Facts and Statistics on How Happiness Is Contagious

Facts and Statistics on How Happiness Is Contagious

Facts and Statistics on How Happiness Is Contagious

We found that happiness can spread like a virus through social networks. In fact, if your friends’ friends’ friend becomes happy, it significantly increases the chance that you’ll be happy.

–Dr. James Fowler, in “Happiness Is… – MSNBC.”

4 Facts & Stats on How Happiness Is Contagious

A study by two professors from Harvard and UCSD, Dr. Nicholas Christakis and Dr. James Fowler, found that when a person becomes happy:

  • Next door neighbors have a 34% increased chance of becoming happy.
  • A friend living within one mile has a 25% increased chance of becoming happy.
  • Siblings have a 14% increased chance of becoming happy.
  • A spouse has an 8% change of becoming happy.

 

More on the Happiness Contagion Study…

Happiness isn’t a solitary experience; it’s dependent on others. Harvard researchers followed 4,739 people for 20 years, measuring how social networks, siblings, friends and neighbors are affected by the happiness of others.

The study controlled factors of age, gender, education and occupation.

Researchers found that close physical proximity is essential for happiness to spread. A happy friend who lives within a half-mile makes you 42% more likely to be happy yourself. If that same friend lives two miles away, the impact drops to 22%. Happy siblings make you 14% more likely to be happy, but only if they live within a mile. Happy spouses provide an 8% boost, if they live under the same roof.

Previous research has shown that people who are happy have healthier hearts, they have lower levels of stress hormones, and they live longer.

–Dr. James Fowler, in “Happiness Is… – MSNBC.”

Text in this post is excerpted from the videos shown above.
Image: "true happiness" by Anton Kudris.

7 Quotes on Well-Being and Happiness to Inspire Positivity, Altruism and Kindness in Social Interactions

7 Quotes on Well-Being and Happiness to Inspire Positivity, Altruism and Kindness in Social Interactions

7 Quotes on Well-Being and Happiness to Inspire Positivity, Altruism and Kindness in Social Interactions

The quotes in this post are all by Martin Seligman, from the lecture “Ideas at the House: Martin Seligman – Well-Being and Happiness,” which can be viewed at the bottom of this post.

 

1) Traditional Psychotherapy Doesn’t Deal with Achieving Happiness, but with Reducing Suffering

Freud and Schopenhauer told us the best we could ever do in life was not to be miserable; that the object of human progress, the object of psychotherapy was to reduce suffering to zero. I’m going to argue today that that’s empirically false, it’s morally insidious, and it’s politically a dead end; that there’s much more to life than zero.

 

2) 30 Years Ago There Was No Way to Measure Happiness. Today There Is

30 years ago, the word “happiness” was a tremendously vague word. It meant very many different things to different people, and it could not be measured. But now, we have good measures of the elements of well-being.

 

3) There Is Higher Chance of Making Less Happy People Happier, then Already Happy People Even Happier

Technically, we call these states “positive affectivity” and they are bell shaped. That means, right now, 50% of the people in the world are not cheerful and merry. They are not smiling. It is highly genetic. It is about 50% heritable and most importantly, the best we can to with smiling, being merry, being cheerful, is to raise it by about 5-15%.

In fact, I spent most of my life working on misery and people would ask me: why didn’t I work on happiness? The reason I didn’t, there was a very influential study in the mid-1970s by Phil Brickman in which he found 14 people who had won the lottery and he was able to track their happiness.

It turned out you get very happy when you win the lottery and it lasts for about three months. And then three months later you’re back to where you were, back to your curmudgeonly self. It turns out you can’t change a curmudgeon into a giggler, but you can get those of us who are in the lower 50% of positive affectivity to live at the upper part of our envelope.

 

4) In Corporations: 2.9 Positive Words to Every 1 Negative Word = More Success

Barbara Fredrickson and Marcel Losada go into corporations, 60 American corporations, and they write, they record every word that’s said. And they classify the words into positive and negative words and then they relate this to how the corporation is doing economically. So, it turns out, there is a ratio of positive to negative words said that correlates with economic status of corporations. So:

  • If your ratio is 2.9:1 or greater positive words to negative words, then it turns out that your corporation is making a lot of money; it’s flourishing.
  • If it’s between 2.9: 1 and 1:1, it’s going along.
  • If it’s 1:1, or lower, the corporation’s going bankrupt.

