Why Compassion is the Key to Happiness and Success

Compassion isn’t just about being kind—it’s a powerful tool for personal growth, professional success, and deeper connections. When you practice compassion, you not only improve your own well-being but also create a ripple effect that touches everyone around you.

Here’s how compassion transforms your life:

• Personally: Boosts resilience, brain health, and sleep.
• Professionally: Reduces stress, fosters collaboration, and increases productivity.
• Socially: Strengthens relationships and builds connections.

Start small: Practice self-care, notice acts of kindness, and offer forgiveness. Remember, compassion is a habit—and it’s one that can change your life.

While it might sound “nice” to be more compassionate, being compassionate is one of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves and for others, as well. In our busy world, if we had to be honest, we would say we do not have time for “feel-good” things because we are so ingrained in “getting things done.” However, scientific research is highlighting increasingly how it is necessary for society to utilize our inner strengths to create better lives.

If we continue to get caught up in getting things done, checking things off our to-do list, and then adding more to that list, rinse and repeat, we will crash and burn. If we treat ourselves and others as though we are robotic machines constantly needing to crank, we will break down. Being more, doing more, and aiming for absolute perfection is the opposite of having compassion for ourselves, or for others.

How We Lack Self-Compassion
When we continue to push ourselves, not take time to do the things we want, love, and enjoy, or deprive ourselves, we rob ourselves of the joy and beauty of life. Putting on our boxing gloves on and beating ourselves up does nothing to motivate us. It has the opposite effect. It stops us from trying harder or even moving forward.

We are so busy taking care of everything and everyone, we do not take time for the little things. The bigger things beckon and call out to us. How many of us eat at our desks, don’t get up to stretch and take a break, have our faces in our computers, on our cell phones all day long, do not get much, if any, fresh air. Where in your life, do you say “no” to yourself?

Important Questions Lead to Important Insights: How Compassionate are You?
• Do we take time to get up earlier for exercise or put it off until tomorrow?
• What about our meals – do we put in the time, energy, and effort to create healthy meals for ourselves or do we just grab-and-go?
• What about taking time to decompress before bed; are we on our cell phones, watching television or the nightly news, or on our computers too close to bedtime?
• The way we treat ourselves, would we treat someone who is sick or unable to care for themselves the same way? Probably not.

The Importance of Asking Insightful Questions about Self-Compassion
Why is it important to ask insightful questions about self-compassion? It is vital we ask ourselves questions about how negating self-compassion impacts us. The answers give us insight to what does not work in our lives in this regard:
• Where in your life do you negate self-compassion?
• Where in your life does it show up in your relationships in family?
• Where in your life does a lack of self-compassion affect romance?
• How does negating self-compassion work in your career or job?
• What about in social circles?

None of these habits show any self-compassion. Once you gain this self-awareness through exploring important questions, the insights will now lead and guide you toward more love and compassion for yourself. Another way we show a lack of self-compassion is by getting caught up in comparison energy.

Comparison Energy: Compassion’s Opposite
Another way (and one of the biggest ways) we express a lack of self-compassion is in our ability to compare ourselves negatively to others. Why do we do this? Biological reasons would assume we needed to keep on our toes to fit into our tribe. Not fitting in surely meant being excluded which in turn, could mean separation and death. It takes a village has a deeper meaning in that being part of a village keeps us safe and secure as well as watching out for each other’s families.

While it is perfectly fine to go within once-in-a-while to see where we can grow, change, improve, and transform, comparing ourselves to others has a detrimental impact.

With the onset of social media, the need to compare, want, and desire to be more like others, better than others, ignites our survival instincts. When we see what appears to be someone else having a better time, happier life, the perfect romance, we internalize it as not being as good as them. We can take that even deeper by believing we are undeserving and that is why they have it better than us.

