The Scenario – Science experiments are assigned with very specific instructions. You create your hypothesis, perform your experiment and then draw your conclusions. When it comes to happiness in your life, you are the scientist. If you had a formula for happiness, would you experiment in you?

What factors determine personal happiness?

Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., author of Authentic Happiness, proposes a formula comprised of three factors that determines personal levels of happiness.

H= S+C+V

1.     H= Enduring Levels of Happiness

• The formula specifically measures happiness that lasts as opposed to temporary positive emotions.

2.     S= Set Range

• Genetically predetermined level of happiness we tend toward.

3.     C= Life Circumstances

• Present situation and past experiences.

4.     V= Voluntary Control

• Sense of control within life circumstances.

The Insight – Our ability to overcome adversity and cultivate positive emotions despite life circumstances and set range is ultimately what determines our levels of enduring happiness. Don’t get discouraged if life throws a challenge your way. Rather, look for an encouraging and forward-thinking perspective. You are responsible for the amount of happiness in your personal formula. Experiment in you!

What are the ingredients in your happiness experiment?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life

The Scenario – In the age of information sharing, we’re consumed by a plethora of new apps and inventions that flash across our phones, the Internet and television.  Each new product promises to make life faster and easier. The creators can make you happier if you pay for their invention. What if instead of trying to buy simplicity and happiness, we just took action to make ourselves happier?

What actions can we take to increase happiness?

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., author of The How of Happiness, suggests 12 practices to increase happiness in your life:

1.     Count Your Blessings

2.     Cultivate Optimism

3.     Avoid Overthinking and Social Comparison

4.     Practice Acts of Kindness

5.     Nurture Relationships

6.     Participate in Activities that Engage You

7.     Replay and Savor Life’s Joys

8.     Commit to Your Goals

9.     Develop Strategies for Coping

10.  Learn to Forgive

11.  Practice Religion and Spirituality

12.  Take Care of Your Body

The Insight – We can’t buy happiness, nor can we depend on others to make us happy. Each individual is responsible for his or her own happiness. Take the necessary measures and make the necessary changes, no matter how silly they may seem to anyone else, to promote positivity and increase happiness for yourself. No one else will do it for you.

What steps will you take to increase happiness in your life?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life

The Scenario – Has your mood ever been affected by someone else’s?  Were you having a great day before that person started complaining about his or hers, and left you feeling down but you could not explain why?

How can one person’s mood affect another’s and how do you manage it?

According to a recent study conducted by Allan Filipowicz, Ph.D., Sigal Barsade, Ph.D., and Shimul Melwani, moods are contagious. We have the ability to influence another person’s perception of us and his or her own disposition based on our attitude. The study found that we respond differently according to other peoples’ dispositions:

1.     Steady State

• People who interacted with an individual whose mood showed little alteration (i.e. began angry and remained angry) perceived the emotional individual as one whose mood did not reflect their interaction.

2.     Emotional Transitions

• People who interacted with an individual who underwent an emotional transition believed that the change in moods in that individual was a result of their interaction.

3.     Interactions

• The people were less accommodating and less receptive to the individuals with steady state emotions than they were to those who exhibited an emotional transition. The emotional transitions served to diffuse some of the ill temper because those individuals were at one point happy, or eventually became happy.

(Read More)

The Insight – Our attitudes are contagious. When interacting with someone in a bad mood be strong in character, compassionate and engage in active listening. Those simple acts of kindness might be enough to help that person better manage concerns and help you from feeling weighed down. Sometimes listening is better than trying to help the other person solve the issue.

What does your attitude say about you?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life