the happiness advantage ted talk summary

His research on happiness made the cover of Harvard Business Review, his TED talk is one of the most popular of all time with over 13 million views, and his lecture airing on PBS has been seen by millions. “Psychologists have found that these kinds of gains in productivity, happiness, and health have less to do with how much control we actually have and more with how much control we think we have.”, “The most successful people, in work and in life, are those who have what psychologists call an ‘internal locus of control,’ the belief that their actions have a direct effect on their outcomes.”, “Experiments show that when people are primed to feel high levels of distress, the quickest to recover are those who can identify how they are feeling and put those feelings into words.”, “By tackling one small challenge at a time—a narrow circle that slowly expands outward—we can relearn that our actions do have a direct effect on our outcomes, that we are largely the masters of our own fates.”, “Small successes can add up to major achievements. Anticipating future rewards lights up the same pleasure centers that the actual reward will. In the midst of defeat, stress, and crisis, our brains map different paths to help us cope. Keep going until you get to a result that is meaningful to you. But this is the best one I have read so far. Psychologists say that these gains in productivity, happiness, and health have less to do with how much control we actually have and more with how much control we think we have. A study asked children to do a series of tasks. Shawn Achor, CEO of Good Think Inc., discusses The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance at TEDxBloomington. Finally, people with a calling view work as an end in itself; their work is fulfilling not because of external rewards but because they feel it contributes to the greater good, draws on their personal strengths, and gives them meaning and purpose.”, “People with a calling orientation not only find their work more rewarding but work harder and longer because of it. They have fewer symptoms and actually have fewer viruses in their bodies. But the most successful people invest in their friends, peers, and family members to propel themselves forward. In this way, you can connect every small thing you do to the larger picture, to a goal that keeps you motivated and energized.”, “You can have the best job in the world, but if you can’t find the meaning in it, you won’t enjoy it, whether you are a movie maker or an NFL playmaker.”, “What we expect from people (and from ourselves) manifests itself in the words we use, and those words can have a powerful effect on end results.”, “This phenomenon is called the Pygmalion Effect: when our belief in another person’s potential brings that potential to life.”, “The expectations we have about our children, co-workers, and spouses—whether or not they are ever voiced—can make that expectation a reality.”, “People act as we expect them to act, which means that a leader’s expectations about what he thinks will motivate his employees often end up coming true.”, “Every Monday, ask yourself these three questions: (1) Do I believe that the intelligence and skills of my employees are not fixed, but can be improved with effort? Here to answer these questions is Shawn Achor, Ted Talk speaker, Harvard professor, positive psychology expert and author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. It undercuts our creativity, raises our stress levels, and lowers our motivation and ability to accomplish goals.”. You can start with just ten or fifteen minutes a day. “ Presenting online with prezi is crucial to the success of our trainings. I’m surprised they didn’t give it to Sally, she seems more suited to the job.’). Not because science must be “serious”, but because “serious-sounding” increases authority, and people are more likely to be swayed by sources that they perceive as being authoritative. Gradually, as the desired action becomes more habitual, we can become more flexible.”. Chasing after success in the hopes of becoming happy once we’ve “made it” doesn’t work. Achor arrived to psychology with a slightly uncommon path. If you find yourself in need of a happiness booster, revisit a talent you haven’t used in a while.”, “Even more fulfilling than using a skill, though, is exercising a strength of character, a trait that is deeply embedded in who we are.”, “Studies have shown that the more you use your signature strengths in daily life, the happier you become.”, “While we, of course, can’t change reality through sheer force of will alone, we can use our brain to change how we process the world, and that in turn changes how we react to it.”, “Happiness is not about lying to ourselves, or turning a blind eye to the negative, but about adjusting our brain so that we see the ways to rise above our circumstances.”, “Our power to maximize our potential is based on two important things: (1) the length of our lever—how much potential power and possibility we believe we have, and (2) the position of our fulcrum—the mindset with which we generate the power to change.”, “By changing the fulcrum of our mindset and lengthening our lever of possibility, we change what is possible.”, “It’s not the weight of the world that determines what we can accomplish. Fittingly, positive psychologist Shawn Achor has a wonderful sense of humor, which is one reason why his TED Talk about the “happiness