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Money Makes Us Feel Good

Neurological experiments show that even the hope of getting a monetary reward sets off our brain’s pleasure receptors. But you don’t need to read brain scans to see how money makes us feel and react—just walk into a casino and watch both the winners and the losers.If money can make us happy, does having more money make us happier? Just how much does it take to make us feel better?While 7 out of 10 Americans say they would be happier if they had more money, even a 50 percent pay raise isn’t enough for most to give up time with their children and family. That’s what a survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted a year ago by New York Life Insurance Company found.The survey is part of the Fortune 100 company’s “Keep Good Going” initiative to explore American’s attitudes and expectations on cultivating goodness within family, personal life, work and community.“Despite the impact of a tough economic environment and people’s conviction that life would be easier with more money, a 50 percent pay raise still didn’t move the needle when it came to cutting down on time spent with family—children and spouses. This is very telling about what Americans value,” said Liz McCarthy, senior vice president and head of corporate communications for New York Life.In other words, once your basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are met, it’s less about money and more about interactions with others that makes for a more satisfying life. Other studies share similar outcomes:A recent survey by Cangrade, a job candidate screening company, found that money accounted for only 5.4 percent of employee happiness on the job. It turns out that power and influence, achievement/prestige, work-life balance, and affiliation and friendship all ranked higher, a surprise for many employers.Research from Princeton University professors Angus Deaton and Daniel Kahneman suggests that high-income individuals aren’t necessarily happier, but emotional well-being rose until annual income hit about $75,000. “Beyond $75,000 in the contemporary U.S., however, higher income is neither the road to experienced happiness nor the road to the relief of unhappiness or stress, although higher income continues to improve individuals’ life evaluations,” the researchers reported.The Harvard Grant Study, which began in 1938, followed 268 men for about 75 years to uncover what made them happy and successful in old age. George Vaillant, one of Harvard’s directors for the study, reported the significant finding: Relationships matter. A lot.So in the long run, it’s not more money but our social connections and personal relationships that bring happiness and satisfaction. Given that tenet, how can you budget for joy, or the happiness factor? Here are 7 ideas that won’t deplete your bank account:Buy lunch or coffee for someone once a month. You might be surprised at how appreciated a $2 coffee can be.Remember someone’s birthday with a phone call, card or visit.Plan an event with friends or family—connect and make memories together on a vacation, reunion or just an afternoon trip to the park or zoo.Deliver an unexpected treat to make someone’s day—a baked goodie for a neighbor or a book/flowers/candy for a friend or child’s teacher.Lend a helping hand—rake leaves, make a grocery run or repair a faucet for an elderly person.Write notes or send cards frequently—thank-you notes are great, but people love “thinking of you” greetings too.Give to a cause, whether it’s buying popcorn from the neighborhood Scouts or running a 5k to support cancer survivors.Joanne Kuster is a writer and financial educator who currently writes and operates The Money Godmother blog. She is the author of the award-winning Stock Market Pie and Entrepreneur Extraordinaire.
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Why Cooking Makes Me Happy

I’m often taken by curiosity when I meet people who don’t give a thought about cooking. “When William’s not here,” a neighbor said to me the other day over a backyard glass of wine, “I don’t think about what I eat since he does the cooking. A can of green beans or a box of mac ’n’ cheese is fine with me.”Although I like Dana, I feel a little sorry for her. Barbra Streisand once sang these lyrics about being alone: “not to share a pair of pork chops/when you crave champagne and cheese.” When Dana is by herself there’s a missed opportunity for her to indulge herself in food she truly loves, whether she cooks it or treats herself to a meal in a restaurant.Because I do live alone, I only have myself to indulge food-wise. Sometimes dinner is a quick throw-together meal of pasta and sautéed veggies. Oftentimes it’s my favorite: a roasted chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots. On weekends there might be a cassoulet and the time to bake. And sometimes it’s champagne and cheese.This is what makes me happy. It’s not just the eating. It’s the decision making, often spontaneous while I’m shopping. It’s the prep. It’s the doing, the chopping, the slicing. It’s the aroma. And then, finally, it’s the eating.As a food writer, I suppose I should have charming childhood stories about cooking. But I don’t. My mother was a working mom—TV dinners, frozen potpies,and grilled cheese sandwiches were weeknight staples. She had a few special recipes she made on the weekends—chop suey with lots of exotic canned vegetables was one of them.My grandmas didn’t live near us, so there were no Sunday mornings spent baking cookies with one of them, or Sunday nights learning secret family recipes. Perhaps that is why when I started to cook on my own—a late bloomer in my 20s—it became a particular joy for me. And, as a friend once said to me, “It helps pass the time.”It does help pass the time. Cooking takes a little effort. Now that time is built into my day and I look forward to it. The time I spend cooking for myself (the time I spend cooking for others is also pleasurable, but that’s another story) is the time I use to think about the day, let the bad parts dissolve and the good parts revive and marinate a little, like the pork tenderloin I just put in the fridge in a bath of mustard, honey and a handful of herbs.Dare I speak like the baby-boomer-me-generation member that I am? Cooking makes me happy because it IS about me. It’s my selfish indulgence. It’s champagne and cheese, even when it’s not.StephenExelis a freelance food writer and editor whose work has appeared in Deck, Patio & Pool, Country Home and Figure. He is a contributing editor to Traditional Home magazine.
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Library—Profit from the Positive

