The science of HAPPINESS

If we are happy, we are more successful

Happiness helps our productivity, our immune system, our creativity, our income and our effectiveness.

Happiness gives us a huge competitive advantage–and it has great side-effects.

One study followed college freshmen for 19 years after graduation. The researchers found that those students who were happier in college had a higher income than their unhappy classmates 19 years later.
Here is what you need to know about happiness right now:

1. Happiness Baseline

Research has found that all of us have a kind of happiness baseline–that we have a typical amount of happiness during our lives. However, with the right effort we can INCREASE our happiness baseline:

“It’s more than a little comforting to know that people can become happier, that pessimists can become optimists, and that stressed and negative brains can be trained to see more possibility.” – Shawn Achor

No matter who you are, what your experiences are or how you think, you can learn how to be happy–and it is absolutely a learned skillset.

• Change Your Mindset: Happiness doesn’t just happen to you. Happiness is a lifestyle.

2. Your Mental Fulcrum

How can you change your mindset? How can you learn to be happier? Achor calls this the Fulcrum and the Lever principle.

You change your performance by changing your mindset.

Greek mathematician Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
Your mindset is the fulcrum and the length of the lever is your potential power. If you move your mindset to be more positive, the lever of possibility lengthens, which leads, as empirical studies have shown conclusively, to eventual success.

“This was a fantastic academy! I laughed, I cried(!) and felt genuinely moved. Thank you Vanessa, this was awesome!” – Yasmin Nibbe

3. Find Your Thing

Do you have a ‘thing?’ Something you love that is your personal passion? A hobby sounds casual, but it has profound effects on our happiness. Researchers told people to focus on a signature strength and focus on exercising it every day. This is more than just “pursuing your passion.” It’s the daily practice of utilizing your natural born strengths. This can be anything from organizing to cracking jokes to making small talk.