A Way to Find More Happiness Through Your Work,

New research on what makes us happy!
Our mantra is "if you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." With that in mind, let's talk about "happiness."

If you're into professional development, you've heard of Martin Seligman, Ph.D., who developed the theory of Learned Optimism.

Optimism is the facilitator of emotional intelligence (EQ), which matters more to our success and happiness than IQ. Seligman's research has established that optimists are more productive and accomplish more, i.e., are more successful, but what about happiness?

Recently, Seligman has started studying Authentic Happiness. In "Pleasure, Meaning & Eudaimonia," he looks at the common conception of Americans that pleasure equals happiness, which he calls "the hedonic view" -- happiness equals the most positive feelings with the least negative feelings. He thinks there are two things wrong with this idea, and that there are in fact three paths to happiness.

WHAT'S WRONG?

1. That cheery countenance we equate with pleasure, "positive affectivity," is hereditary. Therefore it's normally distributed in the population. Therefore about half of us just aren't that way, and aren't likely to become that way, no matter what. So, don't insist on a bright fa