advantage” has garnered millions of views. Most people chase money and success to be happy. Categories Happiness Posted on . Our desktop and mobile apps let you work and present on the go, on virtually any device. Spending money on other people is called ‘prosocial spending,’ and also boosts happiness. About the Author: Shawn Achor is an American author and entrepreneur, and also famous for his advocacy of positive psychology. And now the juicy part. Belief is our reaction to the event; why we thought it happened and what we think it means for the future. But I had to change my mind: this is one of the best books on positive psychology, including the ones written by actual psychologists. Happiness makes someone more successful. Another study linking happiness levels and lifespan of a group of nuns showed that there was a seven-year difference between the happiest and saddest nuns. They help us organize new information, keep that information in the brain longer, and retrieve it faster later on. And watch less TV. People with an internal locus of control are also more productive at work and in life. Make your environment a positive and uplifting one, take a break during the day, spend 20 minutes outside in good weather. “Studies show that these activities are enjoyable and engaging for only about 30 minutes, then they start sapping our energy, creating what psychologists call “psychic entropy”—that listless, apathetic feeling Cathy experienced. My Thoughts And the inverse is true for habits you want to stop: make it hard to keep them up! “Gable’s studies have shown that active-constructive responding enhances relationship commitment and satisfaction, and fuels the degree to which people feel understood, validated, and cared for during a discussion—all of which contribute to the Happiness Advantage.”. How we experience the world, and our ability to succeed within it, constantly changes based on our mindset. The Tetris Effect teaches us how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—and seize—opportunity wherever we look. The Happiness Advantage makes the point that we can train our brains to focus on the positives. One that keeps circling around where you currently are (i.e., the negative event creates no change; you end where you start). She was paralysed by the fear of not being accepted. What the cult of the average does is, in simple terms, ignore the outliers in our data. TED's editors chose to feature it for you. This book doesn’t only help to make the readers happy, but also the people around the readers happier. Did you know that happiness leads to success and not the other way around? The Happiness Advantage Summary. Exercise a trait, value or strength of character that is part of who you are: even better than a skill, Use your signature strengths daily: the more you use it, the happier you become.”, Use adversity and failure to become even stronger, Don’t consider happiness just mood: it’s your new work and life ethic, Force yourself to scan the world for positives and write them down every day, Reframe failures as opportunities for growth, Believe that your action directly affect outcomes and you can reach the goals you want (internal locus of control). A study showed that 45 minutes of activity three times per week increased the mental health of depressed patients for more than six months. Shawn Achor is one of the world’s leading experts on happiness, success, and potential. ... It’s no coincidence he talks about the butterfly effect, he’s living it – his TED talk is among the 20 most popular TED talks of all time. One answer is that the brain is organized to act on what we predict will happen next, something psychologists call ‘Expectancy Theory.’”, “The expectation of an event causes the same complex set of neurons to fire as though the event were actually taking place, triggering a cascade of events in the nervous system that leads to a whole host of real physical consequences.”, “The mental construction of our daily activities, more than the activity itself, defines our reality.”, “When we reconnect ourselves with the pleasure of the ‘means,’ as opposed to only focusing on the ‘ends,’ we adopt a mindset more conducive not only to enjoyment but to better results.”, “When faced with a difficult task or challenge, give yourself an immediate competitive advantage by focusing on all the reasons you will succeed, rather than fail. The more social help and support you get, the happier you are. And they enable us to make and sustain more neural connections, which allows us to think more quickly and creatively, become more skilled at complex analysis and problem solving, and see and invent new ways of doing things.”, “People who put their heads down and wait for work to bring eventual happiness put themselves at a huge disadvantage, while those who capitalize on positivity every chance they get come out ahead.”, “Even the smallest shots of positivity can give someone a serious competitive edge.”, “Happiness is not just a mood—it’s a work ethic.”, “Neuroscientists have found that monks who spend years meditating actually grow their left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most responsible for feeling happy.”, “Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating, we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened awareness and empathy. Our baseline so that we need at least 3 opportunities for each threat we perceive once we ’ “. 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