Happiness Advantage

There are several things we can work with to rewire our brains for top performance, to help us guard against the negative effects of stress, and to live a happier life right now.  We don't have to wait until some bright future, when we've finally reached goals, and we're holding the acceptance letter of the college of our choice -- because as Achor correctly points out, whenever we do achieve a goal, we merely reset, set a new goal, and push happiness "out beyond the cognitive horizon."  There is no end to the things you will want to achieve in this brief lifetime.  You will always be striving towards something!

Happiness is not defined here as some cheery emotion, some bright yellow paint that we slap over the rocky terrain of our inner landscape, denying or obscuring what we actually feel.  Rather, happiness is better understood as the energy and focus we feel when we are striving after our own highest potential, seeking our own best self.  It is a completely subjective concept -- only you can say what it looks and feels like for you.  It is not determined by outer circumstances  -- it's not grades or GPA (or later, money, position, or prestige).  To move our concept of happiness beyond a "cheery mood," Achor suggests that some of words that we might use to think about happiness are

• joy
• gratitude
• serenity
• interest
• pride
• hope
• amusement
• inspiration
• joy
• love

Study after study confirms that happiness precedes high achievement.  It is more than a good feeling: it is an essential element to our success.  In our class this year, let's think about happiness as more than a mood -- let's think of it as our work ethic.  We need to continually remind ourselves and each other of the proven, tangible strategies that offer us quick bursts of happiness, and that raise our baseline for personal performance.

Do you want to read about happiness for your first book project?   The two I have read are The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor, and Happier, by Tal Ben-Shahar, the two men who taught the famous class in positive psychology at Harvard University.