 

5) In Marriage: 5 Positive Words or Lower to Every 1 Negative Word = Likely Chance of Divorce

John and Julie Gottman, two of the leading marital therapists in the world, locked couples in an apartment for a weekend. They listened to every word that was said and computed the ratio of positive words to negative words, and predicted divorce.

  • If your ratio is below 5:1, it predicts divorce: five positive things to every negative thing.

 

6) Five Strengths that Predict Increases in Well-Being

One month we said: “Has something awful happened to you?” on the website AuthenticHappiness.org. Within a couple of weeks, 1700 people had answered saying:

One or more of the worst 15 things that can happen to a human being had happened to them. We measured their well-being and their strengths.

Our findings were very surprising:

  • First, we found that people who had one awful event, were stronger and had better well-being than people to whom none of these things had happened. These are events like rape, held captive, tortured, potentially lethal disease, and the like; death of a child; death of a spouse.
  • Then we found people who had two of these events were stronger than people who had one, and people who had three.

Now, remember these people survived. They’re on our website. They’ve come to it with- stronger than people who had two. We asked the question then, this is an example of what Nietzsche told us: “If it doesn’t kill us, it makes us stronger.” It seems to be true.

Then, we asked a question: “What strengths predicted the people who would grow?”

And here are the five strengths:

  • Religiousness
  • Gratitude
  • Kindness
  • Hope
  • Bravery

…were the predictors of who would show the most increases in well-being.

 

7) Altruism and Philanthropy Bring Longer Lasting Pleasure

We have an exercise that we have young people do. It’s the distinction between pleasure and philanthropy.

I assign my students to do something fun next week, and to do something philanthropic, altruistic. And then, to write up what happens. And what happens, I’ll just tell you emblematically, one of my students, ah, when you do something fun like shopping, going to the movies, hanging out with your friends, it has a square wave offset. That is, when it’s done, it’s done.

When you do something altruistic, something else happens.

For one of my students, her 9-year-old nephew called her on the phone during this assignment. It was her mid-term week, and she needed to tutor him. She’d spent two hours tutoring him in fractions and she said:

“After that, the whole day went better. I was mellow. I could listen to people. People liked me more.”

Then, one of my business students said:

“I’m in the business school because I want to make a lot of money. And, I want to make a lot of money. It’s reasonable. Money brings happiness, it brings security, it brings contentment, it brings control, but I was astonished to find out that I was happier helping another person than I was shopping.”

This, it turns out, to be a human regularity; important to know that. It’s the way we’re built.

10 Quotes by Rodrigue Tremblay on How to Create a Better Global Civilization

10 Quotes by Rodrigue Tremblay on How to Build a Better Global Civilization

10 Quotes by Rodrigue Tremblay on How to Build a Better Global Civilization

Global Problems Call The Need For A Worldwide Human Family

With the current globalization of our problems, we need to extend our circle of empathy and view humanity as a worldwide extended human family. As long as we refrain from facing that challenge, divisiveness and unsolvable conflicts will persist.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “Rodrigue Tremblay C.V. on The Code for Global Ethics

 

The Need To Establish A Higher Threshold Of Human Morality

[In a more universal civilization], first and foremost, the scope of human empathy would be more universal and more comprehensive, and would not merely apply to some chosen people, to members of a particular religion or to persons belonging to a particular civilization. In practice, this would require that we establish a higher threshold of human morality, beyond the traditional norm of the Golden Rule (“Treat others as you would have others treat you.”) It would require that we adopt what I call a Super Golden Rule of humanist morality that incorporates the humanist rule of empathy: “Not only do to others as you would have them do to you, but also, do to others what you would wish to be done to you, if you were in their place.” — Of course, the corollary also follows: “Don’t do to others what you would not like to be done to you, if you were in their place.”

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

Empathy, Tolerance & Sharing

Three interrelated moral imperatives that have always been sound moral values, but which I feel will become increasingly required for humanity to go forward and survive. And I refer to: – more human EMPATHY, – more interpersonal TOLERANCE, and – more interpersonal SHARING (altruism and generosity) as a foundation for a more harmonious, for a freer and for a more prosperous world.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

The Empathy Principle

According to the empathy principle, one must aim at treating others as if one were in their place, and not necessarily expecting reciprocity as is the case in the traditional Golden rule of morality that one finds in virtually all moral systems (“Do to others as you would have them do to you”).

 

The empathy principle can thus be framed this way: “Do to others what you would wish to be done to you, if you were in their place.”

