How The Story You Tell Yourself Can Make You Happier

How The Story You Tell Yourself Can Make You Happier
A Chinese woman laughs during a social dance with a man at Ritan Park in Beijing, China Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014. Levels of self-reported well-being in fast-growing nations like Indonesia, China and Malaysia now rival those in US, Germany and the United Kingdom, rich nations which have long topped the happiness charts, according to a Pew Research Center global survey released Friday that it showed how national income was closely linked to personal life satisfaction. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A Chinese woman laughs during a social dance with a man at Ritan Park in Beijing, China Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014. Levels of self-reported well-being in fast-growing nations like Indonesia, China and Malaysia now rival those in US, Germany and the United Kingdom, rich nations which have long topped the happiness charts, according to a Pew Research Center global survey released Friday that it showed how national income was closely linked to personal life satisfaction. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Harnessing happiness has become something of a cultural obsession. Countless studies have linked our happiness to money, age, location, and timing of having children, to name just a few.

But there’s arguably an easier way to make your life feel more meaningful: Tell yourself a positive story about your life. That’s the thinking behind a slew of research on happiness, and one motto of positive psychologist Shawn Achor, who researches and lectures about the link between happiness and success.

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