Kmart’s recent announcement to open its doors at 6am on Thanksgiving Day sent shock waves throughout the nation. Though bargain-seekers were thrilled, many are questioning the retail chain’s decision. In recent years, such “Thanksgiving Creep” has inspired multiple protests from…
Work hard, achieve your goals, become happy -- that's the happiness formula many believe to be universally true. But happiness researcher Shawn Achor says that this success-leads-to-happiness model is fundamentally flawed. In a sit-down with Oprah for "Super Soul Sunday," Achor explains why. "It's scientifically broken…
“Super Soul Sunday – Oprah & Shawn Achor: The Secret of Happy People” Super Soul Sunday Episode Summaries Part 1: Aired Sunday, May 25 at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Oprah sits down with Shawn Achor, a Harvard-trained researcher and the New…
I thought it was simple: Vacations are fun, Americans are stressed, and happiness raises productivity and sales. Therefore, people should take more vacations, right? But research doesn’t hold that line of thinking up. Not every vacation is equal. According to a 2013…
In today's world of smartphones and 24-hour news channels, we've become addicted to information. I found myself filling all my micro-moments each day with stuff that blocked me from forward progress. Brain "noise" is any information that is irrelevant, useless,…
Who is the most important person on a team? If you follow sports, you know commentators will often talk about the "glue guys" or "glue gals" who hold their teams together in the midst of challenge and are largely responsible…
Until I began researching happiness at Harvard, I thought that if you just worked harder, you'd be more successful, which of course would make you happier. But my research showed that formula doesn't work. Every time our brain records…
Learning that you or a loved one has a chronic illness is news you never want to hear. The knowledge of such information is often accompanied by feelings of fear, anger, and depression, which can cause debilitating, unnecessary stress. By…
In difficult times is happiness out of reach? On a cold, wet morning in Boston, I was peering out the subway windows over the recently thawed Charles River, dreaming longingly of the sailboats that dot the water in summer, when…
Nearly every company in the world gives lip service to the idea that "our people are our greatest asset." Yet when the Conference Board Survey came out earlier this year, employees were the unhappiest they have been in their 22…
"I will be happy when..." This innocent comment is the very reason that happiness is so elusive for us in the modern world. We think: I will be happy when I have a successful relationship. I will be happy when…
