The world, as we know it, is only getting faster. You can have your food selected and ordered in a matter of ten minutes with UberEats, waiting for your internet to load has become an activity of the past, and any information that we want to have can be accessed in a matter of seconds.
It's a beautiful thing, as it has allowed us to share ideas and make connections at a rate that no one has ever been able to reach in history. I'm also not here to tell you that it's made us impatient or shortened our attention spans — that's a beaten-down discussion for another time. But I'm here to analyze how it has affected our ability to be happy.
Honestly, let's face it — somewhere along the line, happiness stopped mattering. Sure, it's still fashionable and trendy to look happy, but what matters more to our current society is that you are accomplishing things. Not only that you are accomplishing things, but that you are doing faster, earlier, better, and coming out stronger (refrain from singing the Kanye West song, please) than anyone doing the same or similar thing.
But in valuing success, resiliency, creativity, energy levels, and overall efficiency over long-term happiness, we have gotten the recipe for success entirely backward.
This is not a new concept — the study of positive psychology has been on the rise for a few years now for the exact reason it needs to be. Too much of our focus in this generation has been making sure people are not falling below average on the spectrum of mental health. But what about thriving above average on the spectrum?
In a TED Talk done by happiness researcher and author Shawn Achor, he argues that,
"If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, we've found that every single business outcome improves. Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You're 37% better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed."
Of course, you want to succeed. Of course, you want to accomplish big things. And, of course, you've been taught that your happiness can wait. But it can't. Investing in yourself is the foundation for accomplishing anything worth having. Even when changing the world, you cannot put your heart in the right places if you haven't nourished it with the time and attention it needs.
Take time to exercise, as it gives your body a routine it can count on. Put care and thought into the food you're putting into your body. Check in with yourself. Give yourself time to pause and reflect at the end of each day.
Above all, the best way to love yourself is to love others. Random acts of kindness and gratitude have been scientifically found to be quick, surefire ways to long-term happiness.
Your happiness is a process, a project, and an accomplishment to celebrate all in of itself. Give yourself the love and time to meet that goal and watch at how the results change your life.
