The formula is clear: work harder, then you'll be successful, then you'll be happier….'I'm working my butt off now so I can be happy when…[fill in the blank with a six figure banking job, make a scientific breakthrough, get into medical school, etc.].'
Cultivating Happyness?
6 comments | July 17th, 2012
(OOC via Psychology Today)
Like Juliet calling for Romeo, if you're like us, there are times when you find yourself wondering wherefore art thou, oh ever increasing happiness?
According to this article, part of our challenge may be that we define happiness as a result or conequence of something else that needs to happen first. So, as they ask in the original, which comes first for you: happiness or success? From the original:
"My guess is that you have already answered that question several times today. You answer it every time your brain says, "I'll be happy when I find a job." "I'll be happy when I get a promotion." "I'll be happy when my dissertation is finished."
Well, if that's the bad news, the Psychology Today story also serves up a fresh plate of the good news…it's all realtively easy to fix and change:
"Based on the findings in The Happiness Advantage: if you reverse the order of the formula, you end up with greater happiness and greater success rates. Happiness is an advantage, and the precursor to greater success. Every single relationship, business and educational outcome improves when the brain is positive first. If you cultivate happiness while in the midst of your struggles, work, at school, while unemployed or single, you increase your chances of attaining all the goals you are pursuing…including happiness.
So how can we pursue happiness right now? Ah ha, for that, you'll need to read the rest of the article here.
Ok, so what about you? Do you bring happiness to what you do and what you seek, or does happiness come to you only as a result of what happens? Let's #discuss.
6 comments
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12
Posted on April 30, 2012
I need to read the rest of the article but happiness has always been the egg for me. If the chicken comes first, anyway.
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Nina Rosen
Posted on April 30, 2012
I get it but I don’t really get how to be happy before things happen that make you feel happy. Are we tricking ourselves?
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MCS
Posted on July 18, 2012
maybe…it’s a good trick if we are.
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Momof2
Posted on April 30, 2012
My kids’ school is awesome. They are all about the process, not the product. Maybe that’s the key; enjoy the journey, not the destination.
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Anonymous
Posted on July 18, 2012
For me, happiness is a result. Some things make me happy and some do not. I wish I could see it differently.
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MCS
Posted on July 18, 2012
Me too. I like the idea that happiness is what we bring from within but I wind up seeing it as the consequence of what happens and does not happen.
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