The Negative Impact of Lack of Self-Compassion
Research is showing the lack of self-compassion as having many detrimental effects:
• Burnout
• More illness
• Increased absenteeism in the workplace
• Strain in relationships
• Sadness, depression, and anxiety

Now that we have explored the many ways we lack self-compassion, how to create self-awareness by asking important questions, and the danger of comparison energy, let’s talk a look now and discover the power of compassion.

The Power of Compassion
Compassion is not just a feel-good feeling that some people are born with and others are not. Compassion is something which certainly can be cultivated. Why take the time and trouble to cultivate compassion? There is power in exuding compassion.

While it might sound contradictory to have a soft-feeling vibe such as compassion show up as powerful, it is true. The most powerful and successful people have compassion as one of their core traits. Compassion is one of the top reasons entrepreneurs leave their jobs and start their own businesses. Compassion is one of the main mission statements behind ministries, non-profit organizations, start-ups, and even for solo-entrepreneurs.

Women alone make up a large majority of coaching businesses based on the sheer desire to help women manage their responsibilities for caring for families and earning income. Their desire to make a difference was born out the necessity for a creative solution to marry earning an income and taking care of a family. It all started with compassion for the plight woman may feel trying to juggle both career and family.

Ministries were started because there was a need for compassion in areas of struggle, poverty, and lack. Many industries from coaching and marketing to creative design donate 10% of their earnings to the compassion care industry.

The Ripple Effect
Compassion creates a ripple among groups of people. When one person, one organization, one business, or even one department of a company shows compassion, it creates a ripple effect.
Research is showing companies in which compassion is shown by employers to employees have a better success rate. Employees are happier, healthier, and more productive.

How does this translate as a benefit?
• Higher success rate
• Increased earnings
• Extra money to donate to charitable organizations
• Less sick time used
• Happier and more satisfied employees

Compassion has the power to create a ripple effect to everyone in the radius of those either practicing or experiencing compassion. It all starts with a loving-kindness to yourself, which can then spill out to others.

Why Loving Yourself is a Benefit to Others
Many people believe that self-compassion is selfish. Nothing could be further from the truth. Showing loving-kindness has many benefits. If someone goes home to a spouse and family after a long day of giving and giving without receiving or refueling their own gas tank somehow and in some way, they have nothing left to give. Their tank is on empty. What happens when a car runs out of gas? It cannot get you where you want and need to go. It is depleted of energy.

Throughout the day, it is important to take small breaks, go for a walk during lunch time, get up and stretch. Have a friendly chat with a co-worker during break, stay hydrated, eat healthy snacks that fuel you up. Take a moment to breathe, just one moment. Work will still be there and, yes, tomorrow will be another day.

On your way home from work, do not focus on all that went wrong, how you cannot wait to tell your spouse and family how awful your day was. Listen to uplifting music, an inspirational story, or even pop in a cd of your favorite songs which bring back memories of happier times. Research shows listening to uplifting music has the power and ability to reset your mood. These may seem like insignificant acts, but in truth, they are truly showing yourself self-compassion.

If you need a few minutes to yourself when you get home from work, do not be afraid to ask for it and express it. Later, in the evening, give your spouse a break and give them a few minutes of alone time, as well. You will both come together more eager to share and be with one another.

How Self-Compassion Changes the Lives of Others
We have all seen the character of Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh Cartoon. While everyone loves the sad, mopey character and takes time and effort to include him in things, it can be draining. Being around others who are completely drained brings our energy down and vice versa.

Practicing self-compassion gives us a recharge. When we are calm and have an inner peace about us, we impact everyone around us. Have you ever bumped into a cashier, bank teller, or co-worker (just as an example) who was in a sour mood? Even though that sour mood had nothing to do with us, we still took on that energy. We even went so far as to matching that negative energy with theirs.d

Taking a pause, and asking that person if they are okay, if something is troubling them, if they need a friendly ear for a few minutes after work can make the difference between a problem escalating and their situation worsening. Additionally, if you live your life with the practice (and it is a practice) of self-compassion when things go awry as they do, you are a role model for others.

