The Pursuit of Happiness in Uncertain Times with Shawn Achor #206

“I think happiness in great times is a luxury item. I think, right now, optimism, happiness becomes one of those essentials - the necessities that we absolutely need.” – Shawn Achor  How can we be happy, even in challenging times? In this episode, Brian interviews happiness expert Shawn Achor to discover how we can create happiness, spread it to other people and use it as an advantage in our lives. Topics discussed include how a crisis can deepen our social bonds and give us meaning, how people can understand their own potential and where potential, success and happiness intersect.   YOU WILL LEARN: How to process this crisis and have a happier and more productive outcome. How a shift in mindset and behavior can help you change course in difficult times. The five seeds of potential that help people thrive in crisis.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Buffini & Company MasterMind Summit Shawn Achor’s TED Talk PBS Special: The Happiness Advantage “The Happiness Advantage,” by Shawn Achor “Big Potential,” by Shawn Achor “Mere Christianity,” by C.S. Lewis “The Great Divorce,” by C.S. Lewis Wilbur Smith, author   INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “While it is unprecedented that we've never shut down the world because of a global pandemic ever, what isn't unprecedented is the fact that humans have gone through crises and overcome them.” – Shawn Achor “What we have great precedent for is that humans overcome challenges and crises in the exact same way. Eventually, the turning point comes when people are able to raise their levels of optimism, social connection, refine the meaning that they have within their work, and be able to restart that forward progress.” – Shawn Achor “People think happiness is connected to whimsy. This is a toughness. This is a determination. This is a resolve. It's a spirit. It's mind and heart.” – Brian Buffini “I think people are going to become more grateful because convenience has been taken out of our life.” – Brian Buffini “People are either going to get bitter or better at this time.” – Brian Buffini “The mindset shift I'm hoping people make is not ‘How do I get out of this crisis myself? How do I hunker down? How do I solve this?’ But rather, ‘How do I create an interconnected pursuit of happiness and success within my life?’” – Shawn Achor “The geometry of the challenges in your life are constantly in flux, based upon whether or not you think you're alone, or with other people overcoming a challenge.” – Shawn Achor “I want to move away from a self-help approach to happiness.” – Shawn Achor “The greatest predictors of our long-term levels of happiness right now are other people.” – Shawn Achor “When somebody's going through a challenge, optimism doesn't shield them from it. But optimism and social connection cause them to become more adaptive to get out of that quicker.” – Shawn Achor “The crisis actually gives us something meaningful to bond around.” – Shawn Achor “People have these seeds of untapped potential that they oftentimes don't even know that they could cause to flourish, or they don't have the time for.” – Shawn Achor “If the height of your potential is predicted by the people around you, we need to find some way of lifting them up right now.” – Shawn Achor “There's ways to find growth in the midst of a challenge.” – Shawn Achor “Sometimes you have to get away from what you have that's comfortable to go after what's great.”  – Brian Buffini   https://www.TheBrianBuffiniShow.com http://www.brianbuffini.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brian_buffini Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianbuffini Twitter: https://twitter.com/brianbuffini Theme Music:  “The Cliffs of Moher” by Brogue Wave Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.