A Classic Post Revisited: Jefferson’s Happiness

A Classic Post Revisited: Jefferson’s Happiness

Five years ago we posted “Jefferson’s Happiness”. Amid economic downturns around the world today, this is a great time to revisit the post and ask ourselves again: What is happiness?  It seems that many Americans have been pursuing the Wall Street version of happiness with a vengeance, encouraged by the 2006 blockbuster “Pursuit of Happiness,” in which…

8th Grader Helps Stressed and Miserable Students by Romano Orlando

8th Grader Helps Stressed and Miserable Students by Romano Orlando

When I first started this project, I had more downers than believers. Most people don’t like to see something new, and happiness has never been chosen in the 45 years that this project has been run. My 8th grade class was assigned the task to find a problem in our community and take a step…

Happiness by Romano Orlando – Student
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Happiness by Romano Orlando – Student

“The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” -Benjamin Franklin In order to understand happiness, one must understand what happiness actually is. The definition of happiness is, “feeling pleasure and enjoyment.” However, what is pleasure? What is enjoyment? Thomas Jefferson, an original Son of Liberty, once said,…

Stop Bullying by Teaching Happiness
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Stop Bullying by Teaching Happiness

Guest Post from Jenn Eichner There is much debate over the effectiveness of anti-bullying campaigns currently active in many high schools. I have read research and opinion pieces which suggest that the campaigns may actually be counter-productive. There appears to be little discussion, however, on alternative measures and even less dialogue with students about their…

Take Time to Exercise and You Will Be Happier
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Take Time to Exercise and You Will Be Happier

New research by Russell Clayton and colleagues, which is due out in the next issue of Human Resource Management, concludes there is a positive relationship between exercise and work life balance. Based on Clayton’s research, people who take the time to exercise feel more self-efficacy. In other words they are confident they can get things…

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Happiness in the News

The good news; happiness is starting to consistently make headlines.  The bad news; not everyone is happy.  More good news; there are a lot actions you can take to become happier.   Happiness at Work From a recent New York Daily News article: Workplace morale heads down: 70% of Americans negative about their jobs, Gallup…

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Cultivating positive emotions

Please welcome Suzanne Hazelton as one of our guest bloggers. She is also the author of Great Days at Work. Happiness. We can cultivate long term happiness by sowing regular seeds of positive emotions. But first let me digress into goal setting. When coaching clients it can be useful to understand “why” a particular goal…

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The July 8th 2013 Cover of Time Magazine features The Pursuit of Happiness.

  It is a great article that covers reasons for Americas obsession with The Pursuit of Happiness and how it might actually be related to evolution and inherited genes.  It also covers the impact of money on our happiness and explains the benefit of buying experiences instead of things with our money.  It also gives…

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Making Happiness Soup

I have heard a lot of questions and discussions about the one thing that leads to happiness. Everyone wants to know, “What is the one secret?”  Even happiness research focuses on one skill or activity at a time, because researchers need to isolate a variable in order to find clear answers about causality. Is it…

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Everyone worries; some people worry excessively. But, what do we typically worry about? Author and motivational speaker, Earl Nightingale, estimates that: 40% of the things you worry about will never happen. 30% of the things you worry about couldn’t be changed by all the worrying in the world. 12% of your worries are needless worries…