Then I stumbled across a blog that a lovely friend of mine from high school writes, called Discovering The Universe. She had a recent post inspired by one of my favorite books The Happiness Project, so it immediately had my attention.
In her article, she talks about something called 21 Days of Positive Thinking born through a video on TED talk by psychologist Shawn Achor. Achor discusses his theory that happiness inspires productivity. He states that 90% of your long-term happiness is determined by internal elements, while only 10% can be determined by external elements.
Achor says that while people think that once we are successful we will be happier, but it actually works in reverse. The happier we are, the more successful we end up becoming. His research has shown that "only 25% of Job Successes are predicted by IQ, while 75% of Job Successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support, and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat."
Here is the Video
The 21 Days of Happiness comes in at 11:30
The idea of the 21 days of happiness is that if you follow a series of steps for 21 days you can effectively reprogram your brain to see things more positively and essentially become happier. Here are the steps:
1. 3 Gratitudes: Pick 3 things every day that you are grateful for. Anything from air conditioning to gummy bears to unlimited data plans. Choosing 3 things every day trains your brain to recognize positive things in your every day life.
2. Journaling: Keep a journal and write a daily entry about something positive that has happened to you over the last day. Doing this allows you to remember and relive the positive feelings associated with it.
3. Exercise: While also just being super good for your body, exercise is good for your mind! And the important thing about doing it for the 21 days, even if it's only for a short time, is that it establishes discipline and teaches your body that your behavior matters!
4. Meditation: Take some time every day to calm your mind and meditate on an idea or feeling. Doing this allows you to focus and contemplate.
5. Random Acts of Kindness: Try and do a daily random act of kindness - anything as small as sending an email to a loved one or helping someone carry their groceries. But that good energy out there!
If we train our minds the way we train our bodies, we can accomplish anything! When we're happy, our intelligence rises, our productivity rises, energy levels rise, and so much more! It's what Achor calls creating a "Happiness Advantage."
"It's not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens which your brain views the world through shapes your reality. And if you change the lens, you can not only change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time."
And for one little thing to boost your positivity today - click on this link:
Man, that link to 21 pictures totally had me crying. Way to go, it's barely 9:30 a.m. lol.
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