Why Happiness Always Leads to Success?

Positive psychology, simply put, is a field of psychology which focuses on finding the generative aspects, strengths and virtues, in an individual or in an organization and creating intervention strategies to enhance well-being and productivity of an individual or an organization.

As per Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology, there are five core aspects in our lives that are contributory towards a meaningful, fulfilling and a happy life. If we work on these aspects on a daily basis, we can increase our happiness level by great degrees that will lead to success. He calls these five core aspects- PERMA.

Let us talk about Positive emotions today.

Positive emotions

Joy. Inspiration. Gratitude. Awe. Pride. Interest. Hope. Amusement. Love. Serenity.

All these positive emotions lead to the feeling of happiness. There is a theory associated with positive emotions conceived by Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Broaden and build theory. As per this theory and the experimental studies that validated this theory, experiencing positive emotions creates two changes in us:

• Positive emotions create a broadening effect which means that people are able to think more creatively, flexibly, and it opens our mind to newer possibilities.
• By broadening our perspectives, we build resources that help us to create lasting, physical,
  intellectual, psychological and social resources.

There is another study that states that people who experience more positive emotions are more successful than unhappy people. You want to know why?

Firstly, the fact that a successful individual makes more effort and is more persistent because of his/her usual positive moods. This finding supports the broader and build theory too.

Secondly, thriving people have more of the required skills that they acquired in the past, again because of their typical positive moods.

Thirdly, emotions affect our health through the endocrine system. The endocrine system is a collection of glands that release hormones into the blood which in turn, affect numerous organs throughout the body. People who make a conscious effort to be happy, have a healthy body which leads to a healthy brain and a happy soul.

So how can you add more positive emotions into your daily life?

A few tips from my end but would still advise you to craft your own ideas as every person’s source of a positive emotion is different.

Some practical exercises to experience more positive emotions in your life:

• Start writing a gratitude journal. Write down people, events, talks or moments that you felt grateful for during the day or during the week in the diary. When you feel grateful, you feel more joy and inspiration in life. Your creative spirit will fly high, and you will become more of a problem-solver and less of a problem-creator, for yourself and for others.
• Learn new things. Take a course on a subject that interests you on online platforms such as Coursera or Udemy. When you learn new things, you feel many positive emotions such as interest, pride, and inspiration that leads to stronger belief in self.
• Devote just 10 minutes, only 10 minutes of your time, to take a mini vacation every day.

Basically do what you really love, whether that is going for a jog or listening to music on a high volume, or watching a short movie, everyday for at least 10 minutes. When you decide to de-stress, happy hormones get released in your body that build your immunity. With that you experience positive emotions such as joy and even serenity at times.