Week of Happiness: Day 1

Welcome to the first day of our?Week of Happiness, in honor of yesterday's?International Day of Happiness! As we mentioned previously, each morning we'll share a?Mind Mishap,?referencing?the way our brain is wired, which gets in the way of our well-being, alongside a?Maneuver?Strategy?to combat these annoyances.?Who's excited to get going?

Mind Mishap #1 - Our brains are wired to remember the negative over the positive:

Research shows the above statement is true. For instance, in one study, when imaging scenarios involving either gaining a certain amount of money or losing the same amount of money, the risk of loss tends to loom larger (and for a longer period of time) in people's minds. People often fear the consequences of the negative outcome more than they desire the potential positive gains, even when the two possibilities are equivalent.

This?Mind Mishap?is normal. In fact, it often serves an evolutionary need: survival. It's more important to pay attention to things that can impart harm than make us feel good. However, it often means we walk around with an imbalance of negative to positive in our heads - especially since storing positive events in our memory takes intentional effort.?

Maneuver Strategy for Mind Mishap #1 -?Gratitude:

To maneuver Mind Mishap #1 and ratchet up the ratio of good-to-bad in our memory, we will turn to one of research's favorite interventions:?Gratitude.?For today's well-being insight, garner gratitude with one of these two options:

1. Three Good Things -?Each day, write down three things that went well for you. To push a bit further, think about why those things were significant. Keep a physical record, rather than doing this exercise solely in your head. Looking at a growing list leads to exponential gains. (Expert Tip: looking at this list when feeling down can also give you a great pick-me-up in times of need).?

2. Gratitude Visit?-?Call to mind someone who you are extremely grateful for, but whom you may not have expressed gratitude for (or at least expressed gratitude for?lately). This could be a relative, friend, teacher, mentor, or colleague. No act of kindness or support is too big or small to recognize. Call them up, or better yet, go see them if you can thank them for the impact they have had on your life.?

Until tomorrow... be well & thrive!