All posts tagged: brain

Wrapping Up The Happiness Advantage (in full force)

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Going toward the Happiness Advantage and moving along strong. Jump on, and bring your kids. In 2-5 minutes a day, we’re reaching a more consistent state of “happy” and making our brains 31% more productive. Cool. (Check out the video below by esteemed Harvard professor, Shawn Anchor – well worth the 12 minutes!) We’ve been on the journey for 8 days, and we’re well on our way . . . To Increased Happy. And A More Productive Brain. It’s founded in science. We can actually rewire our brains, in 2-5 minutes a day, to scan the world for the positive, increase our happiness, and retrain our brains to work more optimistically, productively, and successfully. Here’s what we do, each day: – Write down 3 new things for which we are grateful – Write down (or journal about) 1 positive experience from the last 24 hours – Do an act of kindness, or praise/thank someone For those of you already on board, you’re almost there. For those just joining us, it’s a gratifying and pretty easy …

Day Six of the Happiness Advantage Come Along for the Ride!

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Day Six of the Happiness Advantage On our way to a more consistent state of happy and a 31% more productive brain . . . in 2-5 minutes a day. That’s a bargain. Come along for the ride. It’s a good one . . . and bring the kids. It’s really pretty easy. Each day, we: Write down 3 new things for which we are grateful; and Write down 1 positive experience we’ve had in the last 24 hours And now, we will: Do a random act of kindness (or praise or thank someone for something) That’s it. Today & tomorrow: 3 new grateful things; 1 positive experience; 1 act of kindness, praise or thanks. Keep it up – we’re on our way . . . to a more consistent state of “happy” and a 31% more productive brain. Today & tomorrow. Go ahead. Do it. See you then. p.s. thanks to esteemed Harvard professor, Shawn Anchor, for his proven research on the Happiness Advantage

Going for the Happiness Advantage (Taking My Kids Too)

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New year. Happiness Advantage. High quality stuff for 2013. 2-5 minutes a day, 21 days. Founded in science. Grab on yourself, and bring along your kids. Let’s look at the science, then we’ll dive into the good stuff. First, let me credit Shawn Anchor, distinguished Harvard professor, for this. Through research, he has summed up that: Only 10% of long-term happiness comes from one’s external world . . . While 90% of long-term happiness comes from how one’s brain processes the world. As you raise your brain’s level of positivity in the present, your brain will experience the Happiness Advantage. In this state, a number of remarkable things happen. Dopamine releases throughout your system. This makes you happier . . . and it turns on all your learning centers. Your intelligence increases. Your creativity increases. Your energy levels rise. And, your brain is 31% more productive. That’s cool. That’s cool for us. And for our kids. Shawn Anchor has found (in research) that we can train our brains to reach the Happiness Advantage – and …

Happiness: Inside Out

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The new year is approaching. The “Happiness Advantage” has captured my attention. Alex Hetland gives us a formula to increase our “happy” state and make our brains 30% more efficient — in 2-5 minutes a day. That’s cool. It’s cool for us parents; and it’s cool for our kids, especially our adolescents. Consider for a moment that only 10% of happiness comes from one’s external world . . . while 90% of one’s happiness is a result of one’s internal world. This is supported in science. Having recently discovered the concept of the “Happiness Advantage,” conveyed by Alex Hetland, I have enjoyed a renewed perspective on happiness, and all which that entails. Within the “Happiness Advantage,” there is scientific proof that a “happy” state increases dopamine in the brain, which in turn makes the brain 30% more efficient (Lyubomirsky, 2005, in Hetland blog of March 2012). So, Hetland says, the “Advantage” comes from grasping the 90% happiness factor in our internal world — and maximizing it. He even tells us how to do so. With …