Happiness by Shawn Achor

Shawn Achor claims we can train our brains to be happy.  Who knew?
Excellent podcast on training our brains  by Shawn Achor

http://goodthinkinc.com/media/

Develop New Habits by Shawn Achor

http://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence/ar/1

Training your brain to be positive is not so different from training your muscles at the gym. Recent research on neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to change even in adulthood—reveals that as you develop new habits, you rewire the brain.

Engaging in one brief positive exercise every day for as little as three weeks can have a lasting impact, my research suggests. For instance, in December 2008, just before the worst tax season in decades, I worked with tax managers at KPMG in New York and New Jersey to see if I could help them become happier. (I am an optimistic person, clearly.) I asked them to choose one of five activities that correlate with positive change:

·       Jot down three things they were grateful for.
·       Write a positive message to someone in their social  support network.
·       Meditate at their desk for two minutes.
·       Exercise for 10 minutes.
·       Take two minutes to describe in a journal the most   meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.

The participants performed their activity every day for three weeks. Several days after the training concluded, we evaluated both the participants and a control group to determine their general sense of well-being. How engaged were they? Were they depressed? On every metric, the experimental group’s scores were significantly higher than the control group’s. When we tested both groups again, four months later, the experimental group still showed significantly higher scores in optimism and life satisfaction. In fact, participants’ mean score on the life satisfaction scale—a metric widely accepted to be one of the greatest predictors of productivity and happiness at work—moved from 22.96 on a 35-point scale before the training to 27.23 four months later, a significant increase. Just one quick exercise a day kept these tax managers happier for months after the training program had ended. Happiness had become habitual.   Awesome!