repentance from a negative nancy.

this week has been blah. see previous post and note my sour mood stringing the day together. last night, i vowed that today i'd start over a little bit, that i wouldn't wait until next week to get over myself. and then this morning happened. you know, that thing that happens sometimes in the morning? yeah, it happened this morning: i woke up.

i recommitted myself at work when i realized half the people i was occupying the same space with seemed happier than i was - and each one of them had a big excuse to not be. they just weren't using it.

so... i stumbled upon this.

(watch it. please. it might just change your life. or even just your day.)

powerful.

powerful.

really, those last few minutes blew me away. reverse the formula, be positive in the present and gain the happiness advantage.

i had to watch it three times to pick up the specifics because he talks so darn fast! but there at the end when he starts spewing off those things that are scientifically backed to reverse the formula? this is what does it.

1. 3 new gratefuls every day. writing down three new things you're grateful for every day for 21 days retrains your brain to scan the world for the positive instead of the negative - which is how most people are conditioned. thinking a little about "one slice" research (the brief scanning or first impressions our brains get and how they affect us and the way we treat others), the fact that this one little practice can change our "scanning" so much is incredible.

2. journaling about a positive experience you've had within the last 24 hours allows your brain to re-live it. which basically means adding one positive experience to your day. who's brain doesn't want that? (especially with what that positivity can do for your brain's learning centers...)

3. exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters. i knew i loved exercise. i knew it.

4. meditation lets your brain heal from the cultural ADHD we've created by constantly mutli-tasking. funny, i was watching this while eating my lunch, taking notes, texting and listening to music. no wonder i had to watch it three times.... anyway, the practice of meditation allows your brain time to focus. something we all need to relearn in this world.

5. last, random or conscious acts of kindness also help retrain your brain for positivity. he described sending a positive, praising, or thanking email to someone in your social support network upon opening your email inbox. i love that idea. so much. i currently have 10 emails that are marked as unread so i remember to reply with these types of messages. so often, they are the ones that get put off the longest. if i did one a day upon opening my email, think of the positivity that would spread!

not that productivity is everything, but the statistic he throws out at the end is profound: your brain is 31% more productive while happy than while negative, neutral, or stressed. happier is more productive than neutral.

these practices seem pretty life changing to me. especially if really applied to all areas of work in my life.

(also, on a side note, the word neutral is odd. i took me about seven times to figure out the correct spelling.)

so. he says happier is more productive. more efficient.

what do i say?

one, two, three, GO.

i think i just found an experiment worth writing about.