Our most commonly held fo r mula fo r success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that if we wo r k hard we will be mo r e successful, a nd if we are mo r e successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this fo r mula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become mo r e engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, a nd productive at wo r k. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly bo r ne out by rigo r ous research in psychology a nd neuroscience, management studies, a nd the bottom lines of o r ganizations around the globe. In The Happiness Advantage , Shawn Acho r , who spent over a decade living, researching, a nd lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness a nd potential at Harvard a nd others at companies like UBS a nd KPMG—to fix this broken fo r mula. Using sto r ies a nd case studies fr om his wo r k with thousa nds of Fo r tune 500 executives in 42 countries, Acho r explains how we can reprogram our brains to become mo r e positive in o r der to gain a competitive edge at wo r k. Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried a nd tested everywh ere fr om classrooms to boardrooms, stretching fr om Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our perfo r mance a nd maximize our potential. Among the principles he outlines: • The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—a nd seize—oppo r tunities wh erever we look. • The Zo r ro Circle: how to channel our effo r ts on small, manageable goals, to gain the leverage to gradually conquer bigger a nd bigger ones. • Social Investment: how to reap the dividends of investing in one of the greatest predicto r s of success a nd happiness—our social suppo r t netwo r k A must-read fo r everyone trying to excel in a wo r ld of increasing wo r kloads, stress, a nd negativity, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at wo r k. It’s about how to reap the benefits of a happier a nd mo r e positive mind-set to achieve the extrao r dinary in our wo r k a nd in our lives.