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Five Tips for Staying Happy and Successful During Your Job Search

Michael Durkheimer — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:11:40 +0000

Five tips from happier.com for staying happy and finding success in your job search:

• Want to get a better job, faster? Research shows that for people who are unemployed, the optimists get hired faster, and get better jobs. Even among those people who are laid off within 6 months of getting a job, optimists find another job twice as fast.

• Being unemployed is tough — and not just financially. The mental strain is significant, and it’s easy to feel trapped in a downward spiral of self-defeat and depression. You can protect yourself against the risk of feeling increased mental strain.

• Learn about your strengths. These aren’t the tasks you are good at doing. Instead, strengths are broader traits of your character like fairness, or humility or creativity, ingenuity and originality.. Know your top strengths and be able to talk about them. Find a story to identify how you have used each one in the workplace. Having the vocabulary to describe your strengths can help you make the case to enter a new field of work, with prior experience in another field.

• Identify the good things in life, every day. Searching for work can feel overwhelming and take up time and money. Regardless of what else is going on, take a moment before bed each night to recognize three things that are going well. And think specifically about why they’re going well. Write it down if you want. Research shows that focusing on why things are going well in your own life will help strengthen you mentally and increase your happiness.

• When the thinking gets tough, get happy. We’re wired for narrow-mindedness. When our ancestors got scared, they focused all of their resources on surviving. When they felt secure, they would explore more and think about the broader world. Even today, research shows that when we are unhappy or full of negative emotion, we narrow our thinking and tend to focus in on only one solution. When we experience positive emotion, we think more creatively and can better identify alternative solutions. This is especially relevant to job seekers, where a large study showed that job seekers identified more re-employment opportunities when they were happy, compared to being sad. When you need that boost of creativity, take a moment to listen to a favorite song, go for a walk, spend time with your family, or do something else that makes you feel good.

happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.

Video From Todd Kashdan: Tapping Into Your Brain

Michael Durkheimer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:26:54 +0000

In this video, happier.com expert Dr. Todd Kashdan talks about “Tapping Into Your Brain” and his new research on positive psychology. Very interesting. Enjoy.

The Most Exciting Areas That are Still to Be Discoved in Positive Psychology (Video from Todd Kashdan)

Michael Durkheimer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:16:54 +0000

This is one of my favorite videos by Professor Todd Kashdan about “Uncharted Territory” in Positive Psychology research today. Professor Kashdan goes on to talk about our dynamic world and the unstudied spillover effects of positive experiences into other domains. He even poses the question: Could having a meaningful and fulfilling sexual experience help someone be more productive at work the next day? Pretty interesting stuff. Enjoy.

The Five C's – Benefits of Working in a Creative Space

Michael Durkheimer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:16:05 +0000

Sally Augustin, Ph.D. is a guest blogger for happier.com and a member of the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory.

Positive places enhance our lives – they are spaces where we thrive now and flourish in the future.
Positive places improve our experiences by:
1. Communicating. Human beings are social animals, and in positive places we can mingle with other people, when we choose. In positive spaces we not only communicate verbally with others, but also send personally desirable nonverbal messages about ourselves as people. Members of a culture can “read” the nonverbal communication of culture-mates, and we feel that nonverbal information is more honest than spoken statements. Place-based nonverbal communication is why we get so worked up about furniture selections – a lot of furniture is equally comfortable, but the style of the particular furniture we select from among those equally comfortable options speaks eloquently about who we are as a person. Why do you think we love video tours of celebrities’ homes? We want to know who they really are.

2. Comforting. A place comforts us in many ways – colors and scents can sooth, sounds can calm, and opportunities to control the space can reduce stress, for example – but people often don’t consider how a space can help them restock their psychological batteries. When we work mentally, we tire our brain and reduce the mental energy at our disposal – just as we can wear down the charge in batteries. Our mental batteries are rechargeable, happily. When we look out a window at nature or into a fish tank or at a fire (or watch nature, fish or fire videos), we are transported from our physical location into a different place mentally, a place where interesting things happen that we can understand effortlessly. While we’re in that place, energy flows back into our cognitive centers. A place that helps us restock our mental batteries is comforting.

3. Challenging. One of our fundamental human needs is to grow and develop in ways that interest us. Different people have different self-enhancement plans, so the ways that places can challenge us to change need to vary – a studio to practice the cello is different from a woodworking shop or a hideaway to write a great novel, but all three can help a person achieve their own personal goals.

4. Complying. A positive space supplies us with the tools we need to do whatever activities we’ve planned there – it’s hard to cook a roast in a bathtub. If we’re doing thoughtful work, we need to be able to focus without distractions, which many people designing home and workplace offices forget.

5. Continuing. A positive place has the ability to evolve as our place-based needs change – too many built ins can turn out to be way too much.

Use the 5 C’s for positive places (communicate, comfort, challenge, comply, and continue) when you’re in different spaces – home, school, office, . . . – to determine if you’re a place that will enhance your life – or not. Watch for additional blog posts here to learn how you can turn negative places into positive ones.

The Best Books on Positive Psychology, from happier.com and Amazon

Michael Durkheimer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:20:17 +0000

In our Amazon store you can buy the books from our experts and other prominent minds in the field of positive psychology! Also, use the store to stay up to date with new releases as experts continue to discover groundbreaking findings in the science of happiness.

Here are 4 great books to start with:

Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin Seligman

Curious? Discovering the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life by Todd Kashdan

Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth by Ed Diener, Robert Biswas-Diener

Positivity: Groundbreaking Research reveals how to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome negativity and Thrive by Barbara Fredrickson

Or try these others:

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt

Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar

A Primer in Positive Psychology by Christopher Peterson

The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Here is a video of Martin Seligman talking about his favorite Positive Psychology books:

Come visit our Amazon store today!

