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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.

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.

Five Questions To Ask Yourself and Boost Your Mood: happier.com featured in Essence Magazine

Andrew Rosenthal — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:15:15 +0000

What gave me joy today?
Do I really need to take offense?
Is there someone I should forgive?
What are my strong points?
How can I sustain happiness?

These five questions are explored in the September issue of Essence magazine, with guidance provided by happier.com.

Members of the media interested in using happier.com experts or contents in their articles can contact us directly.

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

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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?

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.

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

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.

happier.com launches: a personal trainer for your happiness

happier.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:58:10 +0000

Next week, we are exciting to be moving out of a public beta. Users of happier.com will notice improved exercises, additional content, and an easier-to-use interface.

This press release can be downloaded as a pdf.

September 18, 2009 – Philadelphia, PA – happier.com is a new website launching on September 23, 2009 designed to help people not just be happier but “do happier.” This innovative website provides online tools and exercises for users to make an immediate positive impact on their lives. The website allows users to participate for free by taking 4 validated tests with instant feedback on strengths, optimism, happiness and positivity. More than 100 exclusive videos from the world’s leading happiness researchers and practitioners are also included in this section of the site. Premium users can subscribe for just $5 a month for access to more than a dozen research-backed tools customized to increase happiness, resilience, optimism, engagement, and meaning.

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.

More than a decade of research has shown that everyone can proactively improve their happiness, leading to more fulfilled and productive lives. Happiness in America is at an all-time low, and happier.com was designed to help alleviate this problem.

“Users start feeling happier after just an hour or two on the site, and within weeks, we start to hear phrases like ‘life changing’ and ‘just the solution I was looking for.’ The site, happier.com, offers proven solutions for real improvement,” says Andrew J. Rosenthal, co-founder of happier.com.

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

Recent Mentions of happier.com in the media

happier.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:52:59 +0000

The Examiner covers our launch next week with a reminder that there’s a free webinar on 9/23.

Life Coach NJ Miller describes how she uses happier.com in her writing.

Media Host and Men’s coach Tripp Lanier “highly recommends” happier.com.

Tough Money Love explains how happier.com can help you handle the psychological strain of tough finances.

New York real estate blog curbed.com linked to the happier.com blog because of a post on renting and happiness.

Not Just the Kitchen posted a piece by one of our own team members: Surprising Facts about Happiness.

Did we miss a recent mention of happier.com? Please just leave a note in the comments section.

Interested in learning more? Register for happier.com: a personal trainer for your happiness. Or see our media inquiries page.

Zappos Features happier.com in Video Interview

happier.com — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:13:24 +0000

Yesterday, Andrew sat down with the team at Zappos.com to talk about using happier.com as a personal trainer for your happiness.

Melissa, who blogs for Zappos, chatted with us about the site and our team. You can watch the full video below. Please leave comments on the Zappos blog if you’re a fan! Thanks!