 

That is why I say that empathy can be the solid foundation of a more civilized global society based on the solidarity of all human beings. It is the awareness that other people can suffer, be happy and flourish just as one does, and that one should treat others accordingly.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

We Must Aim To Create The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number Of People

As an economist but also as a humanist, I believe that collectively, we must aim at creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people, not the maximizing of purely selfish personal financial objectives.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

Happiness Is More Than Money & Power

Many economists, and I am one of them, believe along with British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) that the pursuit of money does not necessarily lead to personal happiness and to general well-being. Happiness is more than money and power.

 

Indeed, many studies have shown that while it is true that well-being tends to rise with income, it also tends to level off after reaching a certain level. Surveys show, for example, that many people often prefer to earn less rather than be deprived of sleep time, or rather than commute long distances, or rather than living away from friends. This is a reflection of the notion that economics and money are not everything in making people happy and satisfied. There are other values in the moral scale of things, and that’s what I would like to emphasize.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

Living & Surviving On The Same Small Planet

This Super Golden Rule of human morality could indirectly encompass the idea of moral reciprocity, but it goes much further towards genuine altruism, compassion and human empathy. It truly defines our moral obligations to others in positive terms about what should be done—not in negative terms with the implied fear of retaliation for bad behavior (“Don’t do to others what you would not like to be done to you, because they may do it to you if you mistreat them”).

 

I think that such an approach to morality is likely to impose itself in the future as human beings realize more and more that they are all living on the same small Planet, and that if they want to survive collectively (and not repeat the disastrous experience of the dinosaurs who became extinct some 65 million years ago, after roaming the Earth for close to 200 million years).

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

Humanity Is Globally Interconnected, But In A Competitive Way

As I see it, the world today faces a fundamental moral dilemma.

 

—On the one hand, we live in an environment in which technology and scientific progress—as we would expect—have made survival somewhat easier for many populations.

 

—On the other hand, economically, this is done increasingly in a competitive global context, and this could have potentially perverse effects on our tendency to feel empathy for others.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

The Central Question: Education

The central question is: Besides teaching science and general knowledge, can we also teach empathy, compassion and civility, especially to the young?

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

 

Simple But Revolutionary Idea: We Live On The Same Planet & We Should Attempt To Survive On This Planet As Members Of The Same Human Race

To reach that new level of global ethics, we may need nothing less than a moral revolution in our thinking, a new moral norm, a global moral revolution, to fit the modern problems we are facing today and in the future. Such a moral revolution may even be needed for our own biological survival as a species.

 

In general terms, let me say that I firmly believe that we should adopt the simple but somewhat revolutionary idea that we are living on the same small planet and that we should attempt to survive on this planet as members of the same human race.

–Rodrigue Tremblay, in “For a Better Global Civilization

31 Quotes by Scientists and Thinkers on Humanity’s Interdependence and Today’s Challenges

31 Quotes by Scientists and Thinkers on Humanity's Interdependence and Today's Challenges

31 Quotes by Scientists and Thinkers on Humanity's Interdependence and Today's Challenges

We are, first of all, not solitary creatures and second of all, we are deeply embedded in the lives of others. It’s very easy to forget that and to engage in an atomistic fallacy — where we think that all we have to do is study the individual components of a system in order to understand the system. That’s clearly not the case when it comes to social systems.

–Nicholas Christakis, in “Q&A with Nicholas Christakis: Our modern, connected lives

If a few nations step forward and begin changing the narrative of ‘us and them’ to ‘everyone,’ we will see a new dawn. If a few nations begin actually making operational a verification system we can all depend upon and push to bring all into such a system, we will all benefit.

–Jonathan Granoff, in “A Good Framework for a Good Future

A social network is a kind of human superorganism, with an anatomy and a physiology — a structure and a function — of its own. Our local contributions to the human social network have global consequences that touch the lives of thousands every day and help us to achieve much more than the building of towers and the destruction of walls.

–James Fowler, in “Social Network Guru

Many problems that challenge us today can be traced back to a profound tension between what is good and desirable for society as a whole and what is good and desirable for an individual. That conflict can be found in global problems such as climate change, pollution, resource depletion, poverty, hunger, and overpopulation.

–Martin Nowak, in “SuperCooperators: Altruism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed

We are beginning to see the entire universe as a holographically interlinked network of energy and information, organically whole and self referential at all scales of its existence. We, and all things in the universe, are non-locally connected with each other and with all other things in ways that are unfettered by the hitherto known limitations of space and time.

