No wonder, the happiness that results from our success is fleeting. Research shows that it actually works the other way around i.e. people who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of challenge.
Bottom line, increasing happiness increases our chances of success. Doing activities that correlate with positive change, changing our relationship with stress and nurturing social support are a great start!
Training our brain to be positive is not so different from training our muscles at the gym. Recent research on neuroplasticity reveals that even in adulthood, as we develop new habits, we rewire the brain. Engaging in even one brief positive exercise every day for as little as three weeks can have a lasting impact.
Five activities that correlate with positive change:
Choose one that resonates well with you. Then try doing it every day for next three weeks.
- Jot down three things you are grateful for in your life.
- Write a positive message to someone in your social support network or coworker
- Meditate at your desk for two minutes.
- Exercise for 10 minutes.
- Take two minutes to describe in a journal the most meaningful experience you had in past 24 hours
Change our relationship with Stress:
Stress is another central factor contributing to our happiness. Many training courses on mitigating stress focus on its negative effects. The problem is, we then get stressed-out about being stressed-out. The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, try this exercise:
- Make a list of the stresses you’re under.
- Place them into two groups—the ones you can control (like a project or your in-box or your routine) and those you can’t (the stock price, housing prices).
- Choose one stress you listed under the group you can control.
- Come up with a small, concrete step you can take to reduce it.
- Then act on it. In this way you can nudge your brain back to a positive—and productive—mind-set
Credits: The source for this post is from Harvard Business Magazine article - Positive Intelligence
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions - Dalai Lama
1 comments:
Very good tips. Thanks for sharing.
JC
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