The happy secret to better work | Shawn Achor

Executive Summary:

  • Shawn Achor shared a personal anecdote about accidentally breaking his younger sister's arms when he was 7 years old while trying to ensure they played safely and quietly.
  • Cultivating a positive mindset can lead to increased happiness, higher job success rates, improved brain function, and better sales performance.
  • Strategies for cultivating positivity include journaling, meditation, and training the brain over a 21-day period to become more optimistic, which can unlock greater productivity, creativity, and energy levels.

Meeting Notes:

The Importance of Positivity and Optimism

  • Shawn Achor shared a personal anecdote about accidentally breaking his younger sister's arms when he was 7 years old while trying to ensure they played safely and quietly.
  • The benefits of cultivating a positive mindset:
    • Increased happiness levels
    • Higher job success rates - only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ, while 70% is attributed to higher brain strength
    • Improved brain function - intelligence, creativity, and energy levels rise when the brain is more positive vs. negative
    • Better sales performance - 37% better at sales with a positive mindset
  • The ability to "reverse the formula" and train the brain to become more positive over time.

Strategies for Cultivating Positivity

  • Journaling about one topic for 24 hours to focus on personal matters.
  • Meditation to focus on the past.
  • Training the brain, just like training the body, to become more optimistic over a period of 21 days.
  • Creating "ripples of positivity" to spark a real positive revolution.

The Science Behind Positive Thinking

  • Only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ, while 70% is attributed to higher brain strength.
  • The brain's ability to adapt and become more positive over a period of 21 days.
  • Transforming from a negative to a positive mindset can unlock greater productivity, creativity, and energy levels in the brain.