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Join the happier.com Community on Facebook for a Chance to Win

Andrew Rosenthal — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:03:08 +0000

Join the happier.com community on facebook to meet other positive psychology enthusiasts, students, researchers and practitioners. Become a “fan” of happier.com on facebook today, to join our community of happiness enthusiasts and for chances to win special discounts, prizes and opportunities.

happier.com on Facebook

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.

Join happier.com in Portland for a Free Event with Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener

happier.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:40:05 +0000

The last ten years of research have lead to a host of surprising findings about the science of happiness. Meet Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a researcher and instructor known as “The Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” for his work on happiness in far-flung locations. Robert will share some of his most surprising findings in the science of happiness, and he’ll share the best ways to scientifically-improve happiness. Robert is being hosted by happierPortland.com, a meetup group for people interested in positive psychology and the science of happiness. This is the first meeting of happierPortland, which is being held after similar get-togethers in Philadelphia (happierPhilly.com), New York (happierNYC.com) and Washington, DC (happierDC.com).

Robert Biswas-Diener, D. Phil., is Program Director for the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology and a part-time instructor at Portland State University. He is widely known as the “Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” because his research has taken him to such far-flung destinations as Greenland, Kenya and India where he has studied the happiness of often-overlooked groups such as Amish farmers, tribal people and sex workers. Robert’s research focuses on the intricate interplay between money, culture and happiness. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Positive Psychology, the Journal of Happiness Studies, and is the associate editor of Journal of Personality. Robert is co-author of Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth (2008), which won the 2008 PROSE Award.

In addition to his research on well-being Robert is also a thought leader in the application of positive psychological science. Robert is a Certified Mentor Coach and has conducted positive psychology trainings for therapists, coaches, managers and consultants in Iceland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Turkey, South Africa, Israel, India, Canada and the United States. He is author of the book Positive Psychology Coaching (2007) and the forthcoming Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching (2010)

Positive Psychology practitioners will particularly enjoy this opportunity to network, share best-practices, and learn from one of the leaders in the field. And your clients are welcome to attend this free event — in other cities, coaches and consultants have suggested clients attend these meetups, to great success.

Multnomah County Central Library
U.S. Bank Room (Ground Floor)
801 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97205

Sunday, 11/22, 3-4:30pm
No charge.
View happierPortland.com November Meetup in a larger map

RSVP required, at http://happierPortland.com
Questions? Contact the happierPortland host, Andrew Rosenthal: andrew.rosenthal@happier.com; 215.629.9210 x 3.

Happier JoinMe | Create Your Badge

Click here to check out
The happierPortland – The Portland Happiness Club Meetup!

Give the Gift that is Guaranteed to Get a Smile — happier.com gift certificates

happier.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:02 +0000

happier.com launches gift certificates!

November 11, 2009 – Philadelphia, PA – happier.com, a personal trainer for your happiness, now offers gift certificates. With the holidays fast-approaching, this gift could change even Scrooge’s mood! Gift certificates provide the recipient with unlimited use of the psychological tests and happiness-boosting tools available at happier.com. Gift certificates are available for $14.99 for three months; $24.99 for six months; and $99.99 for unlimited lifetime use, at www.happier.com/giftCertificate.htm.

Gift certificate recipients have access to more than a dozen research-backed tools customized to increase happiness, resilience, optimism, engagement, and meaning through the science of positive psychology. After responding to a simple online questionnaire, the customer begins a happiness-boosting plan with specific activities, each day, designed to scientifically boost happiness and reduce stress and anxiety.

Gift certificate recipients can also access the happier.com blog at http://blog.happier.com with innovative ideas and tips from the experts on how happiness applies to all aspects of life. A recent post included suggestions on how to increase happiness in the workplace: Make a place smell like lemons; the scent of lemon improves mental performance. Diffuse this odor into a space for creative thought, or serve lemonade, lemon drops, or lemon frosted sponge cake. happier.com also offers more than 100 exclusive videos from the world’s leading happiness researchers and practitioners.

Give the gift that can actually lift one’s spirits after just a few minutes of use. And decades of research show that happier people are less likely to get colds, are less likely to feel down as the days get shorter, and are likely to make those around them happy.

About happier.com

Doug Hensch and Andrew J. Rosenthal co-founded happier.com to inspire people to be happier and more resilient based on the field of positive psychology. They worked closely with Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D, an exclusive consultant for happier.com, who is the “father of positive psychology” and a noted professor from the University of Pennsylvania.

happier.com is the first set of easy-to-use and engaging online happiness-boosting tools backed by the science of positive psychology. To date, the online tools, videos, blog and iPhone application have been used by more than 40,000 beta-testers.

