For this class, you are asked to submit an individual assignment where you conduct research (using FIU online library, legitimate and credible sources of information on the Internet, and/or other legitimate and credible sources of information such as books that you own or the experts that you have access to) on how to actually be happier in life and in the workplace.

You are asked to put together a 2-page paper (a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 2 pages). The page limit excludes the references (i.e., the reference list at the end of your paper that includes the sources of information that you relied on). The page limit also excludes any inspiring or creative title for the paper that you may include or your personal identifiers (e.g., your name, last name, and panther ID). Because this is a 2-page paper, every single sentence that you write counts. Therefore, please make every sentence count. 🙂 Plan what you are going to write and how you are going to write it in advance so that you can easily work with the 2-page limit. Please remember that you are asked to write a 2-page paper (i.e., with a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 2 pages). Planning goes a long way when it comes to producing a high-quality paper and observing the parameters you are given.

Please divide your paper into two. In the first page, write about how you can be happier in your life. Then, in the second page, write about how you can be happier in your work life. Please separate these two parts under two main headings such as “HOW I CAN BE HAPPIER IN MY OWN LIFE,” and “HOW I CAN BE HAPPIER AT MY WORK LIFE.”

Please use Times New Roman, 12-font, and 1.5 line spacing (you can use single or double spacing if you prefer to do so) and type your paper in a “Word” document. Utilizing the research you have done as well as your own creative ideas, experiences, and knowledge, write a professionally written paper on how you are planning to actually be happier in your life and in the workplace (whether you work for yourself or others).

Please make sure that the content of your paper is rich as in it includes different ideas on how you can, in practice, live a more joyful life and have a more joyful experience at work (regardless of what you do for a living). Please also make sure that your paper is practice-oriented in that you provide practical ideas for yourself on how to live a more blissful life and have a more blissful experience at work. In addition, please make sure that your paper is personalized towards your own life and your own self such that the ideas that you present are very relevant to your present and/or future life and how you are planning to keep enhancing your joy and happiness in life and at work.

Putting together this paper is also an opportunity for you to practice your writing skills. Please observe grammar and other writing rules. Check your overall writing a few times after you are done not just to improve your writing, but also to observe how much of an improvement you can make in your writing by simply making revisions. Overall, put together a paper that is not only inspiring to you and your professor in terms of its content, but also in terms of how well it is written. Please note how important being a savvy communicator (including being a savvy writer) is when it comes to applying for a great job, getting a great job, running your own successful business(es), enhancing your success at work, receiving promotions at work, attaining leadership positions at work, leading others effectively, etc. Use the Happy Assignment for this class as an opportunity to not just research into and come up with creative ideas on how to become more joyful in life and at work, but also to practice being a better communicator/writer.

Make sure to include a reference list at the end of your paper where you list the sources that you relied on, ideally, using the APA format. Always be sure to cite the sources of information that you relied on so that you ethically honor others’ ideas and creativity. If you use information from a source verbatim (word by word), make sure that you put that sentence in quotation marks and include which page of the source you took the information from, not to mention the source itself. Alternatively, you can re-word the information (without changing its meaning) that you took from a source and cite, again, the exact source you took the information from (no need for quotation marks in this case). Please feel free to research into the APA format for citing references for more detailed information. Please note that getting savvier at doing research and citing the (credible and legitimate) sources of information that you relied on can help you if you would like to write your own book(s) in the future. 🙂

While it is not a requirement, please feel free to make your paper memorable to you and your professor by presenting a colorful or decorative assignment. Your assignment should look professional and academic enough to turn it in for a course but can also be fun, colorful, and memorable enough to qualify as an assignment that is submitted for a happiness-related course. 🙂

Please note that this assignment is for your own learning and improvement. It is designed to bring you happiness and improve your life. 🙂 Please work on the assignment with joy and thanksgiving. 🙂

Given that you have a limited time to finalize your Happy Assignment, it is very important that you start working on it as the semester begins.

Please note that you can collaborate with others in class in terms of doing your research and sharing ideas. However, you need to write the paper individually on your own after such collaboration. You are submitting your own work in Canvas. Collaborate and share ideas with each other as much as you would like. However, write the paper on your own, individually, and submit it as your own individual work in Canvas.

The overall goal for this assignment is three-fold. First, by the time you are done with the assignment, I expect that you would have done your research on how you can be happier in life and at the workplace and, therefore, you would have learned various ways in which one can be more joyful and blissful. Second, by putting the ideas you learned from your research and your own creative ideas together and writing a paper on how you can be more joyful in life and at work in a practical sense, I expect that you would have written about ideas that you can put in practice in your own life. Third, by the time you are done with your assignment, I expect that you have practiced your writing, and, therefore, improved your writing skills. 🙂

Important note: Please note that when I mention happiness, joy, or bliss in the description of the Happy Assignment, I am referring to both short-term and long-term happiness, joy, or bliss combined together (and at times sacrificing present happiness, joy, or bliss for future happiness, joy, or bliss). As an example, a human being may find much happiness in eating a delicious but unhealthy meal in the shorter run; however, if s/he keeps eating those delicious but unhealthy meals, the chances are that their physical health and overall well-being will suffer in the longer-run. In another example, a student who does everything but study for his/her courses may experience a certain level of pleasure in the current moment; however, if s/he keeps on not studying, the chances are that their performance in those courses will be affected. As these examples indicate, the happiness, joy, and bliss that I am referring to in the description of the Happy Assignment is the happiness, joy, and bliss that emphasizes long-term or future happiness while maintaining present happiness or sacrificing present happiness if it is truly necessary in to experience future happiness. In other words, research into and come up with creative ideas on how you can enhance your long-term or future happiness, joy, and bliss, while also enhancing your current happiness, joy, and bliss (and sacrificing your current happiness if it is necessary to experience future happiness). 🙂