I am on the beach. It’s beautiful. Sounds of little waves are gently reaching my ears and creating that sense of serenity.

OR

It’s raining. I am sitting in our garden in Bali and really enjoying tranquility created by monotonous sound of raindrops bumping on the roof. Such a beautiful rain.

What do you prefer? Do you love being on the beach? Or do you like rain? Is rain good or bad? For some people rain creates a really nice moment, we can run in puddles, we can tuck under the blanket with a book, we can collect rainwater to irrigate our garden later (for those of you pragmatic folks). For some of us, rain means water everywhere, our trousers and skirts get dirty, it’s dark out there, we can’t play tennis… My today’s article is about science of happiness. About how do we decide what is good and what bad?

If you think about it… rain probably does not have any “true” or “universal” quality. All the adjectives are created by ourselves, by our minds. We make it “good” or “bad”. Luckily for rain, it does not care and just keeps steadily falling. Now, what-if we can train our brains to always (or at least very often) find positives in any situation? Imagine that! Perhaps we can.

Instead of shooting a video for you myself this time, let me share a TED talk that I find super-inspiring.

Before you watch, ask yourself a question: which formula for success and happiness is the right one?

A) Work harder > be more successful > be happier
B) Be happier > perform better > be more successful

Psychologist Shawn Achor talks about positive psychology and science of happiness. Allow me to quote him: “90% of happiness is predicted by way your brain processes the world”. And one more: “75% job successes are predicted by optimism levels, social support and ability to see stress as a challenge instead of a threat.”

Isn’t that interesting? What-if we can influence our happiness level or that of our colleagues or family and then we all perform better? At the end of the talk, there are some scientifically proven tips how to become more positive, thus happier.

Enjoy and tell me what you think. On top of the fascinating story, his humor is great.

Learn, Enjoy and Live,
Dan

PS: I am really happy this week, because all the efforts of the last 12 months resulted into turning my 10 years of fitness work and learning into the ExFitt – Executive Fitness Program Course, focused on core strength & body flexibility for those of us who are successful but busy, sit a lot, travel…and don’t have enough time for gym or organized fitness classes. Have a look if that sounds like you: ExFitt.