How can people just "be happy"? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Neil Pasricha, NY Times Bestselling Author of The Happiness Equation & The Book of Awesome, on Quora.
I don't advise people to just 'be happy.' I advise them to 'be happy first.'
My argument is that the model my immigrant parents taught me (and one many of us learn as children) is wrong and needs to be reversed. It doesn't go like this:
GREAT WORK --> BIG SUCCESS --> BE HAPPY
(You know, study really hard, get good grades, get into med school! Or work really hard, get promoted, be happy!)
It actually goes like this:
BE HAPPY --> GREAT WORK --> BIG SUCCESS
A phenomenal paper from 2005 shows that if you're happy first, you then do great work, because you're happier doing it! You're 31% more productive, have 37% higher sales, and are three times more creative.
My advice is to place happiness as the starting point instead of the ending point as it will have a high-leverage waterfall effect on every other positive outcome in your life.
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