Happiness is the Highest form of success

Mostly people think happiness is all about success.They think just attainment of wealth , position, and honor is success and those people who have these things are happier in their lives. But they don’t know…….

According to Shawn Achor, who is a psychologist by profession and an author of famous book “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work”

“ 90% of happiness is predicted not by the external world, but the way your brain process the world ”

Happiness is dependent on self discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight with our own nature. ( Dennis prager )

Positive Thinking is not about expecting the best to happen every time but, accepting that Whatever happens is the best for this moment!

Reason #1: Success Won’t Do You Any Good If You Are Not Happy

If the end-goal of your hard work is to find happiness after you succeed, chances are you might get the opposite of what you’re looking for. You might climb your way to the top only to realize that you aren’t any happier than you were when you started. You might even spiral into a depression. Because chasing success in hopes of finding happiness at the top is a recipe for sadness.

Reason #2: Happiness Is The End-Goal Of All Human Behavior

“Happiness the highest on the hierarchy of goals, the end toward which all other ends lead … Wealth, fame, admiration, and all other goals are subordinate and secondary to happiness; whether our desires are material or social, they are means toward one end: happiness.”

Everything that you do is motivated by that underlying desire to be happy. So why not just put happiness first?

Reason #3: Finding Happiness First Can Boost Your Success

Society often conditions us to believe that success is the most important goal there is. Though success is a powerful, important, and positive experience that we should all strive for, it isn’t the most important accomplishment you can achieve in life.

You should make it a point to focus on happiness first in your life because fulfillment not only improves your health but can also boost your success.The world often conditions us to think that true happiness takes place after we build our success. But that approach to achievement is backwards.

As TED speaker and Positive Psychologist Shawn Achor confirms with research in The Happiness Advantage, a happy state of mind is not a reward for succeeding. It’s an advantage — a competitive edge for getting ahead.

That’s right. Genuine happiness is your brain’s highest potential for motivation, top performance, work ethic, productivity, and achievement.

So the best way to be successful is to take Achor’s advice and find ways to be as happy as possible in the present moment. Put happiness first.

Shawn five key steps to increase our experience of happiness

1) Bring gratitude to mind: Write down three NEW things that you are grateful for each day

2) Journal: About a positive experience you’ve had recently for two minutes once a day

3) Exercise: Engage in 15 minutes of mindful cardio activity

4) Meditate: Watch your breath go in and out for two minutes a day and

5) Engage in a random, conscious act of kindness: Write a two-minute positive email thanking a friend or colleague, or compliment someone you admire on social media

Do these steps for 21 days, and you will begin to see a lasting shift in your mindset towards more positivism.

My Own experience for struggling and overcoming the negative thoughts

Before I read this article, I never thought we can fight our negative thoughts. I always had the opinion okay, I’m a negative person and I can’t change this fact.So, first of all I was happy that It can be changed. I used to be negative about myself like I’m not good for anything, and even I used to have negative thoughts about others as well. Before reading this I was struggling on my own, sometimes positive thoughts helped but temporarily and now I have a guideline , I followed the above mentioned tips like kindness and exercise , further I’m trying to adopt meditation and journal and really felt connected and happy to Shawn saying:

The three greatest predictors of happiness:

1.Optimism (the belief your behavior will eventually matter)

2.Social connection

3.How we perceive stress (as a challenge or as a threat).

If we want to raise happiness we need to make both mindset and behavior shifts!