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Page 15, paragraph 2: We become more successful when we are happier and more positive. I think that many times, we say to ourselves, "If I could just...I'll be happy" when actually we should find a way to be happy in the moment that we are in.

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FLAG

Emily Maze

On page 15, I found this statement to very telling of our society. "Extraordinarily, as late as 1998, there was a 17-to-1 negative-to-positive ratio of research in the field of psychology. In other words, for every one study about happiness and thriving there were 17 studies on depression and disorder. As a society, we know very well how to be unwell and miserable and so little about how to thrive." I think this shows our need as a society to be happy, find happiness, and learn how to see the positive or view each situation with a positive outlook. We tend to seek out the negative and we need to change the way we perceive events and situations in our personal life and world view.

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"We needed to study what works, not just what is broken." pg 12

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"If all you strive for is diminishing the bad, you'll only attain the average and you'll miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed the average." (pg 11)

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The pattern of focusing on the negative pervades not only our research in schools but our society p12

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"Yet in today's world, we ironically sacrifice happiness for success only to lower our brains' success rates. Our hard-driving lives leave us feeling stressed, and we feel swamped by the mounting pressure to succeed at any cost" (p. 15).

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"The point is, as we will see throughout this book, what we spend our time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become our reality." Pg. 12

To me this reminds me of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Which, in case you forgot, states that when we predict or expect something coming true, we believe and anticipate it so much it becomes our reality.

It is easy with everything going on in the world to fall into the trap of sadness, and nightly news.  So I make it a point to remember that I do not need to watch the news as often, or better yet spend so much time on my phone.  Which did you know that they have apps that will monitor how much time you spend on your phone?  This is amazing and will help you spend your time more wisely as well.

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"The best and brightest willingly sacrificed happiness for success" (p. 14).

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On page 12 Achor states, "what we spend our time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become our reality."

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I was struck by the quote from John Milton: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." The mind is incredibly powerful---for better or worse. Our experiences are shaped in large part by how we think about them, by an attitude that we choose.

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"With so much pressure to be great, it is no surprise to find that when these kids fall, they fall hard." (p.13)

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On pages 6 and 7 Shawn talks about privilege. In speaking about the school children of Soweto, he said, “They see schoolwork as a privilege.” In drawing a correlation between them and his Harvard students, he saw the higher success rates with those who looked at their schooling as a privilege. The bazillion dollar question is, how do we instill that mindset?

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"If all you strive for is to eliminate the bad, you'll only attain the average and you'll miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed the average. You can study gravity forever without learning how to fly. "

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Page 15
"We become more successful when we are happier and more positive."
"....,we ironically sacrifice happiness for success only to lower our brains' success rates. Our hard-driving lives leave us feeling stressed, and we feel swamped by the mounting pressure to succeed at any cost."

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I read ahead... so I'm not sure what page this was, but, "You can google that," was the whispered response of the translator when he asked the non English speaking group, "What is happiness?"

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I appreciated the thought that, "If all you strive for is diminishing the bad,you'll only attain the average and miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed the average"....
We do this without really thinking about it all the time...Usually without any long term effects. One of the best examples I thought was eliminating depression without the result of making someone happy...just as if you have an unlimited amount of money will not result in happiness.

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The idea of divesting from social supports rather than investing in them. "...these students had somehow learned that when the going gets tough, the tough get going--to an isolated cubicle in the library basement" (p. 14).

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If we study merely what is average, we will remain merely average. (Page 10)

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"You can eliminate depression without making someone happy... If you all you strive for is diminishing the bad, you'll only attain the average and you'll miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed the average." (pg. 11)

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I liked the quote Shannon gave, too. However to follow that one up, I also liked a couple of later passages  that say, "...our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best NOT when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive...the best way to motivate employees is NOT to...foster a stressed and fearful workforce" (p. 15)

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"Brilliant people sometimes do the most unintelligent thing possible. In the midst of stress, rather than investing, these individuals divested from the greatest predictor of success and happiness: their social support network." (p 14)

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How we experience the world, and our ability to succeed within it, constantly changes based on our mindset. (p.17)

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“If we study merely what is average, we will remain merely average.” pg 10

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"The mind is it's own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."(p. 6)

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"...what we spend our time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become our reality." (page 12)

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“Happiness is not the belief that we don’t need to change; it is the realization that we can.”

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"Students primed to feel happy before taking...tests far outperform their neutral peers." (page 15)