Happiness is really the key to whether we succeed or not in life.  

I am not making this stuff up...just because I love to be happy...I am thrilled to say this is backed by Harvard Research. 

I recently read an awesome book on happiness, "The Happiness Advantage", written by Shawn Achor.  Shawn is a Harvard professor who shared the following research information based on the results of over 200 scientific studies on nearly 275,000 people. 

We become more successful when we are happier and more positive.  For example, doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost 3 times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19% faster. 

Optimistic sales people outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56%.  Students primed to feel happy before taking math achievement tests far outperform their neutral peers.  It turns out that  our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive!  Yet in today's world, we ironically sacrifice happiness for success only to lower our brain's success rates. 

Happiness leads to success in nearly every area of our lives, including marriage, health, friendship, community involvement, creativity, and in particular, our jobs, careers, and businesses.  Data shows that happy workers have higher levels of productivity, produce higher sales, perform better in leadership positions, and receive higher performance ratings and higher pay.  They also enjoy more job security and our less likely to take sick days, to quit, or to become burned out.  Research shows that unhappy employees take more sick days, staying home an average of 1.25 days per month, or 15 extra sick days a year.  In one study, I am glad to not be a part of, researchers gave subjects a survey designed to measure level of happiness - then injected them with a strain of cold virus.  A week later, the individuals who were happier before the start of the study fought off the virus much better than less happy individuals.  They didn't just feel better, either; they actually had fewer symptoms of illness - less sneezing, coughing, inflammation, and congestion. What this means is that companies and leaders who take measures to cultivate a happy workplace will not only have more productive and efficient workers - they'll have less absenteeism and lower healthcare expenditures. 

Happy CEO's (Dentists) are more likely to lead teams of employees who are both happy and healthy, and who find their work climate conducive to high performance.  The list of benefits of happiness in the work place goes on and on. 

The Happiness Advantage is why cutting-edge software companies have foosball tables in the employee lounge, why Yahoo has an in-house massage parlor, and why Google engineers are encouraged to bring their dogs to work.  These aren't just PR gimmicks.  Smart companies or practices cultivate this kind of working environment because every time an employee experiences a small burst of happiness, they get primed for creativity and innovation.  They see solutions they might otherwise have missed.  CEO Richard Branson has said that, "more than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin's success."  This isn't just because fun is, well fun.  It's because fun also leads to bottom-line results.

Do I have your interest in becoming happier now?