In autumn 2008, working in conjunction with Education Bradford Human Resources, Nick Pronger ran some twilight session for schools on reducing stress. He told people about the life style changes most likely to have a favourable outcome in stress reduction The feedback was encouraging, 60%-70% of those who attended said they would take immediate action to reduce personal stress. Nick also suggested simple changes that schools could make in management and organisation that could reduce stress in the workplace.  

 Subsequently Nick feels that more emphasis should be placed on the positive skills people can develop to reduce or even avoid stress. As a result he has been researching techniques that individuals can use to develop “happiness” which appears to be the best antidote to stress.

 We know that happy people are healthier people. We know that happy staff have less time off work and are a positive influence on those around them. It is probably the case that schools with more happy staff members get better outcomes of their children but we can’t prove that (yet). A happier staff may well result in happier children! It has been suggested that happiness should be taught to children in schools.

 Psychological research is showing that while happiness could have a genetic component, a lot of the traits of happiness can be learned. Two BBC TV programs in recent years have looked at the nature of happiness and run experiments to see how happiness skills can be taught. In both cases the results have been positive. Simple techniques have been developed that individuals can apply to themselves. The subjects reported an increase happiness levels.

 Happiness is often seen as a “right” to which people are entitled however for many it seems elusive. With a little knowledge, and a bit of practice, a lot of people could achieve a much higher level of happiness with beneficial results in all aspects of their personal and professional lives. Nick can tell people about the research and ways of developing and increasing their happiness levels. 

 If you would like to know more about Nick or would like him to talk to your staff about happiness contact nick.pronger@googlemail.com