Five Tips About Happiness from Economists at the University of Chicago

Michael Durkheimer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:04:23 +0000

The research that we point to on happier.com usually comes from leaders in the field of positive psychology. However, in a few cases the discoveries actually come from distinguished academics outside of the field of positive psychology, who apply some of the common principals of their field to the science of happiness. In this case, we have found some interesting research about happiness coming from the field of behavioral economics. Although these tips are interesting and can be useful, remember that they are only correct in an “economic” sense, and not necessarily right for your own personal situations. However, they are very interesting when looked at from a broader perspective. Enjoy.

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Repost from The University of Chicago Magazine

Economics of Happiness

By Jake Grubman, ’11

With the economy in constant flux, we can all use some pointers on how to stretch good news as far as it will go. Christopher K. Hsee, the Theodore O. Yntema professor of behavioral science and marketing at Chicago Booth, shares his guidelines: “Hsee’s Happiness Heuristics.” Compiling research from psychologists and economists (including colleague Richard Thaler), Hsee provides tips on how to make the people around you—employees, significant others, friends, relatives—happy.

Christopher K. Hsee

1. Separate gains. Combine losses.

It’s been a great day, and you’ve got two pieces of good news for your spouse: you got a promotion, and you won a free trip to Hawaii. Tell your spouse the two pieces of news on separate days, so that one great day turns into two. If the news is bad, however—you’ve crashed your car and lost money in the stock market—tell your spouse both downers at the same time. Hsee’s caveat is that the bad news can only be so bad: “Everybody has a breaking point.”

2. Announce good news early. Announce bad news late.

You have an important client, and, knowing she loves eating out, you invite her to dinner at the fanciest restaurant in Chicago. Do it months in advance, Hsee says. “A lot of happiness comes not just from the thing or the contact per se, but from anticipation.” An early invite prolongs the client’s happiness. If the news is bad, don’t allow much time to dwell on it. Nobody enjoys a trip to the dentist, so don’t tell your child about his visit weeks in advance. Just put him in the car, and the drilling is done before he knows it.

3. Unpredictable gains are better than stable gains. Stable losses are better than unpredictable losses.

You give an employee either a raise or a bonus. Practicality says a raise is better, but a bonus actually makes the employee happier. The logic behind this principle is adaptation, Hsee explains. When you get a raise, “you feel happy, but after a while you get used to it.” An employee doesn’t adapt to a bonus—it’s unexpected and more exciting. Conversely, make losses stable. Let’s say you have a big apartment just blocks from work, but the bad economy forces you to relocate to a place that’s either smaller or farther away. Sacrificing size is better, Hsee says, because it’s easier to adjust to a smaller living space than the “painful” daily commute.

4. Choice is bad for good options, good for bad options.

Choice may seem like a perk, but if the options are all positive, having to make a decision may decrease happiness. If you’re treating your parents to a trip and you know they would enjoy the beaches of Hawaii, then buy the tickets; giving them a choice of vacation spots could lead to second-guessing and stress. If both options are negative, though, choice helps: “Even if you can’t give them a real choice, you can give them an illusion of choice,” says Hsee. At his hypothetical business school, students might not be excited about a mandatory business-ethics course, but he has devised a new strategy: divide the course into two sections and give them two different names, like Business Ethics and Corporate Morality. The syllabus remains the same, but the students are happier because they have a say in the process.

5. Wanted is better than needed. Memorable is better than usable.

Cash may be the most economically practical gift, but it doesn’t create the most happiness. People are happiest with something they want but have no justification to buy. If a friend loves old vinyl records but would never purchase expensive ones for himself, then give him a classic Hendrix album instead of cash. A good gift, Hsee says, is one that the recipient can’t eat up, use up, give away, or throw away, at least for a while. Best to give a personalized, lasting gift.

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Interesting Point: Richard Thaler, mentioned above as a source for Hsee, is best know for his widely popular book “Nudge” and for coining the term “choice architecture.” Learn more about this fascinating new area of research in a very funny speech by Richard Thaler for an Authors @ Google event.

Recent Mentions of happier.com Around the Web

Michael Durkheimer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:32:56 +0000

Thanks to everyone who helped us share the story of our launch on 9/23/09. For media questions and interviews, contact Andrew at media@happier.com.

10/8/09 – Monica at a the blog “A Life of Spice” mentioned our site and our meetups in DC, Philly and Portland:

“happier.com is the first set of easy-to-use and engaging online happiness-boosting tools backed by the science of positive psychology. Part of the site is free and that includes their blog. They also have meet ups in various cities.”

10/1/09 – Evan at Wellbeingandhealth.net reviews our site in his article “How To Be Happier“

“This is a great place to find out about Positive Psychology. It is also a great resources you can use to start changing your life so that you are happier. I’m very glad that this site exists; so I encourage you to go check out Happier.com.” – Evan

9/28/09 – Gretchen Rubin at The Happiness Project notes our launch in one of her posts:

“The nice folks at Happier.com have officially launched. Lots of great tools and test there to measure, track, and improve your happiness.”

9/28/09 – Sherry at simplycelebrate.net wrote a great post about winning our “happiest moment” contest and her experience with the site.

“I think about that “Happiest Moment” contest and suddenly I see so clearly that every single day of my life can be filled with happiest moments … I just need to plan them/create them for myself … and then make sure I’m awake and fully present when they happen!” – Sherry

9/24/09 – Deric at Deric Bowds’ Mindblog notes our launch on his site.