The Happy Secret To Better Work….

Winter weather got you down?  Maybe it is not the winter blues but just your negative views….

Try retraining your brain to a more positive state.  Research is linking happiness to success.  As Shawn Achor (CEO of Good Think Inc) explains in “The Happy Secret To Better Work”.

“It is not necessary the reality which shapes us, but the lens in which your brain views the world shapes your reality.  If we can changed the lens not only can we change your happiness but we can change every single education and business outcome at the same time”.

We assume that our external world is predictive of our happiness level, when in reality if you know everything of your external world, you can only predict 10% of your happiness.  90% of your long term happiness is not predicted by the external world but buy the way your brain processes it.  If we change it, we change the formula for happiness and success. 

In reality we always put happiness on the other side…. “If I work harder, than I will be more successful.  If I am more successful that I will be more happy.  This is broken and backwards because every time your brain has a success, you just change the goal post for what success looks like.  If happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there.”

Take a look at the link below to learn how to raise positive in the present and retrain our brain to achieve happiness and success.

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

The biggest obstacle to happiness is simply your belief that you’re the prisoner of circumstance, powerless before the things that happen to you. We create our own experience in the workplace and here are a few steps from Forbes magazine to help find happiness at work…

Avoid “good” and “bad” labels

When something bad happens, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, when you make an error, be aware of it without passing judgment. Do what you have to do to correct your error and learn from it the next time.

Let go of grudges

Rao says that a key to being happy at work is to let go of grudges. Consciously try to drop the past, it’s hard, but with practice you will get the hang of it.

Don’t waste time being jealous

“When you’re jealous you’re saying that the universe is limited and there’s not enough success in it for me,” says Rao. “Instead, be happy, because whatever happened to him will happen to you in your current job or at another company.”

Find passion in you, not in your job

Sure, you can fantasize about a dream job that pays you well and allows you to do some kind of social good, work with brilliant and likable colleagues and still be home in time for dinner. Stop searching for that perfect position, or even believing that it exists. Instead, change how you think about your current situation. For example, instead of thinking of yourself as a human resources manager at a bank, identify yourself as someone who helps other bank employees provide for their families, take advantage of their benefits and save for the future.

Invest in the process, not the outcome

Outcomes are totally beyond your control, and you’ll set yourself up for disappointment if you focus too much on what you hope to achieve rather than how you plan to get there.

Swap multitasking for mindfulness

Multitasking gets in the way of happiness. “Multitasking simply means that you do many things badly and take much more time at it. Try working on tasks for 20-minute intervals that you gradually increase to two-hour spans. Turn off any electronic gadgets that can be a distraction. With practice, you’ll be able to accomplish much more and with less effort.

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