The Happiness Advantage Final The most universal goal every human has in common is the pursuit of happiness or “creation or construction of happiness” (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. Through dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be truly successful. Achor 's argument is valid in that happiness should come before success because there is a clear advantage to being successful in an individuals work life, personal sphere, and liveliness if they are happy first and foremost. Achor utilizes a meta-analysis, or the combination of different findings, of over 200 scientific studies to prove his overall theory that happiness leads to success in almost every aspect of life from family to friends to careers and businesses. He does not rely solely on the data or information from a few relevant case studies, but instead relies upon experimental research to support his claim. He utilizes his findings to create “The Seven Principles”, which are “patterns that predict success and achievement” (Achor, 17), which is headed by “The Happiness Advantage.” He utilizes the concept of positive psychology and neurological activity to showcase the point that we
In the book Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile by Daniel Nettle he states that happiness offers a remarkable portrait of feelings that poets, politicians, and philosophers all agree truly make the world go around. Nettle is currently at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and is the Co-director of the center for behavioral and evolution. He mainly studies humans. Nettle is a behavioral biologist that that has interest in evolution, development and psychological underpinning of behavior. His study spans from biology into social science. He is a very successful writer who has a BA in psychology and philosophy from Oxford, as well a PHD in biological anthropology from university college London. Nettle goes through his book shedding light on happiness which is the basic human desire. Studying the human happiness wasn’t easy for Nettle but when he examined human happiness he reached a conclusion that success can make us happy. People are fascinated by the idea of happiness and will follow any system that seems to promise it. In the book Nettle goes in depth over the three levels of happiness and what could happen if we don’t reach or attempt to each those certain levels. The first level is momentary happiness, second level describes judgment and feelings, and the third and final level talking about the quality of life.
A powerful quote said by pre-socratic philosopher named Democritus says “Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul”. In other words, happiness does not come from materialism but instead from the things money can’t buy. In the article The Secret of Happiness the author David Myers writes directly to Americans about how he believes we need to obtain a new “American Dream” that emphasizes personal happiness instead of materialistic happiness. Myers also believes happiness resides in the soul and he says people that think money is the key to happiness are actually less content with themselves and he uses various ways to prove this point. With that being said materialistic happiness vs personal happiness is an important issue, and Myers made a strong use of Logos by showing surveys and studies, Ethos by showing credibility in his argument but he could have used more Pathos by using more emotion and enthusiasm in his argument.
Within The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, he mentions that there are two ancient truths concerning how the mind works. The first truth is the foundational idea of the book: the mind is divided into parts that sometimes conflict with each other. The second truth is Shakespeare’s idea about how “thinking makes it so.” (or, as Buddha said, “Our life is the creation of our mind.”) Like a rider, on the back of an elephant, the conscious, reasoning part of the mind has only limited control of what the elephant does. Nowadays, we know the cause of these divisions, and a few ways to help the rider and the elephant work as a better team. We can improve this ancient idea today by explaining why most people’s minds have a bias toward seeing threats and engaging in useless worry. To change this bias, we can use three techniques to increase happiness, one ancient, and two very new.
In society there are still differences in classes such as higher class, middle class, and lower class. In sociology, we observed a film called The Pursuit Happyness, where we witnessed the struggles a father went through to succeed. Chris Gardner, who was played by Will Smith, is living in his apartment with his wife and his son. Due to their struggles, the mother walks out on and leaves Chris struggling alone with his son. In the film Chris Gardner applies for an unpaid internship for a competitive stockbroker company where out of twenty men, only one gets the job. While he is on his internship, we see the hardships of getting kicked out of his apartment to staying at a shelter home to then sleeping in a subway bathroom with his son. Viewing the movie through a sociological lens, The Pursuit of Happyness will be analyzed according to the major three sociological paradigms: structural functionalism, social conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism.
