MOTIVATION
Positive Brain Gains How positive thinking can make you more productive, more resilient, and smarter KIM WRIGHT WILEY
Ask yourself the following question, and then listen up – because this is really important. Do you think you’d be happier if you were more successful? If you answered yes, then you, especially, need to read on. Research shows it isn’t quite that simple.
In reality, it’s the other way around: You’d probably be more successful if you were happier.
FUTURE HAPPINESS “People often project happiness into the future, believing they’d be happy if they could only own a certain thing or have a certain experience,” says one expert and researcher who con- sults to Fortune 500 companies. “But,
when we get the things we said we wanted, the happiness we expected is often elusive. It’s because our brains operate in the opposite order. This science could create a cultural revolu- tion, because it’s showing us that hap- piness isn’t about getting to point ‘A’ or point ‘B.’ It’s about the attitude you bring to your everyday work.” This expert helped design a famed happiness course – at one time the
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most popular course at Harvard Uni- versity – and then went on to create a study that measured the connection between positivity and production in a group of managers over a four- month period. The study suggested that, to a large degree, happiness is a learned behavior. Managers who were trained in positive psychology showed significant increases in optimism – one of the greatest indicators of performance and success. Extensive studies have shown that employees with high levels of life satisfaction are more productive, take fewer sick days, and are more resilient in the face of a challenge. “Positive-psychology training cre- ates a clear return on investment,” says the expert. “If your employees raise their levels of positivity, their production levels will rise also.”
THINK BETTER Happiness doesn’t just feel good; it also improves thinking due to the broaden-and-build effect. “When we’re stressed, our brains narrow to the point that we can see only two
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