–Ervin László and Jude Currivan, in “CosMos: A Co-creator’s Guide to the Whole World

If humans were to model the lifestyle displayed by healthy community of cells, our societies and our planet would be more peaceful and vital.

–Bruce Lipton, in “The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology

If ordinary people really knew that consciousness and not matter is the link that connects us with each other and the world, then their views about war and peace, environmental pollution, social justice, religous values, and all other human endeavors would change radically.

–Amit Goswami, in “The Self-Aware Universe

The idea of the universe as an interconnected whole is not new; for millennia it’s been one of the core assumptions of Eastern philosophies. What is new is that Western science is slowly beginning to realize that some elements of that ancient lore might be correct.

–Dean Radin, in “Entangled Minds

Collaboration is vital to sustain what we call profound or really deep change, because without it, organizations are just overwhelmed by the forces of the status quo.

–Peter Senge, in “The Fifth Dimension: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

It is indeed a paradox that so many from what are considered developing countries wish to come to the West, where we have an epidemic of depression, isolation, and loneliness, while the U.S. alone consumes 25 percent of the world’s resources. However, it is often these “third-world” cultures that offer some of the most profound wisdom and insights that have been garnered over thousands of years, while our own history spans a few hundred years.

–James Doty, in “The Science of Compassion

The human brain now holds the key to our future. We have to recall the image of the planet from outer space: a single entity in which air, water, and continents are interconnected. That is our home.

–David Suzuki, cited in Pauline Vetuna, “A Force of Nature: David Suzuki

We are (most of us) embedded in an exceedingly complex network of social relationships, many of which are vital to our well-being. Every day we confront issues relating to the needs and wants of others and must continually make accommodations.  And in addressing these conflicting interests, the operative norm is – or should be – fairness, a balancing of the interests and needs of other parties, other ‘stakeholders.’

–Peter Corning, in “What’s the Matter with Libertarianism?

The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realise that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent.

–Fritjof Capra, cited in Michael Jackson, “Systems Approaches to Management,” p. 5

Social change will only come about through a process of education, that education is not limited to the classroom or to institutions of higher education, and that each of us, as an individual, has a responsibility to serve as an educator.

–Daniel Chodorkoff, in “Education for Social Change

School performance, public health, crime rates, clinical depression, tax compliance, philanthropy, race relations, community development, census returns, teen suicide, economic productivity, campaign finance, even simple human happiness — all are demonstrably affected by how (and whether) we connect with our family and friends and neighbours and co-workers.

–Robert Putnam, in “Robert Putnam, Social Capital and Civic Community

Harmony is the deepest factor for the universal peace. But it will be effective o­nly if people will know how to achieve and develop social harmony.

–Ernesto Kahan, in “Spirituality, Harmony, Poetry and Medicine

The planetary phase of history has begun, but the future shape of global society remains profoundly uncertain. Though perhaps improbable, a shift toward a planetary civilization of enriched lives, human solidarity, and environmental sustainability is still possible.

–Paul D. Raskin, in “The Great Transition

Perhaps we humans are cosmic dwarfs; perhaps we are molecular giants. But there is no denying our mid-scale complexity. We humans live neither at the range of the infinitely small, nor at that of the infinitely large, but we might well live at the range of the infinitely complex. We live at the range of the most caring; we ourselves might embody the most capacity for caring.

–Holmes Rolston, in “Care on Earth: Generating Informed Concern

There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality.

–Werner Heisenberg, in “The Part and the Whole

What is needed is the intelligent management of Earth’s resources. If we really wish to put an end to our ongoing international and social problems, we must eventually declare Earth and all of its resources as the common heritage of all the world’s people.

–Jacque Fresco, in “Jacque Fresco on the Future

Human beings are ’emotional amoral egoists,’ driven above all by emotional self-interest. All of our thoughts, beliefs and motivations are neurochemically mediated, some predetermined for survival, others alterable.

–Nayef Al-Rodhan, in “Emotional Amoral Egoism: A Neurophilosophical Theory of Human Nature and Its Universal Security Implications

Until we begin to see each other as ourselves, nothing will change. We are one planet.

–Peter Joseph, in “Where Are We Going?

Flourishing goes beyond happiness, or satisfaction with life. True, people who flourish are happy. But that’s not the half of it. Beyond feeling good, they’re also doing good—adding value to the world.

–Barbara Fredrickson, in “Review of Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson

Especially now when views are becoming more polarized, we must work to understand each other across political, religious and national boundaries.