We cannot let our work and living conditions limit our success, we must take control of the situations in our lives. As much as we have all heard it, we need to keep a positive attitude and mindset, or at least try to. This is probably the easiest way to take control of the situations you are in; keeping a positive attitude has been known to increase your physical and mental health, which can really only benefit you. In a study performed by the University of California, Riverside, in which productivity, happiness, and overall physical and mental well-being were analyzed in working individuals, it was concluded that a positive attitude and outlook has a great effect on one’s life. Generally positive, or “happy people,” were found to be more satisfied with their jobs, to perform tasks better, and less likely to be unemployed and more likely to be physically healthier and live longer than their less happy peers (Joy). Positive people being less likely to be unemployed allows these individuals to accumulate more money, which makes the general public happier nowadays, and this ultimately makes the dream of having success more easily attainable. Happy individuals being found to be healthier and to therefore live longer than less happy individuals gives these happy individuals more time to attain the “American Dream” as well. Keeping
In the article, Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says, “Researchers such as Cummins et al. (2009) go as far as to suggest that individuals are happier when whole society’s functions better” (Flynn and MacLeod 452). This shows that without happiness, people could not work well together. It is why so many people work together, and keeping the economy well. In the article Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says, “It is well known in the positive psychology literature that increased happiness is related to multiple benefits including better mental and physical health, (see Lyubomirsky et al. 2005)” (Flynn and MacLeod 452). This is why people that are happier have a better life in their jobs and schools. It also shows that people have better eating habits if they are happy. In the article Determinants of Happiness in Undergraduate University Students, it says that, “The individual benefits can pale in comparison to the potential societal gains of having a population comprised of such happy and therefore “successful” individuals” (Flynn and MacLeod 453). This is why people who like their job are better at their job. People that are fortunate are ones who usually like their job. People are happier if what they are doing is what they like, and it helps them to be happier than they
Authored by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “Happiness Revisited” is a study on happiness and creativity. Csikszentmihalyi defines happiness in terms of how we achieve it. He suggests that people achieve happiness “not by trying to look for it directly” (609) but by looking for it directly. He also added that by “achieving control over the contents of our consciousness” (609), a circuitous path begins, thus the beginning of achieving happiness. Further, Csikszentmihalyi stated that just like happiness, success is not to be pursued but ensued. This statement is ideally illustrated by Viktor Frankl’s book on Man’s Search for meaning: “Don’t aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it”(609).
The most universal goal every human has in common is the pursuit of happiness or “creation or construction of happiness” (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. Through dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be truly successful. Achor 's argument is valid in that happiness should come before success because there is a clear advantage to being successful in an individual’s work life, personal sphere, and liveliness if they are happy first and foremost.
Happiness is one of the most significant dimensions of human experience. Many people can argue that happiness is a meaningful and desirable entity. Studies indicate that everyone pursues happiness in various aspects of their life. Our four fathers saw happiness as a need, so they made the pursuit of happiness as one of the three unalienable rights branded in the Declaration of Independence. There is a sense of complexity behind the meaning of happiness; its definition is not definite. Think of happiness as a rope; there are many thin fiber strands bonded together to become the strength of the rope. Like the analogy of the rope, there are numerous factors that can contribute to an individual’s overall happiness in life. This study is going to
The amalgam of the human experience and the pursuit of happiness is that of an instinctive and inexorable nature; perchance in happiness lays the fundamental purpose of the human experience. Happiness, throughout the lapse of time—regardless of multifarious discrepancies, such as nationality or age, has proven to be an all-inclusive search. Whether it is derived from power, wealth, success, or elsewhere, happiness is a perpetual pursuit. Illustrious philosopher Aristotle believed “happiness depends upon ourselves (Aristotle)”, speaking to a notion of happiness being an individual endeavor.
In the article "Why Happiness is Healthy" by Elizabeth Landau, she elaborates about why people want to be happy. Landau agrees with this concept and approves Happiness' choice as a lifestyle. She explains the main reasons why you should consider happiness in your life. Then she introduces the origins of happiness and uses logos to prove scientifically how genes and environment affect the levels of your happiness. She defends herself using a naysayer using money and time, people think that money can't buy them happiness but it can satisfy them, she then proves that money doesn't make you happy but has the power to satisfy you. Lastly her last paragraph consists of her proving how machines can't replace human emotions and encloses
In life, people tend to face the question of what makes them happy. Happiness can be defined as “a state of well-being and contentment” (Merriam-Webster). Everyone has their own opinion and definition of what happiness is in their own lives. When I am asked this question, I tend to say that being with my friends and family who I can fully be myself around is what makes me happy.
First, every time your brain has a success, you just change the goal post of what success looks like. You got good grades, now you have to get better grades. You got into a good school, now you have to get into a better school. If you got a good job, now you have to get a better job. (…) If happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there.” Although it’s important that we continue to work hard and do our very best, success often does not lead us to the route of happiness. Sometimes, having that perspective can make us unhappy since we are never satisfied with ourselves. From my experiences, I strongly agree that the formula for happiness and success needs to be reversed in order to attain true happiness: “If we can find a way to becoming positive in the present, then our brains work even more successfully.” When I’m feeling happy or when I’m in a positive mood, I can work much more productively, but when I’m upset or unhappy, I feel less productive and that I wasn’t reaching my full potential. It’s natural to feel upset, mad, or stressed sometimes, but it’s so important to be able to find happiness and positivity. In the end, it isn’t our success and accomplishments that lead us to true,
The desire to be successful and happy naturally exists in all people. Success is often associated with the acquisition of wealth and material goods. When an individual feels that money and goods will bring them happiness in their lives, they will become more and more determined to
We began this course with the question “What is happiness? and Can we all achieve authentic Happiness? In our life we are taught many things, but we are not taught how to achieve our own happiness. Over the last five weeks we truly learned what happiness is and I believe we all can achieve authentic happiness in our life. In Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman uses happiness and well being as the terms to describe the goals of Positive Psychology. The desired outcome of Positive Psychology is happiness and well being. We learned from this course how to embrace both our positive feelings and activities to achieve authentic Happiness.