Often, people believe that success is what brings happiness. The mindset can change how everybody views life and will result in more stress and less happiness, according to Shawn Achor. In his Ted Talk from May 2011, he shows that we should flip this around. Positivity leads to greater success and more happiness. Happiness is a driving force, not a goal. Achor argues for a different way to view happiness and success. “If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise.” (10:04) He claims that when we experience success, we raise our standards so that happiness becomes impossible to reach, when really, we should be using it to lead us to success. Shawn Achor utilizes humor throughout his entire talk. Not only does this lighten up the talk, it makes it so his message will appeal to everyone. His humorous stories and jokes keeps the audience engaged in what he is saying. Achor immediately makes use of ethos by talking about how he attended Harvard University and conducts a variety of research. His use of ethos makes sure that the viewers will trust him and his opinions. He also makes use of pathos and logos, which results in a convincing, effective talk. He provides his audience with facts about being positive and happiness, such a when he mentions that “dopamine, which floods into your system when you're positive, has two functions. Not only does it make you happier, it turns on all of the learning centers in your brain allowing you to adapt to the world in a different way.” (10:37)
In the American Dream, people strive for both happiness and success. They often view their success as correlating with their income, job, and how secure they feel within society, but it can also be how pleased they are with their work. Training oneself to have a more positive outlook changes the way they succeed. Success with stress and anxiety will not lead to better results and happiness, but positivity will. If Americans would challenge themselves to be more focused on the positive aspects of life rather than all their problems, success and fulfillment would be more prevalent. I enjoyed Achor’s talk because he is very humorous and inspiring. It reminds us that we should not be focused on the negative, but the positive, which can be so hard for people to remember in a society where we always make others aware of all the bad things that can happen. It is more rare to see people spread news of good things that happen. A positive attitude almost always results in a boosted performance. |