Your brain at 'positive' is 31% more productive than your brain at 'negative,' 'neutral,' or 'stressed.'" - Shawn Achor
I recently recommended reading The Happiness Advantage: Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, by Shawn Achor. In Achor’s TED talk, "The Happy Secret to Better Work," he suggests that happiness inspires creativity, productivity, and success. While most of us are wired to believe that we will achieve happiness through success, Achor claims that achieving happiness in your daily life will actually result in success.
How do we train our brains to be happy? Think of three things you're grateful for every day. When my partner and I first saw this video, we said, "You know what? We're going to do that." Every day at the end of the day, we talk to each other and say, "What are we thankful for today?" We talk about two or three things. "It's really great that we have that client and that they just renewed their contract with us. It's wonderful we got that referral today. It's great that our son and daughter played so well together today. They can now put that big puzzle together by themselves." All these things -- it doesn't necessarily have to be business. What are you grateful for today? "What a beautiful day. We get to have to lunch outside at this little cafe outside our office and enjoy the weather. We feel like we're on vacation." What are you grateful for today? "What a great portion of a salad. What a fabulous salad dressing." It could be the smallest thing. The gratefulness, the gratitude, fundamentally changes who we are as people.
I highly encourage kicking off your weekend with Achor's TED talk.
