5 Positive Psychology Tips For Achieving Success Via Happiness

Recently, my friend Judy Kucharuk turned my attention to a TED talk given by Shawn Achor, CEO of positive psychology consulting group Good Think, Inc, in which he laid out five simple habits that are proven to make humans happier and more successful.

In the talk, Achor explains, “Ninety percent of your happiness is predicted not by your external world, but by the way your brain processes your external world.”

So the old idea that if I work harder, I’ll be more successful and if I’m more successful then I’ll be happier, is backward. Positive psychology researchers have found that if, instead, you raise somebody’s level of positivity in the present then their brain experiences what’s known as a “happiness advantage” – intelligence, creativity, energy all rise and every business outcome improves.

Success doesn’t bring happiness. But happiness is much more likely to bring success.

Here are the five steps that Achor defines. You can watch the video of his entertaining talk below.

1 – Write down 3 new things you are grateful for everyday

Doing this for 21 days in a row rewires your brain to retain a pattern of scanning the world not for the negative but for the positive first.

2 – Journal

Journaling about 1 positive experience you’ve had in the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it.

3- Exercise

This teaches the brain that behavior matters.

4 – Meditation

Meditation allows the brain to get over the cultural ADHD you create by trying to do multiple tasks at once and allows the brain to focus on the task at hand.

5 – Random or conscious acts of kindness

Write one positive email every time you open your inbox praising or thanking someone in your social support network.

(Photo by Kelly Finnamore)

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Jenise Fryatt

Jenise Fryatt is the founder and chief trainer of Eventprov.

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