What Comes First - Happiness or Success?

Most people would say that happiness follows success. Isn't that what we've always been taught to believe?

Shawn Achor disagrees. Achor, the New York Times best selling author, educator and consultant to Fortune 500 companies, explains the reasons in his book, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. True, it was first published in 2010, but its message remains as powerful today as it was then.

We need to take Shawn Achor seriously since he is a leading expert on the connection between happiness, success and potential. His research on mindset got him on the cover of the Harvard Business Review. His TED talk has over 25 million views and is one of the most popular TED Talks of all time.

In The Happiness Advantage, Achor explores how happiness and success are connected. The main idea in the book is that happiness leads to success, not? the other way around.?

“... we think we have to be successful, then we'll be happier. But our brains work in the opposite order. If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise.?

Achor supports this idea with a broad range of scientific research and many practical strategies.

“In fact, we've found that every single business outcome improves,” he says “Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You're 37% better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed.”

Achor argues that happiness is a skill that can be developed through intentional practices and not merely the result of external circumstances.?

“... you can train your brain to be able to become more positive. In just a two-minute span of time done for 21 days in a row, we can actually rewire your brain, allowing your brain to actually work more optimistically and more successfully.

“We've done these things in research now in every company that I've worked with, getting them to write down three new things that they're grateful for for 21 days in a row, three new things each day. And at the end of that, their brain starts to retain a pattern of scanning the world not for the negative, but for the positive first.

“Journaling about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it. Exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters. We find that meditation allows your brain to get over the cultural ADHD that we've been creating by trying to do multiple tasks at once and allows our brains to focus on the task at hand.?

Now here's the summary of the book.

7 Principles and Strategies That Leads to the Happiness Advantage

The book introduces 7 principles or strategies that contribute to The Happiness Advantage:

1. The Happiness Advantage: When we are happy, our brains function more effectively which results in increasing our creativity, productivity, and resilience.
2. The Fulcrum and the Lever: We can create a positive mindset shift that helps us to overcome challenges and achieve better results. We can get there by changing our mindset and focusing on positive aspects.?
3. The Tetris Effect: Our brains can get stuck in a negative pattern and often do. However, it is possible to rewire our brains for happiness by consciously training ourselves to focus on positive experiences and opportunities we encounter.??
4. Falling Up: Yes, that is the opposite of falling down. We need to learn to view our failure and setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning. This enables us to bounce back stronger and become more resilient after failures or setbacks.
5. The Zorro Circle: We need to break down our big goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. That way, we can gradually expand our influence and regain a sense of control. We grow in confidence if we can focus on small victories, one after the other, within a limited circle of our own control.?
6. The 20-Second Rule: My favourite! The 20-second rule is about eliminating barriers and making positive habits easier to build and maintain. In the book, Achor talks about how he began to play guitar more often merely by placing it in his living room (instead of hidden away in a closet). When he came home, it was within easy reach and no extra effort was needed to play. At the same time, Achor says he also removed his television remote control batteries in his room (20 seconds away) instead of inside the remote near the sofa. Through this single measure he managed to dramatically reduce the time spent watching television. By reducing the time and effort we need to engage in positive behaviors, we can increase the likelihood of successfully adopting a desired habit. And by making it harder to engage in negative habits we can shed those habits.?
7. Social Investment: Our social connections and supportive relationships—family, friends and colleagues, near and far—are important for promoting happiness and well-being in our lives. We can create a profound impact on our overall happiness and success by taking time to build strong social networks. We do the same by taking time to have meaningful interactions with others around us. For example, if you want to regularly walk or run or engage in some positive activity, get a buddy who is also committed to doing the same thing. That way, on the days that you are too lazy or don’t feel like it, the mere fact that the other person is wanting to do it will encourage you to get going.?

In summary, Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work offers evidence-based insights and many practical strategies we can use to leverage the power of happiness.?

In doing so, we can be sure of enhancing?our productivity, creativity, and overall well-being. Adopting a positive mindset and intentionally cultivating happiness, we can create positive ripple effects in our personal and professional lives.

Shawn Achor has since published other books along the same theme, including Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being (2018) Big Potential explains how pursuing happiness and success individually limits our potential, capping what we can achieve on our own. Only by pursuing happiness and success together with others can we realise our Big Potential.

Check out the book, or watch Shawn Achor on TED Talks. There are more videos that you may enjoy on ShawnAchor.com.