Improve Productivity and Success with Five “Positivity” Habits Nano Tools for Leaders® are fast, effective leadership tools that you can learn and start using in less than 15 minutes — with the potential to significantly impact your success as a leader and the engagement and productivity of the people you lead. Contributor: Shawn Achor, expert on the…
I thought it was simple: Vacations are fun, Americans are stressed, and happiness raises productivity and sales. Therefore, people should take more vacations, right? But research doesn’t hold that line of thinking up. Not every vacation is equal. According to a 2013 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the U.S. is the only developed…
Holiday Cheer: Small steps can bring a little more joy to the world. Shawn Achor History offers some dramatic examples of how the human brain is designed for emotional contagion. Perhaps the craziest on record is the Dancing Plague of 1518. It reportedly began when a woman, Frau Troffea, started dancing in the streets of Strasbourg,…
“Happy people are not the smart people.” I was talking to a stock trader shortly before giving a lecture at a large bank in New York. I think he thought I was a fellow trader, but I felt a little awkward at this turn in the conversation… as my lecture topic was the research case…
Click here to watch the TEDTalk that inspired this post. A few years back, while crunching stats for my dissertation, I spent many nights in the student computer lab in the basement of the psychology department at Yale. On one particularly “dark” night, Bret Logan, head of IT in the psychology department who had come in…
The X-Spot: Finish strong! Reach any goal faster with this science-based brain trick. Shawn Achor There are few better ways to witness the sheer power of human potential than to watch a runner cross the finish line of a marathon. It’s incredible to see months and years of training, determination and self-discipline culminating in one moment…
Try this experiment and discover possibilities On a napkin or a sheet of paper right now, draw just a rough picture of a coffee cup and saucer—and be creative. On a napkin or a sheet of paper right now, draw just a rough picture of a coffee cup and saucer—and be creative. Read on when you’re…
Set a goal, make a plan, and achieve success? Not so fast. In today’s post-recession economy, your five-year plan to achieve your life goal is all but null and void. Today, the road to success is full of twists, turns and unexpected detours. A recent study commissioned by American Express found that over half (52%) of Americans,…
By Shawn Achor, as told to Joan Raymond | New York Times September 4, 2013I GIVE about 100 lectures a year, which translates to about 300 flights. I try to stay positive about everything, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering I’m a researcher, author and educator in the field of positive psychology. I do have…
If there’s one thing sure to cause unhappiness, it’s the feeling that we lack control over things around us. If it’s all out of our hands, what’s the point of working at a particular job, or being in a relationship or… getting out of bed? Studies show that people with a greater sense of control…