WEBVTT 00:00:15.260 --> 00:00:18.747 When I was seven years old and my sister was just five years old, 00:00:18.830 --> 00:00:21.177 we were playing on top of a bunk bed. 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.227 I was two years older than my sister at the time -- 00:00:24.310 --> 00:00:26.487 I mean, I'm two years older than her now -- 00:00:26.570 --> 00:00:29.827 but at the time it meant she had to do everything that I wanted to do, 00:00:29.910 --> 00:00:33.257 and I wanted to play war. So we were up on top of our bunk beds. 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:35.377 And on one side of the bunk bed, 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:38.007 I had put out all of my G.I. Joe soldiers and weaponry. 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:40.927 And on the other side were all my sister's My Little Ponies 00:00:41.010 --> 00:00:42.387 ready for a cavalry charge. 00:00:42.470 --> 00:00:45.707 There are differing accounts of what actually happened that afternoon, 00:00:45.790 --> 00:00:49.937 but since my sister is not here with us today, let me tell you the true story -- 00:00:50.020 --> 00:00:53.637 (Laughter) which is my sister's a little on the clumsy side. 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:56.687 Somehow, without any help or push from her older brother at all, 00:00:56.770 --> 00:00:59.177 Amy disappeared off of the top of the bunk bed 00:00:59.260 --> 00:01:01.127 and landed with this crash on the floor. 00:01:01.210 --> 00:01:03.167 I nervously peered over the side of the bed 00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:05.177 to see what had befallen my fallen sister 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:08.057 and saw that she had landed painfully on her hands and knees 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:11.927 on all fours on the ground. I was nervous because my parents had charged me 00:01:12.010 --> 00:01:13.817 with making sure that my sister and I 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:16.177 played as safely and as quietly as possible. 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:21.177 And seeing as how I had accidentally broken Amy's arm just one week before -- 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:23.200 (Laughter) 00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:26.297 (Laughter ends) 00:01:26.380 --> 00:01:30.987 heroically pushing her out of the way of an oncoming imaginary sniper bullet, 00:01:31.070 --> 00:01:33.047 (Laughter) 00:01:33.130 --> 00:01:37.147 for which I have yet to be thanked, I was trying as hard as I could -- 00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:41.137 she didn't even see it coming -- I was trying hard to be on my best behavior. 00:01:41.220 --> 00:01:44.767 And I saw my sister's face, this wail of pain and suffering and surprise 00:01:44.850 --> 00:01:47.477 threatening to erupt from her mouth and wake my parents 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.097 from the long winter's nap for which they had settled. 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:51.277 So I did the only thing 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:54.737 my frantic seven year-old brain could think to do to avert this tragedy. 00:01:54.820 --> 00:01:57.627 And if you have children, you've seen this hundreds of times. 00:01:57.710 --> 00:02:00.377 I said, "Amy, wait. Don't cry. Did you see how you landed? 00:02:00.460 --> 00:02:02.580 No human lands on all fours like that. 00:02:03.850 --> 00:02:06.177 Amy, I think this means you're a unicorn." 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:12.857 (Laughter) Now, that was cheating, because there was nothing she would want more 00:02:12.940 --> 00:02:15.517 than not to be Amy the hurt five year-old little sister, 00:02:15.600 --> 00:02:19.127 but Amy the special unicorn. Of course, this option was open to her brain 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:20.337 at no point in the past. 00:02:20.420 --> 00:02:23.457 And you could see how my poor, manipulated sister faced conflict, 00:02:23.540 --> 00:02:25.857 as her little brain attempted to devote resources 00:02:25.940 --> 00:02:29.177 to feeling the pain and suffering and surprise she just experienced, 00:02:29.260 --> 00:02:31.747 or contemplating her new-found identity as a unicorn. 00:02:31.830 --> 00:02:34.737 And the latter won. Instead of crying or ceasing our play, 00:02:34.820 --> 00:02:38.507 instead of waking my parents, with all the negative consequences for me, 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:42.297 a smile spread across her face and she scrambled back up onto the bunk bed 00:02:42.380 --> 00:02:48.167 with all the grace of a baby unicorn -- (Laughter) with one broken leg. 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:51.897 What we stumbled across at this tender age of just five and seven -- 00:02:51.980 --> 00:02:53.597 we had no idea at the time -- 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.717 was was going be at the vanguard of a scientific revolution 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:00.197 occurring two decades later in the way that we look at the human brain. 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.137 We had stumbled across something called positive psychology, 00:03:03.220 --> 00:03:06.917 which is the reason I'm here today and the reason that I wake up every morning. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:08.977 When I started talking about this research 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:11.277 outside of academia, with companies and schools, 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:14.377 the first thing they said to never do is to start with a graph. 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:16.857 The first thing I want to do is start with a graph. 00:03:16.940 --> 00:03:18.177 This graph looks boring, 00:03:18.260 --> 00:03:21.157 but it is the reason I get excited and wake up every morning. 