I have recently watched this talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work
The title was immediately intriguing… a happy secret to better work. This was a play on words of course as the core message (Neil’s interpretation) is the happier you are the better you are going to be…
Sounds too simple?
Actually I don’t think it is. There are two key inter-related concepts here
First is “how can i make myself happy”- surely good advice for anyone…and the second is “If you are happy you will do better in whatever you do”. Well if that’s true…
Let’s start with the first premise – “how do be happy”…in a way not surprising for a TED talk, the key premise was to look at life and your environment in completely the opposite to how you have probably been brought up. What does this mean – actually its quite a simple concept. We tend to look at a lot of things negatively
Most new stories are about what’s gone wrong
When we meet a specific objective, we look to what the next one will be
What this does is create a wholly negative persona and negativity breeds even more negativity
So – why not simply reverse it. The “scientific” theory is that positivity similarly breeds more positivity but more importantly the chemicals that are released actually help your brain work better (that’s the simplified version).
The final part of the talk are the simple acts you can perform to create this positivity.
1. Writing down three things you re grateful for – the brain will then retain a pattern for remembering and scanning the positive
2. Write down (in a log book) one positive thing every day
3. Thank at least one person every day for something positive
4. Exercise more and Mediation trains the brain to focus on one thing rather than “cultural adhd”..
My take on the above…people tend to be naturally quite positive or naturally the opposite – hence the glass full/empty analogy. If you are already a glass half full then the journey to greater happiness is going to be much easier
The second part of the concept is the greater leap of faith – if you are positive and hence happy you are going to be more successful. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to do more but its about celebrating achievements for what they are and try to be different rather than simply be the “average”…
The speaker is both an excellent speaker and a significant motivator. TO one extent the sort of speaker that would make anything seem feasible or possible. Does this mean I believe it less – actually no.
The reason for blogging on this subject is that I not only believe in it but it is one of the core theories I regularly practice
Neil's thoughts 