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The Surprising Impact of Getting Happy on Career Success

States of mind

IT World Canada last week offers some surprising job success insights from psychologist Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.

Here were some of Achor’s assertions that struck me as particularly useful (some are quotes and some paraphrases, all from the IT World Canada article):

We know that doctors, when they’re positive, perform diagnoses 19 percent more accurately.

Achor had 200 tax audit managers [practice a gratitude exercise every morning] during the 2009 tax season, which was expected to be the worst tax season on record. After 21 days, Achor measured their emotional outlook using various psychological assessment tools and found that their levels of optimism rose … Two days after the [positive psychology] training, they felt significantly higher levels of happiness and job satisfaction … Four months later, the group … had significantly higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction …

The correlation [between success and social support] is .7, which is significantly higher than the correlation between smoking and cancer.

The article is relevant to anyone who works for a living whether they’re in Information Technology or not. You can find it here: “Why Your Negative Outlook is Killing Your Career.”

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