Month: January 2021

The Happiness Advantage (Shawn Achor) – Notes

  • “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of a heaven
  • “If we study only what is average, we will remain average”
  • “Youi can eliminate depression without making someone happy. You can cure anxiety without teaching someone optimism . You can return someone to work without improving their performance. If we strive for a diminished bad, you’ll attain the average and you’ll miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed average
  • Brilliant p[people sometimes do the most unintelligent things – ie overwork or work on the wrong things.
  • Negative stress is like second hand smoke. It’s unspoken. The second you enter a room with it, you know.
  • Neuroplasticity – It’s been shown that our brains aren’t static. We change.
  • Just through thinking, you can literally rewire the brain – ie cause physical change. This says a lot.
  • Pleasure, engagement, meaning. All very core to happiness. Very akin to autonomy, mastery, purpose
  • Happiness = joy we get for striving for our potential
  • Negative emotions narrow our thoughts.
  • Meditate. Spend money – but not on stuff
  • Fitness is key to happiness
  • Happiness isn’t about lying to ourselves and being ignorant. But changing our brains to think that we can rise up over circumstances
  • World is inherently subjective. You can shape so much
  • Your experience literally changes the result. Same experience with 2 people can = a2 different results
  • “Creation” of happiness. Not “pursuit.” We need to create it. It’s not something we hunt down. Its already in us.
  • Tetris effect. Once you get a negative mindset, that is all you see. You’re locked in.
  • Need gratitude. Add 3 positives to a daily log
  • Rose colored glasses are good … within limits
  • It’s not just about getting up off the mat. It’s about understanding why you were on the mat in the first place and then bouncing back up.
  • Things don’t always happen for the best. But you can make the best out of things that happen
  • Pessimism = giving up. Seeing a dead end and no way out. It happens
  • Sometimes people not only think they could do better (which is often a good growth mindset) but they don’t acknowledge the good they’ve done
  • A person gets too emotional their logic is hacked and they literally can’t reason
  • Fight until it is a habit. Until it’s done without thinking about it. It takes 21 days
  • Will power alone will not get you there. Willpower is finite
  • Follow the path of least resistance. Make it easy. Put the guitar in the middle of the room. Not stored in a case in the closet
  • Friends. The number one indicator of happiness. To get them to really like you, it’s all the Dale Carnegy stuff. Show genuine interest. Be present
  • Happiness is contagious. Just as the opposite is true