The Secret to Success is Happiness

Happiness creates success but success doesn’t create happiness

Can happiness make you more successful? Yes. As we become happier, we become more successful.

Our brains operate better when we are in a positive mind state instead of a mood of negativity or stressed. Happiness helps us increase our problem-solving skills, helps us become more creative, and improves our thinking, remembering, and decision making.

Happy people take control of their lives and emotions. They don’t take things for granted. They don’t complain. They don’t focus on the negative.

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Albert Schweitzer, a philosopher, musician, and missionary

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book, The Happiness Diet, 40% of our happiness is within our control. Also, research shows happy people are successful in their life, work, and health. Yet, happiness is subjective, based on how you define it, and happiness can sometimes be difficult to measure.

What’s the definition of happiness?

Everyone defines happiness differently. Some people find happiness in small things like a walk in the neighborhood, a happy moment with their family, or a successful work project. Some people may find happiness elusive or difficult to find or achieve.

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” — William Morris, a British artist and author

The bottom line is happiness is your positive mental state where you are in a joyful emotional state. You are satisfied with your life and well-being. Happiness is up to you and how frequently you experience positive emotions such as pride or loving yourself over negative emotions such as sadness or disliking yourself.

What’s the definition of success?

Everyone defines success differently. To some, success may be earning a lot of money. To others, it may mean winning awards. To many it means rising the corporate ladder to a high job title.

Success is your definition of a goal. If you think about your death, wake, and funeral, you can better understand your idea of success. What would people say about you?

“If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.” — Stephen Covey, an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker

The bottom line is success is about all areas of your life: financial, love, relationships, and health. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, believes success is engagement. American author Maya Angelou believes success is enjoying your work, and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh says success is living in line with your values.

Is happiness an advantage?

Research shows there’s a strong relationship between happiness and success. For example, happy people earn more money and display superior work performance. Happiness correlates with career success.

Deep down, we all want to be more successful.

Shawn Achor, CEO of Good Think, Inc. where he researches and teaches about positive psychology and author of the book, The Happiness Advantage, says happiness inspires us to be more productive.

During his research of Harvard University students, he found that there was a correlation between perceived social support and happiness. This was higher than the correlation between smoking and cancer.

Achor believes happiness fuels success, not the other way around. He suggests you seek happiness first and success second. He says happiness leads to success more than success leads to happiness.

Usually, we strive for success first and then happiness second. We chase after success, hoping it will make us happy. When we reach our goal, then we’ll be happy.

Achor says when we are happy, we improve our physical and mental health. We believe change is possible, and we believe money can buy us happiness if we spend it on experiences, not things. The bottom line is that if you focus on happiness over success, you’ll gain an advantage.

Is happiness a choice?

He is not the only person to believe that happiness leads to success. According to author Jennifer Moss in her book Unlocking Happiness at Work, she believes happiness is a choice that we need to make every day. She concludes this based on her research, interviews, and case studies.

Moss believes happiness helps with work performance, helps provide a sense of purpose, and can spread like wildfire throughout a company. She believes happiness comes after you build a foundation and cultivate resilience, positive thinking, and gratitude. These traits help us better pursue happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind

To some people, happiness comes in the future and something to aspire to. The key to happiness is that it’s a journey. Happiness is not a destination, it’s a state of mind.

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” — Dale Carnegie, an American writer and lecturer

There’s a growing demand for self-help books because people are looking for new ways to become happier. The secret to happiness is your state of mind. And happiness equals success.

Happiness and success go hand in hand

Happiness and success are interconnected. Happiness impacts your success, and your level of success impacts your happiness. They are two sides of the same coin. They are yin-yang.

Happiness and success are a state of mind. It’s important to live in the moment and be happy. To some people, happiness can be fleeting because once you reach a goal, you look for the next goal.

Bringing it all together

Most people have a desire to be successful in their career and in life. They believe success will make them happier. It’s the other way around, however, because happiness creates success. We control our choices and our state of mind.

“Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy shall form an invincible host against difficulties.“ — Helen Keller, an American author and educator

Choosing your happiness is something you can do. Many things you can’t control because your life is always changing, but there’s one thing you can control: happiness.

Find the beauty that’s all around you. Create your own happiness and this happiness will create your success. If you are happy and think positively every day, you’ll attract success.

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