It’s that time again: New Year’s resolutions. The science of happiness tells us New Year’s resolutions are a worthwhile ritual. Goals are vital to motivation, engagement, and happiness, at work and beyond. Statistics suggest that people who explicitly set goals are ten times more likely to reach them. Still, while up to 62% of Americans read more…
Gratitude beyond Thanksgiving. The month of November calls for a focus on gratitude, but the topic is actually an evergreen in neuroscience and positive psychology, relevant all year. By now, several scientific studies have been indicating the effectiveness of so called “gratitude interventions” in increasing our level of happiness. A gratitude intervention is simply an read more…
One of my favorite parts of workshops is applying brain research to get the audience involved and learning more. An example of this is getting audiences into small groups for discussion of how they will apply what they’ve learned. I try for groups of six or less people, because research indicates that in groups that read more…
First of all, I mean passion for your work, not your colleagues! If you want help getting passion with your colleagues, you want a different blog! 🙂 Passion for your work is about energy and meaning. It’s getting energized by your work, and finding–or creating–the meaning in your work. Start with some basics. As I read more…
You start an email to your boss, “Dear total moron.” If a minute later you decide not to send it, you have one particular part of your brain to thank: your prefrontal cortex. This part of your brain is prime brain real estate. (It’s roughly speaking just behind your forehead and the thin layer marked in read more…
We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement is titled so because the authors view employee engagement as a partnership between employees and their employers. I couldn’t agree more. The authors were, at the time, executives at Kenexa, which offers employee engagement surveys and consulting. Early on the authors argue strongly that paying read more…
I’m excited to share some of the amazing things I learned at the International Positive Psychology Association World Congress in Los Angeles. I presented a poster titled “Hacking Into Happiness: Habits for the Workplace.” Please click the preview image on the left to request a copy, and stay tuned for my upcoming book with a similar theme. read more…
As a former programmer, I’m very familiar with “hacks”: short-cuts or tricks to get something working better. You may be familiar with “life hacking“, using a similar approach to finding novel ways to improve life. I want to extend that concept to create “happiness hacks”. Happiness hacks are simply new ways of boosting happiness at read more…
I’m delighted to introduce a great guest blogger to you today. Jill Nelson is the founder and CEO of Ruby Receptionists. Ruby is the #1 best small company to work for in the U.S! I sat down with Jill and asked her how she’s built a wonderful place for people to work. Enjoy the video read more…
A recent study showed only one in five of us is taking a real lunch break. Several studies suggest the productivity benefits of actually taking a lunch break. According to the science of happiness, the best possible lunch break is to exercise outdoors with a friend. This gives us three happiness and brain-function boosts: 1. read more…