Practicing self-compassion highlights there is a different way to reacting to situations when they go awry. Imagine the contribution you will be and the role model of compassion you will exude when you take life’s ups and downs with an air of compassion. This gives everyone else you encounter an invitation to do the same. It has the possibility to change lives.

The Benefits of Compassion
Once we see the power of compassion, we can move on to explore the additional benefits. We know taking on self-compassion is a benefit to us as well as those around us. Here are some of the extra benefits of compassion:

Personally
Brain Power – compassion has the potential to help positively rewire the brain; the more someone practices compassion, the more activation for positive emotion

Sleep – when taking on compassion meditations, one might see an improvement in sleep quality because of the positive emotions created throughout those compassion meditations. Better sleep means more energy and a more positive mood throughout the day, rinse and repeat the cycle.

Health and Well-being – showing compassion to yourself offers you the nurturing care you need to survive as a human being; there are times when others are busy or don’t know you are in need of compassion and offering it up to yourself is a great way to increase positive emotions. It also puts you in the driver’s seat where you can take responsibility for your own well-being. An increase in positive emotions can lead to a healthier immune system.

Ability to Face Challenges – taking on self-compassion is fine when things are working well, and life is running smoothly. However, practicing self-compassion is of the utmost importance when things are not. Practicing self-compassion during tough times, helps increase your ability to face reality, helping you move into acceptance, and then moving forward to create the best solution available.
Resiliency – Without self-compassion, the ability to bounce back is not available. People often find themselves getting stuck in the problem rather than looking for a creative way to solve it.

Professionally
Showing compassion to others in your workplace can reap many rewards. When you are dealing with difficult co-workers, it is easy to get caught up in wanting to be right, avoiding them, or even one-upmanship. However, showing kindness and compassion – like the adage says – means you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.

Rather than meeting negativity with negativity, try showing compassion, taking a pause, asking them if they are alright. Sometimes a little compassion in the workplace goes a long way. This, over time, can change the trajectory of your workplace relationships.

Compassion in the workplace has the potential to reduce workplace stress which leads to illness and time out, can increase productivity, as well as an overall happiness quotient while on the job. There is also the possibility to produce a more of a can-do/willing-to-do attitude from employees when they have employers that show compassion.

Socially
There are all types of personalities in the world; some are somber, some funny, and others have a combination of both. Have you ever noticed a person entering a room and others seem to flock toward them?

What may have been regarded before as charisma may be a deeply compassionate person. Other people pick up on this positive and endearing quality and are drawn to it. People who show compassion to themselves have a better chance at healthier relationships, and people who show compassion to others, have a better chance at making more friends, as well.

Now that we have explored the many ways, we dishonor ourselves due to lack of self-compassion and created awareness around the subject, we can also see the benefits of self-compassion.

If self-compassion is not something you have practiced before or if you were not even aware of how many wonderful benefits self-compassion can provide, let’s take a look at how to incorporate more compassion into daily life.

Practices for Compassion for Self
Meditation
One of the best ways to practice self-compassion is by meditating on self-compassion. There are many meditations you can listen to each night before bed to make the practice of self-compassion a habit. You can notice in a brief period of time how you feel better, happier, and more resilient in your everyday life.

Noticing Small Acts of Kindness
Take on the practice of noticing whenever someone is compassionate to you; whether they hold the door open to the grocery store because you are laden down with bags or someone runs to help you pick something up you dropped. Once you begin training your brain to notice compassion, your brain will associate compassion as a pleasurable and good thing and want to seek out more of the same.

Self-Care
Take note whether self-care is scheduled on your calendar? The chances are it is not even on your calendar or on your to-do list. Most people do not treat self-care as an important part of their daily routine. It is more of an afterthought or a thing to do “someday.” Placing self-care activities such as meditation, praying, time in nature, exercise, connecting with friendships, taking up hobbies you enjoy on your list, the brain looks at this as a crucial element which must get checked off the to-do list. One of the best ways to become more compassionate of yourself is to prioritize your own self-care. If you are not willing to do it for yourself, no one else will either.