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.937 And this graph doesn't even mean anything; it's fake data. 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:28.177 What we found is -- (Laughter) 00:03:28.260 --> 00:03:31.177 If I got this data studying you, I would be thrilled, 00:03:31.260 --> 00:03:35.177 because there's a trend there, and that means that I can get published, 00:03:35.260 --> 00:03:37.177 which is all that really matters. 00:03:37.260 --> 00:03:41.797 There is one weird red dot above the curve, there's one weirdo in the room -- 00:03:41.880 --> 00:03:46.177 I know who you are, I saw you earlier -- that's no problem. 00:03:46.260 --> 00:03:50.177 That's no problem, as most of you know, because I can just delete that dot. 00:03:50.260 --> 00:03:53.307 I can delete that dot because that's clearly a measurement error. 00:03:53.390 --> 00:03:56.697 And we know that's a measurement error because it's messing up my data. 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.947 (Laughter) So one of the first things we teach people 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:02.787 in economics, statistics, business and psychology courses 00:04:02.870 --> 00:04:05.977 is how, in a statistically valid way, do we eliminate the weirdos. 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:09.377 How do we eliminate the outliers so we can find the line of best fit? 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:11.497 Which is fantastic if I'm trying to find out 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:14.277 how many Advil the average person should be taking -- two. 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.107 But if I'm interested in your potential, 00:04:17.190 --> 00:04:20.177 or for happiness or productivity or energy or creativity, 00:04:20.260 --> 00:04:22.777 we're creating the cult of the average with science. 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:26.897 If I asked a question like, "How fast can a child learn how to read in a classroom?" 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:28.407 scientists change the answer to 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:31.767 "How fast does the average child learn how to read in that classroom?" 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:33.937 and we tailor the class towards the average. 00:04:34.020 --> 00:04:37.107 If you fall below the average, then psychologists get thrilled, 00:04:37.190 --> 00:04:41.177 because that means you're depressed or have a disorder, or hopefully both. 00:04:41.260 --> 00:04:43.677 We're hoping for both because our business model is, 00:04:43.760 --> 00:04:46.177 if you come into a therapy session with one problem, 00:04:46.260 --> 00:04:49.877 we want to make sure you leave knowing you have ten, so you keep coming back. 00:04:49.960 --> 00:04:52.117 We'll go back into your childhood if necessary, 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:54.417 but eventually we want to make you normal again. 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:55.877 But normal is merely average. 00:04:55.960 --> 00:04:59.247 And positive psychology posits that if we study what is merely average, 00:04:59.330 --> 00:05:01.607 we will remain merely average. 00:05:01.690 --> 00:05:03.927 Then instead of deleting those positive outliers, 00:05:04.010 --> 00:05:08.027 what I intentionally do is come into a population like this one and say, why? 00:05:08.110 --> 00:05:09.977 Why are some of you high above the curve 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:12.587 in terms of intellectual, athletic, musical ability, 00:05:12.670 --> 00:05:16.377 creativity, energy levels, resiliency in the face of challenge, sense of humor? 00:05:16.460 --> 00:05:19.947 Whatever it is, instead of deleting you, what I want to do is study you. 00:05:20.030 --> 00:05:21.877 Because maybe we can glean information, 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:24.057 not just how to move people up to the average, 00:05:24.140 --> 00:05:27.477 but move the entire average up in our companies and schools worldwide. 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:29.477 The reason this graph is important to me 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:32.577 is, on the news, the majority of the information is not positive. 00:05:32.660 --> 00:05:33.677 in fact it's negative. 00:05:33.760 --> 00:05:36.877 Most of it's about murder, corruption, diseases, natural disasters. 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:38.977 And very quickly, my brain starts to think 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:41.997 that's the accurate ratio of negative to positive in the world. 00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:44.227 This creates "the medical school syndrome." 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:46.807 During the first year of medical training, 00:05:46.890 --> 00:05:50.217 as you read through a list of all the symptoms and diseases, 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:52.467 suddenly you realize you have all of them. 00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:56.597 (Laughter) I have a brother in-law named Bobo, which is a whole other story. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:02.107 Bobo married Amy the unicorn. Bobo called me on the phone -- (Laughter) 00:06:02.190 --> 00:06:06.477 from Yale Medical School, and Bobo said, "Shawn, I have leprosy." 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.787 (Laughter) Which, even at Yale, is extraordinarily rare. 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:13.177 But I had no idea how to console poor Bobo 00:06:13.260 --> 00:06:16.057 because he had just gotten over an entire week of menopause. 00:06:16.140 --> 00:06:20.177 (Laughter) We're finding it's not necessarily the reality that shapes us, 00:06:20.260 --> 00:06:23.977 but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:27.277 And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.947 we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time. 00:06:31.030 --> 00:06:32.477 I applied to Harvard on a dare. