Happiness and Success — which comes first?
It probably does not surprise you if I said “Happiness does not necessarily come with Success.”
It’s easy to relate to. The joy that comes with achieving something, hitting our targets, getting a good grade is often short-lived. What more, it comes with the expectation to do just as well or better the next time around. We’ve all had our stretch goals. Sure, the hit of dopamine that we get when we succeed at something is great, it keeps us motivated and rewards us, but it doesn’t last very long.
Shawn Achor, the author of Big Potential and The Happiness Advantage, gave a great TED talk in 2011, in which he describes how happiness can actually be a precursor or predictor of success. It’s a very entertaining talk, so do check it out if you have 12 minutes to spare.
Happy people have following advantage:
- More likely to reach for stretch goals, especially the ones that take more time and effort.
- Able to come up with more ways to address a problem because they believe that it can be solved
- Don’t see failures as final but as part of the journey
- Have stronger social connections to share their journey with
- Have more fun by celebrating more
- Have more motivation even through the more difficult times
I personally don’t think that points to us having to be an overly optimistic, always happy person. I think it means we shouldn’t wait until we are successful (whatever that means for you) in order to be happy. The time to be happy is now, and you might find success along the way!
