[Vegas69]

Make Happiness a STUDY, it's one of the key ingredients for success.

My mentor Jim Rohn said, "If you wish to be happy, study happiness."

If you are like me, I didn't know happiness was a study? How many people do you know that make it a study?

The common American philosophy is that when you become successful, happiness is the natural side effect. For example, when I land that six figure job, buy my dream car, get married, get in tip top shape, etc...

My studies have led me to a new perspective. Happiness is as much a cause for success as success is for happiness.

I started in on a new book called "The Happiness Advantage". It's written by a Harvard graduate that has made his focus POSITVE psychology. I'm going to share some interesting statistics:

1. Depression rates in America are 10 times higher than 1960.
2. In 1960, the mean offset age of depression was 29.5 years of age. Today, it's only 14.5!
3. In 1998, the ratio of psychologists that studied the negative vs. the positive side of the equation was 17:1.
4. Those found the happiest at 20 years of age were found to live nearly 10 years longer than the least happy.

The point being made about studying the negative side vs. the positive is this, there focus is on helping the depressed get back to a normal life. I think that's great but what about the average man or woman finding greater happiness?

My first thought was that the negative side is where the money is at but he proved me wrong. Companies are paying good money to bring him in to influence their employees. When they offered the class at Harvard, over 1000 signed up the first semester. It turns out that 4 out of 5 Harvard kids suffer from depression once a year.

They found by having a child think of their favorite thing to do prior to putting some blocks together vs. no influence led to faster completion of the task.

Even doctors were tested with a lollipop vs. no lollipop and were found to find the right diagnosis 19% faster and have 2.5 times less chance of anchoring to their initial impression.

Big companies like google are taking big strides to make their employees happier. They even allow some employees to bring their dog to work.

The science proves that it goes beyond a positive attitude. Your brain actually functions more efficiently leading to greater skill. Our brains will adapt to circumstances.

Aristotle described happiness as "Eudaimonia" which translates to Human Flourishing.

The ten common positive emotions are: Joy, Gratitude, Serenity, Interest, Hope, Pride, Amusement, Inspiration, Awe, and Love.

The bottom line is that science has proven that we can rewire our own minds with time. We are born with a clean slate and our environment up until today has shaped us, not our genes.

This brings more clarity to the power of personal development. Feeding your mind with positive influence not only improves your attitude and the trajectory of your days, it increases your awareness. It's made a HUGE difference for me.


Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. -Jim Rohn