The Science of Happiness By Shawn Achor (VIDEO)

Shawn Achor

Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work hopes to change the formula for happiness and success and encourages others to do the same.

At an independent presentation at TEDxBloomington, an organization devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’, Achor reveals the origins of positive psychology, how to escape what he calls ‘the cult of average’ and how to rewire the brain’s definitions of success and happiness.

In Shawn’s TEDxBloomington presentation, he says that most modern research focuses on the average, but that “if we focus on the average, we will remain merely average.” He wants to study the positive outliers, and learn how not only to bring people up to the average, but to move the entire average up.

In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix what he considers the broken formula of happiness. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work. Subsequently his lectures on happiness and human potential have received attention from The New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and NPR. The New York Times recently named Shawn a “world-famous expert” on positive psychology.

Watch Shawn’s TEDxBloomington video below:

For more on Health & Happiness from genConnect:

• The Secret of True Success
• Author Gretchen Rubin: How to Achieve Happiness (VIDEO)
• A Philosopher’s Notes:  10 Principles of Optimal Living, by Brian Johnson
• How Deirdre Hade Can Help You Harness Your Positive Energy

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Tags: ADHD, average, Brain, Exercise, Happiness, Harvard, Harvard University, Health, IQ level, Meditation, normalcy, optimism, outliers, Positive psychology, Psychology, science, Shawn Achor, success, TEDxBloomington, wellness week

Category: Health, Mind Body Connections, Videos