–Jane Goodall, in “And if we dare…

Human rights without responsibility, without a sense of decency, a sense of compassion, is not good enough for a society to flourish… We need to broaden our scope from the legalistic language to the language of the heart.

–Tu Weiming, in “TU Weiming in Vienna: Rise, Tianxia, rise!

We must see ourselves in community with all other people at local, national and global levels. While this may seem superficially easy, it is actually not. Western culture, now globally dominant, has systematically trained us to think and act as though we are separate individuals, often in competition with each other for scarce resources of one sort or another, primarily money, which has be-come the perceived means to all we want and need in life.

–Elisabet Sahtouris, in “The Biology of Globalization

We [must] all acknowledge our role as global citizens, and to fully step forward into that role of global citizenship. We must recognize our interconnectedness and to know that we are all actors on the world stage carrying great responsibilities. Each person has an impact upon the whole. There is no actor in the world who acts in isolation.

–Audrey Kitagawa, in “Practical Spirituality

As we enter the 21st Century it is clear that we have entered an unprecedented global age in which our diverse cultures, religions, philosophies, worldviews and perspectives encounter one another in the marketplace of our global village. It is now clear that our future sustainability on this planet calls for radical advances in our rational and human capacities to negotiate the powerful forces between worlds as the human family moves towards a sustainable global civilization.

–Ashok Gangadean, in “Meditations

The whole system is under tremendous strain. Although the increasing pace of change is essential for developing new solutions, it is also pushing society to its limits. In global structures, it all comes to a head in the form of sudden crises. This leads to tipping point situations in which the seemingly impossible becomes possible.

–Franz Josef Radermacher, in “Interview with Franz Josef Radermacher

Much of modern life is based upon a false logic, a logic that assumes that happiness and well-being come from financial prosperity.

–Nic Marks, in “The Happiness Manifesto: How Nations and People Can Nurture Well-Being

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

–Albert Einstein, in The New York Times, June 20,1932 AEA 29–041

 

Image: "Punctuated" by Shari Alisha

How the Average American’s Life Is Entrusted to Over 2,000 People Per Day

How Every Day Your Life Is Connected to Others

How Every Day Your Life Is Connected to Others

According to a new report from the National Institute for Safety Management, on any given day, the average American’s life is entrusted to more than 2,000 different people who are complete strangers.

 

The report, which shows how any one of these anonymous individuals making a single mistake can easily cause another person’s death, concluded that it is only through sheer luck that anyone ever makes it through a 24-hour period alive.

 

“People you don’t know and will never even meet—food-safety regulators, bridge inspectors, whoever installed the gas lines in your home—ultimately have the power to decide whether you live or die,” the report read in part. “We have no choice but to trust that these individuals are always being very careful and know exactly what they’re doing.”

 

“Which is of course something we have no way of actually knowing,” the report added.

 

Jacob Drummond, a spokesman for NISM, unveiled a staggering list of strangers responsible for a person’s life each day, which includes everyone from officials who make sure there aren’t deadly toxins in the air we breathe, to construction workers who precariously hoist building materials over pedestrians’ heads, to motorists who stay focused and don’t veer into oncoming traffic during the rush-hour commute.

–“Report: Life Put In Hands Of 2,000 Complete Strangers Every Single Day,” in The Onion.

2 Studies Showing How Acts of Kindness Increase Happiness

2 Studies Showing How Acts of Kindness Increase Happiness

2 Studies Showing How Acts of Kindness Increase Happiness

An experiment published in PLOS ONE showed that when 9- to 11-year old kids were asked to do acts of kindness for several weeks, not only did they get happier over time but they became more popular with their peers.

 

And another big intervention we just finished at a company in Spain showed that asking some employees to be generous to a randomly chosen list of colleagues (we called this our “Secret Santa” manipulation) produced huge benefits (for increasing happiness, connectedness, flow, and decreasing depression) not just for the givers, but for the receivers and even for observers. The recipients of kindness “paid the kind acts forward” and even acquaintances of the givers became happier and were inspired to act more generously themselves.

–Sonja Lyubomirsky, in an interview with Gretchen Rubin, “We Have Found That Almost Any Types of Acts of Kindness Boost Happiness.”

 

Image: "Ripple" by Taro Taylor.

Got to Believe: I Believe Project [Music]

Got to Believe: I Believe Project [Music]

As a songwriter I always felt a huge responsibility to write something from my heart that would add to the world and make it better place for all.