For media inquiries or for additional information please contact Christa Guidi, Cashman & Associates at 215.627.1060 or cguidi@cashmanandassociates.com.

happierNYC.com meetup on November 12 — Calling All NYC Positive Psychology Enthusiasts

happier.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:51:47 +0000

(From L-R) Doug Hensch, co-founder; Martin Seligman, Exclusive Consultant; Andrew Rosenthal, co-founder

Co-founders Andrew and Doug are going to be there talking about how to use the tools on happier.com! Learn how to use Active Constructive Responding to improve your relationships and Three Good Things to bring gratitude into your life and sleep better every night! If you are a happiness enthusiast anywhere near New York City, we would love to see you there! It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with more people who want to learn about the science of happiness.

The event is being hosted by Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP, a member of the happier.com Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory.

Location:

Ripley Griers

520 8th Ave
16th Floor – Room 16Q
New York, NY 10018
212-799-5433

Date and Time: November 12 @ 7pm

We hope to see you all there!

RSVP today to attend this free event.

Here’s the presentation I gave

happier.com: a personal trainer for your happiness

View more presentations from happier.com.

Recent Mentions of happier.com in the News

happier.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:42:36 +0000

10/3/09 – Mary Jones of The Mary Jones Show talked with happier’s Andrew Rosenthal about tips for measuring your happiness and learning more about strengths..

Here you can listen to the interview (9:15) using the player, below.

Mary has developed her Happiness Meter, which we wanted to share with you:

At any point during your day, or at many points during your day, ask yourself, “How happy am I feeling right now?” Don’t worry about how happy you were yesterday or how you hope to feel tomorrow, but right now.

On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest, assign a number to your level of happiness at the moment.

1: Despondent (A black cloud)

2: Stressed/frazzled (Your hair standing)

3: Content (A comfy chair)

4: Pretty darn happy! (Smiley face)

5: Ecstatic (You doing a cartwheel)

If you peg yourself at a 2, for example, have an arsenal of things that you can instantly do, anywhere, that will raise your number to a 3. You can positively raise your Happiness Meter number, at any time (we seem to forget that we have control over a lot of this, don’t we?).

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10/12/9 – The folks at AlleyDog .com, a blog search engine, just recognized us as a Top Psych blog on the web. Check us out here.

“I’m pleased to let you know that you blog was selected as on of the very best and is included on Top Psych.” -Dr. Doug Kaufman, AlleyDog.com

________________

10/14/09 – Over at Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop page, Catherine Fass, wrote about our blog post on how physical spaces can influence creativity.

“It’s been proven that the physical space you’re in influences the space you’re in psychologically. And recently, scientists have discovered that the workspace environment you’re in can influence creativity levels as well. Happier.com has listed ten tips to help you set the scene for creativity.”

Catherine can be found on twitter as well @catherinefaas

Guy Kawasaki tweeted about our blog post to his followers. Guy is an original employee of Apple, most recently the author of Reality Check, and can be found on twitter @guykawasaki

And please check us out on the Positive Psychology page on Alltop

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10/15/09 – Susan King over at His and Hers Depression Blog wrote a about her experience with happier.com

“I recently came across a new website with a different twist on depression. It’s called happier. Instead of focusing on the things that make us depressed and trying to overcome those negative feelings, this site focuses on doing things that make you happier…. Happier is something most of us would love to be so I would suggest having a look at this new website. I sure liked what I saw!”

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10/16/09 – The folks at venture beat selected us as runners up for their contest to win a spot to attend and showcase our technology at the Web 2.0 Summit After the Dark party in San Francisco. We would have loved to win but are also happy to have been recognized.

Are you a member of the media interested in getting in learning more about happier.com? Email us or learn more online.

Get Real: Positive Psychology Is NOT Crippling America – Responding to "Bright-Sided"

Andrew Rosenthal — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:08:57 +0000

We’ve been reading lots about the book coming out by Barbara Ehrenreich: Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. We were invited to respond to an article about Ehrenreich following her talk at the University of Pennsylvania. The original guest column is online, and included below, with text linked out to original sources where appropriate.

Comments? Questions? Leave a note in the comments section and let us know.

Guest Column | A personal trainer for your happiness

Learning and practicing optimism can literally brighten your future

By Andrew Rosenthal and Doug Hensch

Last week, The Daily Pennsylvanian asked “Does Positivity Cripple the U.S.?” after hearing Barbara Ehrenreich speak in College Hall about her new book, Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion Of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. According to reports, her talk was an argument against positive thinking and smiles. Seriously.

