Why is this number important?
Every day I look for
practical ways to teach happiness and make a difference in the world; from teaching individuals
how to become happier, to teaching coaches on how to help others develop inner
contentment, to consulting with media and global corporations on the topic.
After almost 20 years of
experience I discovered 5 steps to sustainable happiness:
Empowerment
Positive mood
Resiliency
Contentment
Bliss
Now that I can pinpoint the
make up of sustainable happiness, how can I help spread it to make a global
impact?
As I was pondering this, I
had an epiphany:
What is the cube root of
7.2 billion?
Why would I think about
this?
Happiness science is the
answer to a lot of the world’s problems of mental illness and the actions that
come as a consequence.
I think about the latest
advances in happiness science, how they can help people and how to apply them
in the real world to make a difference.
These 3 studies have framed
my core thinking in this mathematical query.
One of my favorite studies
of all time in happiness research is the one from Professor Christakis
at Harvard which shows the emotion
of happiness can spread of up to 3 degrees.
My epiphany…
If I teach at least 1931
people in the world these 5 steps to sustainable happiness then we can make a
global impact!
I want to build a
technology that would track this progress and connect it with the global well
being index and other global happiness initiatives to show trackable
progress and change.
This can be used inside
organizations to show the dynamic spread of happiness among employees while
watching levels of productivity and sales increase.
One of my other favorite
concepts in positive psychology is the work of Professor
Frederickson at University of North Carolina. She introduced the
‘upward spiral’ as a person who experiences a 3:1
ratio of positive to negative emotional experiences will see an
unfolding of positive life results.
The work I teach, gives a
15:1 positive to negative emotional experiences.
Imagine the results of the
upward spiral you can experience with that ratio!
These results have been
scientifically noted by Dr
Sonja Lyubomirsky at University of California, in a 53
page meta analysis of the benefits received by people who have
achieved a frequent state of positive affect.
Providing a mathematical
formula and structure to the ‘woo woo’ concept of sustainable happiness is the
answer to really help teach and track results of positive psychology.
Technology can help.
We can teach happiness now
like math.
We can create technology to
help it reach billions of people around the world.
We have a realistic goal
for success.
We have proven benefits and
proven results.
We can increase the global
well being index.
We can increase gross
national happiness across the world.
We can stop depression and
suicide by making positive psychology widely available.
If the light bulb can make
it into every home, happiness can too!
Would you like to
contribute to this conversation?
Dr Aymee Coget
Sustainable Happiness
Expert
Author of Forthcoming book:
Sustainable Happiness in 5 Steps
Sfhappinessdoctor at gmail
dot com