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:35.677 I didn't expect to get in, and my family had no money for college. 00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:38.877 When I got a military scholarship two weeks later, they let me go. 00:06:38.960 --> 00:06:41.677 Something that wasn't even a possibility became a reality. 00:06:41.760 --> 00:06:44.677 I assumed everyone there would see it as a privilege as well, 00:06:44.760 --> 00:06:46.377 that they'd be excited to be there. 00:06:46.460 --> 00:06:48.877 Even in a classroom full of people smarter than you, 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:51.377 I felt you'd be happy just to be in that classroom. 00:06:51.460 --> 00:06:54.077 But what I found is, while some people experience that, 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:55.877 when I graduated after my four years 00:06:55.960 --> 00:06:59.477 and then spent the next eight years living in the dorms with the students -- 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:01.377 Harvard asked me to; I wasn't that guy. 00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:06.577 (Laughter) I was an officer to counsel students through the difficult four years. 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:08.367 And in my research and my teaching, 00:07:08.450 --> 00:07:11.167 I found that these students, no matter how happy they were 00:07:11.250 --> 00:07:13.877 with their original success of getting into the school, 00:07:13.960 --> 00:07:17.677 two weeks later their brains were focused, not on the privilege of being there, 00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:21.177 nor on their philosophy or physics, but on the competition, the workload, 00:07:21.260 --> 00:07:22.877 the hassles, stresses, complaints. 00:07:22.960 --> 00:07:26.077 When I first went in there, I walked into the freshmen dining hall, 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.477 which is where my friends from Waco, Texas, which is where I grew up -- 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.877 I know some of you know this. When they'd visit, they'd look around, 00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:36.077 and say, "This dining hall looks like something out of Hogwart's." 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.677 It does, because that was Hogwart's and that's Harvard. 00:07:38.760 --> 00:07:39.877 And when they see this, 00:07:39.960 --> 00:07:43.177 they say, "Why do you waste your time studying happiness at Harvard? 00:07:43.260 --> 00:07:46.277 What does a Harvard student possibly have to be unhappy about?" 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:50.377 Embedded within that question is the key to understanding the science of happiness. 00:07:50.460 --> 00:07:52.077 Because what that question assumes 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.177 is that our external world is predictive of our happiness levels, 00:07:55.260 --> 00:07:58.277 when in reality, if I know everything about your external world, 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:00.777 I can only predict 10% of your long-term happiness. 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:04.577 90 percent of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:06.797 but by the way your brain processes the world. 00:08:06.880 --> 00:08:10.327 And if we change it, if we change our formula for happiness and success, 00:08:10.410 --> 00:08:13.177 we can change the way that we can then affect reality. 00:08:13.260 --> 00:08:17.177 What we found is that only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ, 00:08:17.260 --> 00:08:19.177 75 percent of job successes 00:08:19.260 --> 00:08:22.177 are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support 00:08:22.260 --> 00:08:25.477 and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat. 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:29.177 I talked to a New England boarding school, probably the most prestigious one, 00:08:29.260 --> 00:08:30.977 and they said, "We already know that. 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:34.677 So every year, instead of just teaching our students, we have a wellness week. 00:08:34.760 --> 00:08:37.977 And we're so excited. Monday night we have the world's leading expert 00:08:38.060 --> 00:08:39.877 will speak about adolescent depression. 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:42.137 Tuesday night it's school violence and bullying. 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:43.977 Wednesday night is eating disorders. 00:08:44.060 --> 00:08:45.677 Thursday night is illicit drug use. 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:49.127 And Friday night we're trying to decide between risky sex or happiness." 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:52.347 (Laughter) I said, "That's most people's Friday nights." 00:08:52.430 --> 00:08:58.177 (Laughter) (Applause) 00:08:58.260 --> 00:09:01.057 Which I'm glad you liked, but they did not like that at all. 00:09:01.140 --> 00:09:02.177 Silence on the phone. 00:09:02.260 --> 00:09:05.477 And into the silence, I said, "I'd be happy to speak at your school, 00:09:05.560 --> 00:09:08.177 but that's not a wellness week, that's a sickness week. 00:09:08.260 --> 00:09:10.877 You've outlined all the negative things that can happen, 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:12.577 but not talked about the positive." 00:09:12.660 --> 00:09:14.377 The absence of disease is not health. 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:15.777 Here's how we get to health: 00:09:15.860 --> 00:09:18.577 We need to reverse the formula for happiness and success. 00:09:18.660 --> 00:09:21.277 In the last three years, I've traveled to 45 countries, 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.777 working with schools and companies in the midst of an economic downturn. 