Although we did not attend the talk or review a pre-released copy of the book, a few things about Ehrenreich are clear. According to the DP and The New York Times, she finds herself “infuriated” by teddy bears and frustrated by upbeat T-shirts. Positivity and optimism are “the strongest sources of negativity in our society” she claims — and optimism is “just too damn much work” to be a worthwhile pursuit. However, we resist the urge to dismiss Ehernreich outright as a grump.

Ehrenreich is critical of “bogus” and “false” and “unsullied” optimism. Fine. But such specific modifiers mean that there must be a “genuine,” “real” and “authentic” optimism out there — something imperfect but grounded in reality. In fact, realistic optimism is the bedrock of positive psychology — the scientific study of well-being. When carefully defined, optimism is about seeing opportunity in challenge, identifying the limitations of bad events and finding hope in the most dire of times. Optimism is what got Barack Obama elected.

In practice, what is the difference between optimism and pessimism? A pessimist examines a situation and can identify only the most dire possible outcomes. Case in point: Ask a good attorney to review a contract, and she will point out everything that might possibly harm you in its execution. Planning for the worst situation is a good thing when it comes to attorneys and airline pilots. But artists and authors and athletes flourish as optimists, when they take a chance and try to do better, and more, than their predecessors.

This isn’t just a matter of semantics — it’s science. Research started decades ago shows that Penn students who are optimists perform better in school and exhibit fewer signs of anxiety and depression than those who are pessimists. Today, every freshman in Wharton is required to complete the PennSTART program to learn how to enhance optimism skills through resilience training. In last week’s DP, columnist Maya Brandon called for PennSTART to become available to students in all schools.

In her talk, Ehrenreich reportedly railed against smiling. But research shows that people who exhibit genuine smiles in a high-school yearbook picture are less-likely to be divorced in their mid-50’s. And a happy physician reaches a faster, more accurate diagnosis of a difficult liver condition. Positivity levels were the difference between life and death for the Sisters of Notre Dame. Nuns who expressed the most positivity throughout life lived an average of 6.9 years longer than those who expressed the least.

But some of the most striking research shows that emotions of the heart, like hope and optimism are good … for the heart. Pessimistic men who suffered heart attacks were 86 percent more likely to die of another heart attack within 10 years. Only 33 percent of the most optimistic patients suffered the same fate. Put more bluntly, being a pessimist has the same effect on heart health as smoking about three packs of cigarettes a week. These findings are nothing to sneeze at — unless, of course, you’ve got a cold. If so, your roommate should hope he is an optimist — optimists have a significantly reduced chance of catching a cold, compared to pessimists.

Authentic happiness and realistic optimism have been rigorously studied around the world. Some of the best work comes from Penn’s own Martin Seligman, Ph.D., the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology. Seligman and his colleagues have developed tests to let you measure your own optimism and happiness. The tests are available for free, at happier.com. Is your glass half empty, or half full?

Why Do Some People Think That Positivity Is Crippling The U.S? Our Response

Andrew Rosenthal — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:00:52 +0000

Why would someone suggest that positivity is crippling the U.S.? Does anyone besides Stephen Colbert really think happiness is a threat? Today’s Daily Pennsylvanian ran an article, “Does Positivity Cripple the U.S.?” detailing a talk given at the University of Pennsylvania by Barbara Ehrenreich about her forthcoming book Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.

The article reports:

According to Ehrenreich, our society’s bombardment with constant pressure to “put a smile on” and a belief that “life is good” – the name of a company with which she expressed particular frustration – emerge as the strongest sources of negativity in our society.

At happier.com, we’re pretty sure that positivity is not the “strongest source of negativity” in society. In fact, Barbara Fredrickson, one of the happier.com experts, wrote the book on the subject: Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive. One of her key findings is, essentially: don’t fake your positivity. Genuine, realistic optimism and positivity is a source of social good.
Here’s our response to the article:

In today’s world, positivity provides an easy target. It’s simple to be reactionary when the economy is stumbling and people are without healthcare, and you see a “life is good” shirt. But the reality is, responsible critics separate out realistic optimism from “pollyana hapiness” or blind optimism.

