Stop Wasting Your Life

The average person starts working at age 18 and retires at 67. For better or for worse the majority of our lives are spent at work. Knowing this, are we spending the majority of our lives working at jobs that make us sick? Always telling ourselves that if I work harder I will be happier, when I go on vacation I will be happy, or when I get that bonus I will be happy? 

But what about right now? Today is World Mental Health Day and I think today is the day we should all promise ourselves to become “right now” people. We have to take full ownership of our mental health and when it comes to work we should find a job we love or bring more love into our jobs.

Forget trying to get a work-life balance. How about we live a better life so we can do better work? In his 2011 TEDx Talk Shawn Achor, one of the world’s leading experts on happiness, states that 90 percent of our long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way our brain processes the world. And if we change our formula for happiness and success, we can then affect reality. He continues to say that only 25 percent of job successes are predicted by IQ, while 75 percent of job successes are predicted by optimism levels, social support and our ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat.

Check out my video on the topic here: STOP wasting your life

He further concludes that if we can raise our level of positivity in the present, our brain experiences what he calls a happiness advantage, which is the idea that the brain works significantly better while in a positive state than it does during a negative, neutral or stressed state. With the happiness advantage our intelligence, creativity, and energy levels rise!

Lastly, in his research, he found that in just a two-minute span of time, done for 21 days in a row, we can rewire our brains, allowing it to work more optimistically and more successfully. 

Here are some ways his research suggests we can rewire our brains: 

1. Gratitude- Write down three new things that you're grateful for 21 days in a row. This teaches the brain to scan the world to see the positive first. 
2. Journaling- Journal about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it. 
3. Exercise- Exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters.
4. Meditation- Meditation helps your brain to focus on the task at hand and helps you get over cultural ADHD.
5. Random Acts of Kindness- Perform conscious acts of kindness and train your brain to feel good by making others feel good. 

For our own sake, it is our duty to be happy so let’s refuse to suffer during the weekdays. Happiness is a choice for most. I know it isn’t always easy but I also know it’s always worth it. 

I would love to hear from you. What are some ways you are creating a more positive life so that you can bring that energy to work? Check out my video on the topic here: STOP wasting your life