Self-Talk
Pay attention to how you think, speak, and act toward yourself. Ask the negative inner critic if what they are saying is fact or fiction. Separate the actual event from the meaning you are giving it. For example, if you are saying you are a failure rather than you failed at completing something, notice the difference. Just because you made a mistake or failed at something does not mean you are a failure as a person.

Compassion for Others
Acknowledging and Showing Gratitude for Compassion
Whenever you notice someone showing compassion to you, remember to acknowledge them for their contribution. Bringing compassion to someone else’s awareness, brings it into their subconscious mind. Acknowledging someone for a positive contribution only enhances their desire to more of that for you and for other people in their lives.

Small Acts of Kindness
Performing small acts of kindness will result in the recipient stopping in their tracks and taking notice. Your actions will become such a delightful, pleasant, and unexpected contribution, they will be impacted in a positive way. Remember, no act of kindness is too small when it comes to compassion. Once the recipient is feeling better about themselves, that feeling of being valued will trickle down into people in their circles, as well.

Compassion as Motivation
We all know someone who has gone through a rough time whether personally or professionally. The mere act of showing compassion to them helps them to not only recover more quickly, but also motivates them toward change. When someone is stuck in feeling bad feelings for an incident or action of another in their lives, it is easy as human beings to get stuck in that place.

However, when another human being comes along and shows compassion to that person, sometimes that is all the motivation they need. Compassion motivates people to inspire a change or take an action step toward moving forward – even if no solution is readily available. When we show compassion to others, we do not necessarily have an answer or a quick solution, but what we do have is an understanding of their suffering.

Once someone is understood, the negative feelings can dissipate, become a little softer, and hope can begin to take place. The mere act of being understood and having someone alongside to ride through the wave with them is sometimes enough of a catalyst for positive change.

Action Steps
Sometimes compassion shows up in taking an action step when someone needs help. Have you ever seen how many people come together when they are needed most? Taking compassionate action steps has a way of allowing others to receive help, but also helping us to feel good as a contribution to society.

Kinds Words
are another way of showing compassion. You may have heard about other people having different love languages. For some, it is an act of kindness that shows the most compassion, while for others it is kind words. If someone is suffering through a situation, offering up kind and compassionate words is like music to their ears.

Kind Deeds
are another way to offer up compassion to someone experiencing difficulties. Whereas kind actions might come in the form of taking care of a child, a pet, making phone calls, doing research, kind deeds are a little bit different. Making someone their favorite meal can offer much comfort and compassion in times of trouble. Leaving flowers or a plant on their desk when they are out to lunch with a heartfelt card is enough to turn their day completely around in a positive way.

Gratitude
While being grateful might seem like a different subject all together, it is related to compassion. Showing and expressing gratitude to others makes a world of difference to them. How easy is it to express our dislike when something goes awry, but when it comes to being intentional about being grateful, this is one of the best ways to show compassion. People who express gratitude often have a higher propensity for compassion.

Non-judgement
While it is perfectly fine to decide who you want in your closest circles, sometimes we do not have a choice. We might have a coworker or family member that, for the moment, we need to interact with on occasion. Coming from a place of non-judgement can soften the experience for you but also offer up compassion and empathy for them, as well.

Acceptance
Another unexpected way to practice compassion is through acceptance. While we might not like a certain characteristic of someone’s personality, accepting them as they are and as they are not is one of the biggest forms of compassion.

Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the most difficult way to show compassion out of them all. While we might not forget, we can always forgive. Remembering that a person’s actions could stem from their own pain and their own past, might make taking on forgiveness a little bit easier. Many religious and spiritual practices encourage the art form of forgiveness toward one another’s human faults. While it might not be easy and takes a lot of courage, offering up forgiveness is one of the purest forms of being more compassionate.

Remember, once you begin to practice self-compassion, just like anything else, it will become a habit. Once you are proficient in practicing self-compassion, you can share the beauty and the benefits of compassion to others.

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