Friday 14 March 2014

My Happy Project - The Business of Happiness

My Happy Project: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

The 3 things that I am grateful for today:
  1. The sun and the warmth that spring bring (it has been a long winter)
  2. The freedom at work to explore new ideas
  3. I JUST GOT MY FIRST SMART PHONE!!!!
Maybe that last one was a bit over emphasized but I finally entered the new age and splurged to buy a Blackberry and I am pretty excited about it.

The story that I want to share today is the story of Jim and Jen Moss, I have been captivated by this story since the first time that I heard it.  This is a talk that Jen Moss did at the TEDxDistilleryDistrictWomen titled, "The epidemic of smiles and the science of gratitude"

Jen shares the wonderful story of her life and she says that 50% of happiness and optimism are from personality and genetics leaving 50% of those qualities that can be learned.  We can learn to be happy but we have to consciously choose this path.  The question for us is, how do we take the pause to look for the happy thought in the times when we are in a very negative situation.

Jim and Jen made it through this situation and started The Smile Epidemic which then transformed into a start up company Plasticity.  This company has developed a software platform to promote and encourage happiness at work.  Companies work with Plasticity to improve their bottom line by improving employee happiness.  This message resonates strongly with me as I have stated earlier. As an employer it may not be your responsibility to make your employees happy but your business will benefit significantly if you have happy employees.  Shawn Achor talked about rewiring your brain to achieve the Happiness Advantage. Plasticity shows us this is not only good for your mood and own productivity it is key to achieving business success.

Over the last number of weeks I have been trying to focus on the positive and the result is that I find it.  I encourage you to look and tell me what you find.

Here are a few more videos about Jim and Jen and Plasticity if you are interested in further understanding the business of happiness.


My Happy Project: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

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