There are a lot of studies on “happiness” these days.

In one study, people are emailed and must stop immediately and answer questions about their mental state.

The study is developing a database on mindset.

One of the areas of study is concentration.

Turns out that the more you focus on the task or effort at hand, the happier you are.

In other words, if your mind is wandering and you are “going through the motions,” chances are you will report that you aren’t as happy as you would like.

This is a “chicken or the egg” discussion. Am I interested and focused because the work is interesting and requires focus? Or can I set my mind to be more focused?

You can get better at setting your mind to focus. It starts with you choosing to do so. The logic is this: by knowing that focus breeds satisfaction, we should resist going through the motions every time we feel it is upon us.

There are many tricks to the trade:

• Goal setting
• Competition
• Setting personal records
• Trying new approaches

It takes engagement. But you take charge of the engagement agenda.

Are you engaged? We want to create an environment where engagement occurs. But it takes your desire for engagement as well.