Happiness is all about chemical reactions in the brain.
When we feel positive emotions, our brains are flooded with dopamine and serotonin. These “feel good” chemicals dial up the learning centers of our brains to higher levels.
This means we can organize new information better, keep the information longer, and remember it faster later on.
Happiness also allows us to make and sustain more neural connections. This means our creativity increases and we get better at analyzing and problem solving.
He’s how this plays out…
In a 1979 study, half of a group of kids were told to think about something really happy before doing a task. We call this priming. The children who were primed to be happy before the task outperformed the others, completing the task more quickly and with fewer errors.
Students who were told to think about the happiest day of their lives right before taking a standardized test outperformed their peers.
How can you practically implement this information in your daily life?
Before starting projects or tasks that require mental energy, think of the happiest day of your life. Relive it, let your brain be flooded with dopamine and serotonin, and then get down to work!
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