After the last 3 or 4 weeks of absolute limbo land—will the baby arrive or won’t it?—the inevitable has finally happened.

Despite some difficulties, grandchild number seven has arrived, crying into this world with a full head of hair, making everyone involved extremely happy and slightly sad at the exact same time.

It is a bittersweet moment. My son’s partner’s mother recently passed away and won’t get to see her first grandchild.

Yet, in a beautiful tribute to the past and the future, my son has named the baby boy after my dad.

They say happiness is the heartbeat of life.

But as this week has reminded me, it’s also worth remembering a sobering truth:

When you are at your absolute happiest, someone else out there is experiencing their unhappiest moment.

Life has a way of balancing joy with hardship, and it’s a reality that keeps our feet firmly on the ground.

It’s a question we should all ask ourselves regularly: Are you happy?

In my day job as a business advisor, I see a lot of stressed-out people.

It’s part of the territory.

Usually, the complaints are the same: Not enough customers. Not enough hours in the day. Poor cash flow.

But I operate a bit differently than most. Because I am a sole trading advisor, I have the luxury of choice.

I have never advertised for business in my consultancy life.

Instead, I choose my clients based entirely on one criteria:

I only take on people I truly believe will succeed.

Because of that selectiveness, when I first meet a prospective client, I am looking at much more than just their balance sheet.

I ask a series of questions to establish their motivations and their ambitions.

But tucked away in those questions is one that often catches them completely off guard:

“Are you happy?”

I always have to qualify it.

I ask them: When your business was doing well in the past, were you happy then? Did you take holidays? Did you have hobbies?

There is a very practical, strategic reason I ask this.

In my experience, a habitually unhappy person is incredibly difficult to work with.

If someone cannot find joy when things are going right, fixing their business processes won’t magically solve their problems.

I also closely study their relationship with their staff, because how you treat others when the pressure is on tells me everything I need to know about your leadership and you as a person.

Wealth vs. Happiness

I ask myself quite regularly:

Am I happy?

Look, things go wrong. It’s normal.

People upset you. It’s normal. You don’t always have as much money as you’d like in the bank. That is completely normal.

I know a lot of genuinely wealthy people. Are they happy?

Not always. Money is fantastic for enabling you to live comfortably.

If, like me, one of your absolute favourite things in life is travel, money certainly helps you do that.

But wealth doesn’t buy the little things. And the little things are actually the big things:

• Kicking a football about with the grandkids.
• Treating a good friend to a pub lunch just because.
• Reading an uplifting piece of poetry.
• Laughing raucously at a comedian you probably shouldn’t be laughing at.

As much as I love overseas travel, live music, and long coastal walks, (I have a deep obsession with being near the water—especially in the winter.

I think it’s the savage beauty of a winter storm that puts everything into perspective).

It makes you realise just how vulnerable we are, and how trivial most of our daily business or work “crises” really are in the grand scheme of things.

Introducing: The Ropho Happy Corner

Science has proven time and again that smiling and feeling happy directly increases longevity.

We are all rushing around trying to build sustainable businesses, working stressful jobs and balancing sometimes difficult family situations.

But what is the point if we aren’t sustaining ourselves?

Because of this, I am creating a brand-new section on the Ropho website called The Happy Corner.

This is going to be a dedicated space where we share short poems, uplifting anecdotes, motivational quotes, clean jokes, or just anything that might make someone who is having a difficult time smile.

Life can sometimes be tough, but we don’t have to navigate the heavy days alone. Let’s help each other.

Let’s start right here today:

What is one “little thing” that never fails to bring a smile to your face, no matter how stressful your week is?

Drop it in the comments below—let’s build the Happy Corner together.