Happiness leads to success vs Success leads to happiness

[Midpack]

It took me years, but I eventually figured this out. It seems the latter is the mistaken conventional wisdom in our culture IMHO. Just a brief discussion and in the context of work, though clearly applies in a broader sense. If nothing else the speaker is very entertaining.
Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work | Video on TED.com

[Alan]

FYI - I deleted the duplicate thread (without the link) at Midpack's request.

[donheff]

I love TED talks. Concise, entertaining and almost always informative. I suspect there is a solid grain of truth to his premise. At work those with an upbeat attitude tended to do well. Those who were downers did not, even if they were talented. I wonder if the few steps he mentions at the end really work. Seems a little too simple but who knows.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff I love TED talks. Concise, entertaining and almost always informative. I suspect there is a string grain of truth to his premise. At work those with an upbeat attitude tended to do well. Those who were downers did not, even if they were talented. I wonder if the few steps he mentions at the end really work. Seems a little too simple but who knows.

Agreed. I've known too many unhappy people who believe that next (work or other) success will finally make them happy. It's a never-ending pursuit that does not lead to happiness, always just out of reach. OTOH, real happiness begets success...

[ziggy29]

Frankly I think they feed off each other. The bigger social misconception, IMO, is that "success" is often specifically *defined* by our culture as financial and/or career success. There are many other ways to be successful, and in that context, yes, they feed on each other.

But the slavish pursuit of "success" in terms of trying to get rich and get the corner office can leave people miserable, because they don't know how to be content with "enough" and instead burn themselves out and damage personal relationships by pursuing "it all."