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Conquer Worry Book Summary - The Happiness Advantage

10/7/2014

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The Happiness Advantage – Shawn Achor

Summary by Jay Coulter

 
Part 1: Positive Psychology at Work

·        Positive psychology is a (relatively) new field of applied psychology, which studies behaviors and practices that have a positive effect on human well-being .
·        Researchers have recently completed a meta-analysis study covering 200 different studies on over 275,000 people.  They found conclusively that happiness leads to success. (Page 21)
·        Research into a number of companies found that people who raise their happiness levels perform better at work.

Part 2: Seven Principles

Principle #1: The Happiness Advantage. By retraining our brains to focus on the positive and by employing other Positive Psychology principles, we improve our productivity and performance.

·        Happiness implies a positive mood now and a positive outlook on the future. (Page 39)
·        Does happiness come before or after success? (Page 41)
·        Happy people are proven to live longer. (Page 42)
·        Unhappy employees take on average 15 extra sick days per year. (Page 43)
·        How to capitalize on happiness. (Page 50)

Purchase 'The Happiness Advantage' 


Shawn's TED Talk

Principle #2: The Fulcrum and the Lever. The fulcrum is your mindset and the lever represents your potential power and possibility you believe you have.

·        The Expectancy Theory: The brain is organized to act on what we predict will happen. (Page 70)
·        The Lever of Possibility:  Research has shown that if you believe that you will succeed at a task, it improve the probability of it happening. (Page 74)
·        Yale psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski says that everyone categorized their work as either a job, career or calling. (Page 78) You may have the best job in the world, but you will not enjoy it if you can’t find meaning in the work. (Page 81)

Principle #3: The Tetris Effect. It is possible to train your brain to look for positive patterns, rather than focusing on the negative. This allows us to seize on opportunities.

·        The Tetris Study: Participants submerged in playing the video game Tetris were unable to stop seeing and dreaming about blocks. (Page 88) 
·        Scientists estimate that we only remember 1 of every 100 pieces of information received. (Page 94)
·        We see what we are looking for. (Page 95)
·        The Positive Tetris Effect can be achieved by focusing on the positive. This is drive by happiness, gratitude and optimism. (Page 97)
·        Three Good Things Exercise: End your day by writing down three good things that happened. (page 100)
·        Avoid irrational optimism. (Page 103) 

Principle #4: Falling Up. Failing can have two results: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Growth. 

·        Looking for growth in difficult situations is hard, but obviously leads to better outcomes.
·        ‘A Tale Of Two Brokers’ is a great story of the importance of looking at defeat correctly. (Page 118)
·        ABCD Model - You can learn to interpret difficult situations better. (Page 125)

Principle #5: The Zorro Circle. Control your problems and emotions with small goals and tasks that can be immediately handled. 

·        Control how you think about your problems. Take ownership of your problems.(Page 130)
·        How to control your brain – The Jerk (Page 132)
·        Circle of Zorro – Identify and execute smaller tasks that lead to completing of bigger goals. It makes the project more manageable. (Page 136)

Principle #6: The 20-Second Rule. Remove barriers that allow you to turn bad habits into positive change.

·        Why are 44% of doctors overweight? (Page 146)
·        Will power does not work. (Page 151)
·        Save time by adding time? (Page 164)

Principle #7: Social Investment. Your biggest asset is your social support network.

·        When we have a positive social connection, oxytocin is released into our blood.  This is a pleasure-inducing hormone and immediately reduces anxiety and increases concentration. (Page 177)
·        Each social connection lowers the stress hormone Cortisol. (Page 178)
·        IBM, Google and UPS have all invested in the social capital concept. (Page 185)

Part 3: The Ripple Effect
 
·        Behavior (good and bad) is contagious. 
·        Your colleagues are contagious. (Page 204) 

Jay Coulter is a Mental Health Advocate and founder of the mental health advocacy platform Conquer Worry. Their mission is to create awareness of the resources that are available to those who struggle with mental health. With over 77,000 followers on Twitter (@conquerworry) and a growing Facebook community , they have expanded their outreach with a podcast -The Conquer Worry Show.
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