TEDxBloomington - Shawn Achor - "The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance"

Summary

The speaker recounts a childhood story to introduce positive psychology, emphasizing its impact on happiness and success. He critiques the focus on averages and outliers in traditional psychology, advocating for studying exceptional individuals to elevate the norm. Through humor and personal anecdotes, he illustrates how positivity can enhance performance and suggests practical techniques to cultivate a positive mindset, ultimately proposing a 'happiness advantage' that can transform personal and professional outcomes.

Takeaways

• 😄 The story of the speaker's childhood with his sister Amy, and the 'unicorn' incident, serves as a metaphor for the power of positive psychology.
• 📈 The speaker emphasizes the importance of positive outliers in data and suggests that focusing on them can lead to improvements beyond the average.
• 🧐 Positive psychology is the study of what makes life most worth living and is central to the speaker's work and passion.
• 🤔 The speaker challenges the traditional approach to education and therapy, which often focuses on the average or on pathology, rather than on potential and positivity.
• 🌐 The speaker discusses the impact of negative news on our perception of reality, suggesting that our 'lens' or perspective can shape our reality more than the reality itself.
• 🎓 The speaker's experience at Harvard revealed that external success does not guarantee happiness, highlighting the difference between privilege and perspective.
• 🧠 The brain processes the world in a way that determines 90% of our long-term happiness, not the external world itself.
• 💡 Only 25% of job success is predicted by I.Q., while 75% is influenced by optimism, social support, and the ability to view stress as a challenge.
• 🌟 The absence of disease is not health; a positive approach to life is essential for true well-being.
• 🔄 The traditional formula for success (work harder → success → happiness) is scientifically flawed and needs to be reversed to focus on positivity first.
• 💡 Simple practices like gratitude, journaling positive experiences, exercise, meditation, and random acts of kindness can rewire the brain to be more positive and successful.

Q & A

What was the childhood incident involving the speaker and his sister?

The speaker and his sister were playing a war game on top of a bunk bed when his sister, Amy, accidentally fell off and landed on the floor. The speaker, fearing his parents' reaction, told Amy that her fall was like a unicorn landing, which distracted her from crying and getting their parents' attention.

What is positive psychology and why is it significant in the speaker's life?

Positive psychology is a scientific study of positive human functioning aimed at discovering the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It is significant to the speaker because it is the focus of his research and the reason he wakes up every morning, as it has the potential to revolutionize the way we understand the human brain.

Why did the speaker start his talk with a graph, despite the advice against it?

The speaker started with a graph to challenge the conventional approach of focusing on averages and to emphasize the importance of outliers, which in his opinion, represent the potential for extraordinary outcomes that should not be dismissed.

What is the problem with focusing on the average in education and business?

Focusing on the average can create a 'cult of the average,' which may not cater to the needs of individuals who fall below or above the average. It can also limit the potential for growth and innovation, as it does not account for the unique strengths and abilities of individuals.

What is the 'medical school syndrome' mentioned by the speaker?

The 'medical school syndrome' refers to the phenomenon where medical students, after learning about various diseases and symptoms, start to associate themselves with these conditions, believing they have all the symptoms they are studying about.

How did the speaker's experience at Harvard influence his views on happiness?

The speaker's experience at Harvard showed him that external success, such as getting into a prestigious university, does not necessarily equate to happiness. He observed that students, despite their initial joy of being admitted, soon focused on competition, workload, and stress, rather than the privilege of being at Harvard.

What percentage of long-term happiness is predicted by the external world, according to the speaker?

According to the speaker, only 10% of long-term happiness is predicted by the external world, while 90% is determined by the way one's brain processes the world.

What is the relationship between positivity and job success, as discussed by the speaker?

The speaker mentions that only 25% of job successes are predicted by I.Q., while 75% are predicted by factors such as optimism levels, social support, and the ability to view stress as a challenge rather than a threat.

What is the 'happiness advantage' as described by the speaker?

The 'happiness advantage' refers to the phenomenon where a positive brain state leads to better performance in various cognitive tasks. It is the idea that when one's brain is in a positive state, it performs significantly better than when it is in a negative, neutral, or stressed state.

What are some of the activities the speaker suggests to train the brain to be more positive?

The speaker suggests activities such as writing down three new things one is grateful for each day for 21 days, journaling about a positive experience, exercising, meditating, and performing random acts of kindness.

How does the speaker propose to reverse the formula for happiness and success?

The speaker proposes that by training the brain to be more positive through various activities, one can experience the happiness advantage, which in turn can lead to better performance and success. This approach reverses the traditional formula that equates success with happiness.