Positive Thinking: Writing Technique Linked to Happiness, Harvard Says

A simple writing technique can amplify positive thinking and increase your success.

Would you like to experience more wins every day? Become happier? Increase your confidence?

If you answered, “YES,” then I have the world’s simplest solution for you — a solution that’s backed by a Scientific Study.

Step 1:

Buy a notebook.

Step 2:

Each night, before you go to bed, record each of your daily accomplishments — no matter how small they might seem.

But is There a Catch?

Most of us are programmed to self-criticize.

We brood about things that didn’t go our way.

Texting and posting on social media, we share our woes with the world.

Sympathetic friends get an earful when we ruin THEIR day, whining about the guy who cut us off on the freeway, the lover who never called, or the co-worker who missed her deadline, forcing us to work an hour late.

The Harvard Business School conducted a study called, “The Progress Principle.” Researchers concluded that focusing on “small wins” activates positive chemistry in your brain that allows for a more rewarding life.

In other words, positive thinking really works! 

For approximately 15 years, Harvard’s Teresa Amabile and study co-author, Steven Kramer, looked at psychological experiences on the job. They surveyed people about their emotions, moods, and motivation levels. Participants were asked to keep diaries and record the events that stood out in their minds.

Positive Thinking Can Create More “Wins”

Amabile and Kramer learned that the daily practice of recording “small wins” helps people appreciate their daily progress. This appreciation can boost a person’s confidence, which can lead to bigger achievements and future successes.

Remember the saying, “Life’s not about the Destination. It’s about the journey?”

Yep. Harvard proved that.

The study reports that Progress shouldn’t be defined solely as the accomplishment of long-term goals and major breakthroughs. While big wins can be exciting, they tend to happen far less often than “small wins” — like taking the vacuum to the repair shop (finally!)

For this reason, we should reframe our thinking.  We should define “Progress” to include the positive, small events in our lives. For instance, you could honor your pledge to wean yourself from caffeine. Or you could start writing pesky Chapter 6.

Activate the “Reward Circuitry” in Your Brain

Amabile and Kramer wrote, “Any accomplishment, no matter how small, activates the reward circuitry of our brains.

“When this pathway is opened, some key chemicals are released that give us a feeling of achievement and pride.

“In particular, the neurotransmitter, dopamine, is released, which energizes us and gives us a feel-good aura.

“This chemical enables us not only to get that sweet feeling of reward, but (it) also motivates us to take action and repeat what we did to trigger its release in the first place.”

So what are you waiting for? Grab that notebook! All you have to do is record 1 small win in your journal each night. One win! How hard can that be, when you focus on positive thinking?

Besides, the payoff is HUGE:  Happiness, confidence, success — and another fabulous reason to sit down and write!

Hugs,

 

 

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