in flourishing looks forward to each day and is more likely to see any challenges as opportunities for growth.”
Coach Janssen
And she says, (and we can all agree) “It just feels really good to flourish.”
At Aduro we believe that when employees are at their best, organizations are unstoppable. Ultimately, flourishing employees build extraordinary companies!
Learn more about our collaboration with Harvard/SHINE in our executive summary, ‘Flourishing: a new way to measure well-being.’ Download here.