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:26.877 And I found that most companies and schools 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:28.977 follow a formula for success, which is this: 00:09:29.060 --> 00:09:31.077 If I work harder, I'll be more successful. 00:09:31.160 --> 00:09:33.477 And if I'm more successful, then I'll be happier. 00:09:33.560 --> 00:09:36.277 That undergirds most of our parenting and managing styles, 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:38.177 the way that we motivate our behavior. 00:09:38.260 --> 00:09:41.817 And the problem is it's scientifically broken and backwards for two reasons. 00:09:41.900 --> 00:09:43.577 Every time your brain has a success, 00:09:43.660 --> 00:09:46.377 you just changed the goalpost of what success looked like. 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:49.077 You got good grades, now you have to get better grades, 00:09:49.160 --> 00:09:52.077 you got into a good school and after you get into a better one, 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:54.677 you got a good job, now you have to get a better job, 00:09:54.760 --> 00:09:57.177 you hit your sales target, we're going to change it. 00:09:57.260 --> 00:10:01.077 And if happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there. 00:10:01.160 --> 00:10:04.177 We've pushed happiness over the cognitive horizon, as a society. 00:10:04.260 --> 00:10:07.877 And that's because we think we have to be successful, then we'll be happier. 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:09.967 But our brains work in the opposite order. 00:10:10.050 --> 00:10:12.977 If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, 00:10:13.060 --> 00:10:16.237 then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.177 which is your brain at positive performs significantly better 00:10:19.260 --> 00:10:21.067 than at negative, neutral or stressed. 00:10:21.150 --> 00:10:24.517 Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.717 In fact, we've found that every single business outcome improves. 00:10:27.800 --> 00:10:29.867 Your brain at positive is 31% more productive 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:32.207 than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. 00:10:32.290 --> 00:10:35.727 You're 37% better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate 00:10:35.810 --> 00:10:37.677 at coming up with the correct diagnosis 00:10:37.760 --> 00:10:40.377 when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed. 00:10:40.460 --> 00:10:42.277 Which means we can reverse the formula. 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.077 If we can find a way of becoming positive in the present, 00:10:45.160 --> 00:10:47.147 then our brains work even more successfully 00:10:47.230 --> 00:10:50.077 as we're able to work harder, faster and more intelligently. 00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:52.177 We need to be able to reverse this formula 00:10:52.260 --> 00:10:55.177 so we can start to see what our brains are actually capable of. 00:10:55.260 --> 00:10:58.477 Because dopamine, which floods into your system when you're positive, 00:10:58.560 --> 00:11:01.567 has two functions. Not only does it make you happier, 00:11:01.650 --> 00:11:04.167 it turns on all of the learning centers in your brain 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:06.767 allowing you to adapt to the world in a different way. 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:09.467 We've found there are ways that you can train your brain 00:11:09.550 --> 00:11:11.167 to be able to become more positive. 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:14.167 In just a two-minute span of time done for 21 days in a row, 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:15.867 we can actually rewire your brain, 00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:19.767 allowing your brain to actually work more optimistically and more successfully. 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:23.667 We've done these things in research now in every company that I've worked with, 00:11:23.750 --> 00:11:26.967 getting them to write down three new things that they're grateful for 00:11:27.050 --> 00:11:29.277 for 21 days in a row, three new things each day. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.377 And at the end of that, their brain starts to retain a pattern 00:11:32.460 --> 00:11:35.877 of scanning the world not for the negative, but for the positive first. 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.477 Journaling about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours 00:11:39.560 --> 00:11:41.057 allows your brain to relive it. 00:11:41.140 --> 00:11:43.737 Exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters. 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:45.737 We find that meditation allows your brain 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:48.337 to get over the cultural ADHD that we've been creating 00:11:48.420 --> 00:11:50.237 by trying to do multiple tasks at once 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.747 and allows our brains to focus on the task at hand. 00:11:52.830 --> 00:11:56.047 And finally, random acts of kindness are conscious acts of kindness. 00:11:56.130 --> 00:11:59.547 We get people, when they open up their inbox, to write one positive email 00:11:59.630 --> 00:12:02.247 praising or thanking somebody in their support network. 00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:03.747 And by doing these activities 00:12:03.830 --> 00:12:06.447 and by training your brain just like we train our bodies, 00:12:06.530 --> 00:12:09.947 what we've found is we can reverse the formula for happiness and success, 00:12:10.030 --> 00:12:13.777 and in doing so, not only create ripples of positivity, but a real revolution. 00:12:13.860 --> 00:12:15.960 Thank you very much. (Applause)