Laugh Your Way to a Happy Workplace Success Magazine, Shawn Achor June 24, 2016 We are drawn to funny people. Researchers have discovered that humor is attractive not just in romantic partners, but in business partners and politicians as well because it is a sign of cognitive fitness. Your brain must be flexible and sharp to create…
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4 Types of Mental ‘Noise’ You Should Ignore Success Magazine, Shawn Achor May 23, 2016 In the working world, where we’re subjected to an endless stream of information, noise such as interruptions from co-workers or breaking news alerts on our phones can be particularly dangerous. If you attend to the noise, it will hijack your motivation…
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Why Working More is Making You Less Productive Success Magazine, Shawn Achor April 21, 2016 You could be much more efficient, productive and happy if you changed the way you view the hours in your day. Many of the business leaders and Harvard students I work with exhibit the telltale symptoms of the “workaholic’s curse.” They…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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