Four Practices for Happiness at Work and Play
Some people are born optimists, the rest of us have to work at it.
When I was 22 and waiting for a friend in a local bar, an acquaintance shattered my ego and I’ve been the better for it ever since. His words, and my reaction to them, invited me on a journey of self-observation where I discovered I could abandon negative thought patterns and embrace new, joyful ones.
The research on positive mindset as a factor in health outcomes, relationships and work performance consistently shows positive people are healthier, have better relationships, and enjoy more success at work both as individuals and teams. In many of the experiments, researchers teach participants how to practice positivity through specific actions or behaviors. For the 20 years (and counting) since that day in the bar, I’ve deliberately chosen to practice a positive mindset. Some people are born optimists. For the rest of us, we have to work at it.
These four practices are like my mental fitness routine to maintain a positive mindset. Let’s start by waking up.
1. Explore the glitch in the matrix
If you’ve seen the 1999 movie The Matrix, you probably remember the scene when Neo (Keanu Reeves) remarks to his compatriots that he’d just experienced déjà vu. His new friends let him in…