 

Finding Mutual Responsibility and the Roundtable Live Project showed me that others felt this same concern and had found a way to work towards making it a reality.

 

“Got To Believe” is a song that was born out of this inspired awareness and belief that together we really can start to make a difference and change our world.

–Deb Zemke, singer/songwriter.

Alicia Keys – We Are Here [Video]

Alicia Keys - We Are Here [Video]

Alicia Keys - We Are Here [Video]

Enjoy this new song by Alicia Keys with a humanitarian message. This is what she wrote on her Facebook page:

“A MESSAGE FROM “ALICIA KEYS” – The day I wrote this song, I was sitting in a circle of people of all ages and we were asked, “Why are you here.” Why am I here?? This really hit me on a deep level. I realized no one had ever asked me that question before.

As I prepare to give birth to a new child, I can’t help and think about the world I’m bringing my baby into. No matter where we come from, when we see the state of the world today, we can all feel the growing frustration and desire to make a difference. And we all have a voice – we just need to know how to make it heard.

  • I have a vision that I believe is more than a dream, that I know can be our reality.
  • I believe in an empowered world community built on the true meaning of equality – where we are all considered one people, regardless of race, religion, gender, zip code, belief system or sexual orientation.
  • I believe all of our voices should be heard, so that our representation reflects our population. We need our leadership to reflect an equal balance of the gifts that both men and women have to offer.
  • I believe in a world where every child born receives a quality education – where their unique gifts are nurtured so that they may be a beneficial presence in this world.
  • I believe in mutual respect and cooperation among all peoples and all nations. It is time to end all forms of racial injustice for our black brothers and sisters and all people of color.
  • I believe in an end to the prison industrial complex in America and a renewed justice system that is based on fairness and truth.
  • I believe in universal global health care based on Integrative Medicine, so that our bodies are acknowledged and treated as one system, and we can help control the spread of diseases like AIDS, Malaria, TB and Ebola.
  • I believe we have an ability to end poverty, oppression, and hopelessness that often breeds despair, terror, and violence.
  • I believe in common sense gun laws that serve to protect children and families and society from unnecessary violence.
  • I believe in Peace & Love & Unity.
  • I believe that this vision can be a reality.
  • And, it’s not about me. It’s about WE.
  • Together we can give birth to a kinder and more peaceful world for ALL children.
  • Our souls were brought together so that we can love each other sister, brother. We Are Here. We are here for all of us. That’s why #‎WeAreHere.

Sent with Light,
Alicia Keys

 

How Alicia Keys Wrote This Song

 

Image: "Alicia Keys at Madame Tussaud's New York" by InSapphoWeTrust.

NEF Report ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ Identifies Important Role of Social Connections with Happiness

NEF Report 'Five Ways to Wellbeing' Identifies Important Role of Social Connections with Happiness

NEF Report 'Five Ways to Wellbeing' Identifies Important Role of Social Connections with Happiness

In the NEF’s report “Five Ways to Wellbeing: A report presented to the Foresight Project on communicating the evidence base for improving people’s well-being,” the factor stated to affect happiness the most is social connections.

In 2008, at the request of the British government and financed by the British Ministry of Science (New Economic Foundation – NEF), in cooperation with the University of Cambridge, a comprehensive project was carried out, summarizing and comparing studies, identifying which factors affect the citizens’ happiness. The most influential factor is social connections. Out of the 5 recommendations suggested, 2 of them are directly connected to social relationships.

Image: "Happy Monday" by Yasin Hassan.

The Destructive Effect of Negative Emotions in the Workplace

The Destructive Effect of Negative Emotions in the Workplace

The Destructive Effect of Negative Emotions in the Workplace

In the article “Emotional Contagion Can Take Down Your Whole Team,” Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything, describes how negativity begins in an office setting by one person talking and passing negative emotions from one to the other, and how negative emotions in this setting have destructive effect.

Emotional contagion takes hold and as the negativity spreads, it drains the energy from the team and the company as a whole.  The negative emotions temporarily overwhelm the capacity to assess the facts at hand. 

“How much do emotions matter in the workplace?  Walk into any Department of Motor Vehicles and you’ll feel the impact of the prevailing mood instantly — a dense fog of sourness, irritability, and listlessness. Walk into almost any Apple store and you’ll experience the opposite — a sense of aliveness and excitement that raises your energy.”

Schwartz tells a story of his personal experience with a senior executive, and lists some points that he had learned from the experience in the article.

Image: "Gossip Walk" by Ktoine.