Happier.com

September 30th, 2009 by Andrew Rosenthal

Optimism Can Be the Difference Between Life and Death

Dr. Michael Evans of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto writes in The Globe and Mail that Optimism May Help Ward Off Disease.  He cites a recent study from Dr. Hilary Tindle et al in Circulation (the journal of the American Hearth Association) that followed 97,000 women and found that optimism is predictive of less heart disease.

Evans tells the story of a patient:

Marie was 64 when she contracted a rare form of cancer in the bile duct. Her prognosis was poor. We tried many interventions and had some success but, alas, only in the short term.

Marie was a teacher and had researched a new therapy based in, of course, California. It seemed to be a hybrid of unproven but promising new medical treatments with some alternative treatments added to the mix.

She had the money and an incredible, even refreshing, faith in this therapeutic cocktail, and wanted to try it while she was still relatively healthy. Tickets were bought and I wished her bonne chance .

She received a call the day before she was to leave to say there’d been a mistake, and she didn’t qualify for their program. Marie died the following week.

While the news about the health impact of optimism isn’t new, it’s a good reminder about the importance of becoming more optimistic.

We recently asked happier.con consultant Dr. Acacia Parks-Sheiner to define optimism from a scientific perspective:  “The reason that we often talk in the research about optimism being more important is that… if you’re optimistic, you’re actually going to try, and you make it more likely that what you want to happen will [occur].”

We also asked Martin Seligman, the author of “Learned Optimism” to give an overview of the findings on optimism and physical health.  The research shows that those who are optimistic have “much better” cardiovascular health than pessimists, with 1/4 the rate of cardiac deaths as the rest of the population.

Want to see optimism in practice?  Then check out this great video from the people at The Foundation for a Better Life.

This video spot is from The Foundation For a Better Life.

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.

September 18th, 2009 by Martin Seligman

Video from Martin Seligman: Positive Psychology is What Every Human Being Can Say Yes To

More videos from happier.com expert Dr. Martin Seligman can be viewed in our video section.

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.

September 4th, 2009 by happier.com

Over 100 Videos from the Happiness Experts – Free on happier.com

happier.com now offers more than 100 videos from the happiness experts.  Videos are available for free — just complete the 2-step registration process.

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The videos feature Martin Seligman, Todd Kashdan, Acacia Parks, Barbara Fredrickson and other happier.com experts and contributors.

Videos are grouped into categories including education, exercises, gratitude, happienss, happier.com, optimism, positive psychology, relationships, resilience, strengths and tests.

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.

September 2nd, 2009 by happier.com

Zappos Features happier.com in Video Interview

zappos_logo

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!

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.

July 29th, 2009 by Andrew Rosenthal

Expert Wednesday: A new video from Barbara Fredrickson – What Are the Benefits of Positive Emotions?

Check out this exclusive video from Professor Barbara Fredrickson, as she answers questions from happier.com users about her area of expertise: positive emotions.

A full library of videos is available to users of happier.com.  Most require a free registration but some are available directly on this page.

happier.com: ask an expet: Barbara Fredrickson describes positive emotions from happier.com on Vimeo.

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.

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