The difference isn’t just semantics — it’s science. Decades of research show that realistic optimism is beneficial for everyone from college students to cancer survivors. Optimism and positivity based in reality helps prevent depression and improve academic performance and it helps patients heal faster. Optimists have 1/4th the morbidity rate from heart disease that pessimists have. And the best research in this field has been conducted at Penn over the last 30 years. Just this year, the University made headlines with its multi-million dollar project to improve resilience and optimism in the Army. The data show that it’s foolish to dismiss positivity out-right. And if the Army is willing to get behind it, we ought to give the science of happiness the respect it’s due.

-Andrew Rosenthal
co-founder, happier.com

Live in Philly? All Positive Psychology Enthusiasts Invited to Join HappierPhilly

Andrew Rosenthal — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:09:22 +0000

Happier Philly – Happiness Group Philadelphia

I started this group to bring together happiness enthusiasts in Philadelphia. Do you like positive psychology? Are you a coach or consultant? A researcher? Or someone interested in the science of happiness?

After the 1,500+ person positive psychology meeting in Philadelphia, I realized that there’s significant interest in getting together to discuss, share, and learn more. We will be learning from the 400+ person Happiness Club NY and other successful groups.

Join happierPhilly today!

Here are pictures from our last meetup

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

happier.com in the News — Launch Day Coverage

happier.com — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:51:05 +0000

On September 23, 2009, we’ve launched happier.com to the public.

Our full social media release is online.

Here’s a roundup of press mentions as of this afternoon:

Tracy Allerton, at The Examiner, covered the launch of happier.com with an article

Happier-dot-com: New website devoted to personal happiness and well-being:

Today (Sept. 23) marks the official launch of a new website called happier.com that aims to — well, what it says: Help people become happier in their lives!….

She also conducted an interview with co-founder Andrew Rosenthal, asking 10 questions about the development of happier.com.

And Tracy posed the same 10 questions to co-founder Doug Hensch.

Over at The Mouse Trap, Sandy Gautam reviews happier.com and and the video library. He tweets as @SandyGautam.

Lisa Hendey, of Positivity at Home, posted a notice of our launch.

And Jerry at Salvo Magazine shared the news with his readers.

Prana Journal wrote: “I recommend that anyone with an interest should visit Happier.com, an initiative to take good mental practices to the masses. Seligman and his crew have developed a series of easy to follow exercises and routines that help you shift your mind set….”

Heather Hanie from the Orlando Examiner also wrote about the launch, asking readers: So what do you think? Is this website a good idea? Would you use this website or do you prefer to seek the help of a professional in person? Would you use this website in combination with a “coach, therapist, trainer or consultant?”

Dani at PositivelyPresent posted one of the first thorough reviews of happier.com, writing:

When I first started reading up on positive psychology (and I’m still learning more about it every day), I quickly found out that Seligman was the go-to guy and the fact that he’s assisted with this site is a pretty sure sign that you’ll find just what you need to help create a happier you….That’s the beauty of happier.com — it covers everything you might ever want to know about happiness and it helps you in so many ways to improve upon your own happiness.

Hope Lounge writes:

The entire site is full of helpful tips, tests, surveys, and challenges to their members to become happier people. It helps you build on your strengths, and build up your weaknesses.

Happier.com, if used properly, can be a life changing tool. I would like to recommend it to all of you.

Who uses happier.com? Sherry – Winner of The Happiest Moment Contest

happier.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:39:34 +0000

The winner, with her prize

A few months ago, fans of happier.com on Facebook participated in the Your Happiest Moment Contest. After selecting finalists, the entire happier.com community voted on a winner. And happier.com user Sherrry won, for her picture, below.

Here's the picture which won the contest!

We asked Sherry what she thought of the site, and this is what she said:

I’m thrilled to be the winner of happier.com’s “Happiest Moment” contest. The winning photo was snapped at a moment when my son was full of exhilaration, playing frisbee with me on the beach while my beau was taking a surfing lesson. It was one of those moments in which “my cup runneth over” with joy and gratitude. So isn’t it great that I now have four beautiful mugs to remind me how FULL my cup of happiness and gratefulness can be every day of my life?!!!

I’ve been following happier.com on facebook for months and just signed up as a member of their new website. I love the wide variety of daily tips, tools, and tests that happier.com offers. But what I love most is being connected to a community of like-minded people who want to bring more joy and vitality into their lives. I know in my heart that it is possible to be happier and to spread that good feeling to everyone I meet; happier.com helps me do this — in so many ways. Thanks for helping so many people experience that “cup runneth over” feeling of delight!

Sherry Richert Belul

Author, Simply Celebrate: 101 Ways to Turn Ordinary Days into an Extraordinary Life