“Happiness is not the end. It is the means.” This was the central point of Shawn Achor’s keynote address. I was enlightened by not only his remarks but the entire keynote session where we were treated to 3 incredible original songs written by communities, including one from our long-time customer, Abe’s Garden, who invited residents to sing as the backup chorus to the soloist. It was beautiful and touching. The songs were heartfelt and reminded us all of the beauty and blessing of aging. I felt a personal emotional swell when another community sang of the “Wise Women” in our lives. My mind raced to the countless hours I have spent with the wise women in my life. I have been blessed with so many wise women in my life; caring for both grandmas in our home as a child, my own aging mother today and my wife and her unlimited reserve of energy she spends as my closest friend and advisor in all things in my life. These women, and the many other seniors in each of our lives exemplify what Shawn taught - “Happiness is not the end. It is the means.”
I’d like to talk a bit more about Shawn Achor’s incredible work in the science of happiness.
First, the data. We can only process 40 bits of data every second. Meanwhile, our brains are being bombarded with thousands of bits of data at the same rate. Why does this matter? It means two people can have the same experience but walk away with very different realities. This was the first time that I understood why a generally optimistic person can see a challenge as an opportunity to grow while a pessimist will see the same challenge as an obstacle that will lead to their eventual ruin and demise. Same experience, two very different realities. As Shawn said, “Whatever we attend to first becomes our reality.”
He proposed that as humans we have our “success” equation backwards. We believe the formula for happiness is: (Set a Goal that Will Make You Happy ➜ Work Hard ➜ Achieve Your Goal ➜ Be Happy).
The problem with this process is that even if you achieve that lofty goal, the goal line moves. Some of the most “successful” people in life are also the most miserable. Once we achieve what others may perceive as success, we become accustomed to that new reality and set another goal that we believe will make us happy. Leading down the never-ending spiral of self-doubt and unhappiness.
Shawn introduced a better formula: (Happiness (despite our situation) ➜ More Effective & Higher Quality Work ➜ Better Results). Literally, the research has shown that after a sample set of highly trained and qualified professionals (doctors, engineers, etc.) were primed with positive emotions, they perform between 20-50% better than the group primed with negative emotions.
So, what can we do personally? How do we prime ourselves to be positive? The simple answer is GRATITUDE. Literally, spending 45 seconds a day listing 3 new things we are grateful for from the last 24 hours that are different than the 3 listed in the prior day. Or sending one note a day to someone who has had an impacted your life or in the life of someone you love. Teachers, coaches, co-workers, customers, parents, siblings, barista. As we begin to recognize the people and the things that matter, we inevitably become a happier, more optimistic person.
All of this talk of happiness had me thinking about Senior Sign. I remember the days of saying, “think how awesome it will be when we hit this or that milestone.” However, we learned early on from one of our original investors, who has seen a level of success that most could only dream of. Steve would tell us at every stage of our company, “Enjoy this stage of the company. It is precious. I would love to go back and live this stage all over again with my team.” The irony is, he would say that at every stage we hit. Turns out that Steve knew the secret - his success didn’t bring the happiness. Happiness led to his success. So, thank you Steve and thank you Shawn. At Senior Sign, we’ve been fortunate to have a team of optimists and we have been blessed to enjoy every step of the way. Happiness has led to better performance and better results. The truth is - our goal line will keep moving. We haven’t scratched the surface of where we are going. But regardless of what the line is, happiness will accompany us along the way.
In closing, LeadingAge delivered yet again. I walked away from LeadingAge 2024 with a renewed energy to be better in all aspects of my life, including here at Senior Sign. I guess as in the picture below - we are just a group of “Lucky Bastards.”
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