Why You Should Map Your Mental World Success Magazine, Shawn Achor March 10, 2016 While working as a teaching fellow for one of my psychology professors at Harvard University, I often conducted an insightful experiment called mental mapping in which students created a map of the world around them. The experiment was simple—students had three…
Three Things You Think Will Make You Happier at Work (But Won’t) The Guardian, Charlotte Seager March 28, 2016 For many of us, work’s not working out. Mundane tasks, too much to do and the nagging feeling that your job may be, well, meaningless – mean that 47% of people in the UK want to change jobs.…
The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Praise at Work Harvard Business Review, Shawn Achor February 19, 2016 In The Happiness Advantage, I describe an experience with a leader at a Fortune 100 company who told me, “We don’t need a happiness program, we pay people to be engaged.” This is a surprisingly common refrain from unenlightened leaders,…
How Asking for Help is a Sign of Strength & Humility Success Magazine, Shawn Achor February 2016 My senior year of high school, I decided to become a volunteer firefighter. In order to do so, I had to complete 90 hours of training, plus a final test called the Fire Maze. The objective was simple: Rescue…
Increase Your Activity; Increase Your Happiness Success Magazine, Shawn Achor January 2016 Want to become more optimistic? Try playing tennis. Or walking a dog. Or go dancing. Supposedly if you run enough miles, you become addicted to running due to endorphins, the brain chemicals that lead to pleasure. I’ve never gotten close to this experience as…
Don’t Sprint the Marathon Success Magazine, Shawn Achor December 2015 I once worked with a company vice president who wanted to run a marathon. Although she wasn’t in great shape and her workload limited her preparation for a marathon, she thought that if she could lead a team across three continents, then she could run…
The Busier You Are, the More You Need Mindfulness Harvard Business Review, Shawn Achor & Michelle Gielan December 2015 The most forward-looking companies are willing to take risks to achieve greatness. Most leaders give lip service to this idea, but few actually do it. We have worked with banks willing to take on toxic assets…
The Right Kind of Stress Can Bond Your Team Together Harvard Business Review, Shawn Achor December 2015 This past fall, I did a documentary with HBO, directed by Peter Berg and produced by Michael Strahan, called State of Play: Happiness. In the film, we explored how to create a positive culture in organizations where the culture…
3 Secrets to Happiness this Holiday Live Happy Magazine, Shawn Achor & Michelle Gielan November 2015 Expectations and stress seem to increase over the holidays, especially in the weeks leading up to them. We need to make the perfect meals, wear the perfect clothes and, of course, get the perfect gifts. But while it is easy to…
Why You Need to Stop Worrying About Failing Success Magazine, Shawn Achor October 2015 Do you know what “icing the kicker” means? In football, when a kicker is preparing to make a potential game-winning field goal, the opposing coach will often call a timeout right before the ball is snapped. The thinking behind this strategy…
