PSYCHOLOGY EXPLAINS A COUNTERINTUITIVE LINK BETWEEN HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS

Rational optimism may be the antidote to chronic stress.Richard SchneiderALI PATTILLO8 HOURS AGO

It’s a cliche by this point that the path to happiness is paved by achievement: graduate from a top university, score the dream job, find eternal love, and retire early in a sunny beachfront town. But psychological research flips this conventional formula for happiness on its head. It turns out, positive external outcomes cause only fleeting happiness. However, daily habits that cultivate positive thinking and optimism create sustainable happiness.

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“It’s not about what I accomplish, the title on the door, or the house that I’m able to buy. It’s really about this internal state that we can create, no matter where we’re at in our lives,” Michelle Gielan, a positive psychologist and founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research, tells Inverse.

This week, Gielan outlines the four evidence-based tactics to get happier over the long term: practice gratitude, relive good memories, activate your social network, and break the tension at work. These actions don’t just strengthen mental health; they lead to tangible, meaningful performance gains.

“As we focus on the positive parts of our reality, it allows our brain to see that success is possible and good results are within reach,” Gielan says. “Ideas flow more easily, creativity skyrockets, and then positive results follow.”

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DISRUPT NEGATIVITY BIAS — Before you can build happiness, you have to understand it. Based on positive psychology research, Gielan defines happiness as “the joy we feel growing toward our potential.”

“You can experience that happiness and joy in the midst of life’s ups and downs. It really connects more with a sense of meaning about an experience than the fleeting happiness that you can get from buying something new or eating a chocolate bar.”

Unfortunately, our brains are wired toward negativity and constantly vigilant to threats in the environment, a tendency that hinders happiness. Across a wide array of situations, adults attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information, studies show.

Some scholars argue negativity bias serves a crucial evolutionary function, keeping us safe and out of harm’s way. It’s great if we’re living out on the savanna where there might be animals attacking us, Gielan explains.

“It’s not so great if we’re feeling threatened by someone walking down the hallway at work or constantly scanning our world for all the things that could go wrong.”

Negativity bias can frequently push humans into a fight-or-flight state, contributing to chronic stress. In a 2019 study conducted with Frost Bank, Gielan found that an antidote to this problem is actively cultivating an optimistic mindset. In the study, Gielan surveyed more than 2,000 Americans about their financial health, optimism levels, attitudes, and behaviors around money.