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  • 24 Jan, 2021
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Success and happiness. Do they go hand in glove? Find out here…

Shawn Achor’s Ted talk ‘The happy secret to better work’ is pretty funny but also really interesting, informative and enlightening backed up with research. It appears on You Tube under that title and another one “The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance” but they are one and the same. It’s only 12 minutes so it’s well worth the watch but just in case you don’t have 12 minutes or can’t be bothered clicking on the link, here’s a brief summary in bullet points and quotes ha ha.

  • 25% of job success is attributed to IQ. 75% is optimism levels, social support network, seeing stress as a challenge not a threat
  • “Achieving a goal will not guarantee happiness because you will just shift the goal posts. This method of motivation to achieving goals and therefore happiness is broken and backwards. If happiness is on the other side of success the brain never gets there.’ (not entirely correct quote but close)
  • “If you can raise the levels of positivity in the present then the brain experiences what is called as the happiness advantage. Your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stress.” Your business outcomes will improve significantly if you and your employees have greater levels of optimism.
  • “Escaping the cult of average. Not how to move you up to the average but to move the entire average up”
  • 90% of your long term happiness is predicted not by the external world but by the way your brain processes the world.”

There has been many incantations of this quote but it’s a timely reminder. How does your brain process the world? Mr Achor has a 21 day method to retrain the brain to happiness. You don’t need gym shoes or any other equipment for this, just 2 minutes, pen and paper.

One aspect of optimism and happiness mentioned in the talk was a social support network. This helps because you can talk about how you have perceived something as a negative or there have been so many negative images or heard negative stories then it can be discussed and reframed to a positive experience or put an optimistic viewpoint upon it, within the network.

That said, Say It Clearly has such a network! Yes, a club, if you like. This club meets monthly, or more if you want to join the Facebook group too, to learn how use speech and communication techniques for better outcomes in your life.

Leave a comment or ask for more information on the Find Your Voice, Find Your Words club. 

To your happiness! Miriam.