productive energy rises by 31 percent. Sales rise by 37 percent and the likeli- hood of promotion rises by 40 percent.” Achor’s method is helping people
rewrite the way they think by first look- ing for positives at work. Workers write down three highly specific, positive things about their workday for 21 con- secutive days. Rather than just, “I love my job,” acknowledge, “I love my job because I get to help people every day.” Or, “I love my morning tea because it gets me going.” Achor reports that at the
end of the period, “Their brain starts to retain a pattern of scanning the world not for the negative, but for the positive first.” Taking a work break for two minutes of mindfulness is also effec- tive. “We did this at Google,” he says. “We had employees take their hands off their keyboards for two minutes a day to go from multitasking to simply focusing on their breathing. This drops their stress levels and raises accuracy rates. It improves levels of happiness and it takes just minutes.”
Happiness in
the Community We can foster happiness habits at home, at work and in the community. Rubin suggests starting such a group, akin to a self-help book club or bridge group, but with extra benefits. She even offers a free starter kit for those that want to try it, available via Gretchen
Rubin.com/habits/start-a-habits-group. In addition to the happy exchange of ideas and success stories, happiness habits group members also have the ben- efit of being accountable to each other. Others can help us continue to color in the details supporting and forwarding the broad brushstrokes of positive emotions, relationships, meaning in life and accom- plishments in a down-to-earth, fun way.
Judith Fertig blogs at AlfrescoFoodAnd
Lifestyle.blogspot.com from Overland Park, KS.
JUST MINUTES
n Journaling for two minutes about one positive experience we’ve had over the past 24 hours allows our brain to relive it.
n Exercising, including 15 min- utes of cardiovascular action a day, teaches our brain that our behavior matters and improves our mood.
n Meditating for even a few minutes at a time relieves an overloaded brain and allows it to focus on one thing at a time.
n Writing one quick email in the morning praising or thanking some- one we work with or just to make them happy will make us feel a sense of social support, a great predictor of happiness.
Source: The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor
22 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA
NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
HAPPIER IN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40