Profit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your BusinessAugust 2013, McGraw-Hill EducationMargaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin set out to write a guidebook that would help people use the research findings of positive psychology. The tools they describe “don’t cost anything, and you don’t need anybody’s permission to implement them,” Margaret says.Here’s why these authors are uniquely qualified to share positivity tools: They met while earning their Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, and both are successful business coaches. “Every one of these tools is backed up by science,” Margaret says. Senia says people tell them, “These are really small things to implement—as soon as I’ve tried them, I can see the results.”The book is tightly organized into three parts and nine chapters. Numbered points make the chapters easy to follow. Margaret and Senia hope you take it along on an airplane ride and land ready to make changes.While the book promises to transform your business, the positive principles are tools anyone can use. Procrastinators will find the advice in “Trick Yourself into Getting Started” especially helpful—these tips help you get off dead center. For example, while they were collaborating on the book, Margaret made it a practice to write Senia an email about her progress. In her email, Margaret described as completed things she hadn’t finished, but she found it helped her begin working. (That’s tool No. 2.)Replace “bosses” with “parents,” and you have practical advice for family life. Margaret and Senia encourage a focus on the positive and an emphasis on recognizing strengths over criticizing shortfalls.The discussion guide at the back of the book, the website profitfromthepositive.com and a Facebook page encourage discussion. Senia says, “The learner mindset—the mindset of not being an expert and constantly learning—that’s something Margaret and I wear as a hat, and we really encourage.”These days, Margaret and Senia are taking their knowledge on the road. “Writing the book and researching it is the first phase,” Margaret says. “But now really getting it accessible and mainstreamed and in the hands of people, that’s the whole next phase.”
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What Makes the Live Happy Team Happy?

Happiness follows a different path for each of us. Some people are happy skydiving or jumping off of bridges (What!?!). While others like to fish, knit, sing or build a robot. I find my happiness in quieter spots, while others thrive on noise and movement. We are individuals and our happiness-print is as individual as our fingerprints.I am happiest when I’m being attacked by three little children (my own specifically). Their attempts to tickle mommy have me laughing much harder than the tickle itself. I love talking with my husband, reading a good book (or even a bad one), chatting with my mom and having some girl-time with my amazing friends.Here are some of the ways my co-workers here at Live Happy find their flow:I am happiest when I am actively engaged in what I'm doing - work, laughing with friends, being with family. But fully present - as though everything else falls away and all that exists is the moment I am in.People make me happy. My grandmother, my sisters, cousins and girlfriends, our dog (yes, she is a person). I’m happy being with my husband, and our kids, biking the Iowa countryside, volunteering, gardening, making a huge holiday dinner.Joy is what is given to me through faith. All of the ways it can manifest in my life, through my son, through my family and friends, through the simple thought of taking the time to think how beautiful the sky is today.A perfectly cooked, medium-rare ribeye. A beautiful Cabernet. Warm sand and salt water. Spending time with my sweetheart. Preferentially all at the same time (or the same day!), but I'll take them individually, too!I’m happy watching the wonderment and magic in my young daughter’s eyes when she discovers something new. It could be something as simple as seeing a ladybug for the first time or running in the rain. I think it is refreshing to go back and relive these experiences from a child’s perspective, so we don’t take everything so seriously that we can’t stop and appreciate life. Oh … and pizza. Pizza also makes me happy.I think it’s obvious that the Live Happy Team loves our families, friends and food. We really love our food.
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Achieving Happiness Despite Everyday Challenges

Learning that you or a loved one has a chronic illness is news you never want to hear. The knowledge of such information is often accompanied by feelings of fear, anger, and depression, which can cause debilitating, unnecessary stress. By understanding more about your condition and adopting a positive outlook on life, you can set the course for a better future.During my time at Harvard University, I focused on positive psychology, the scientific study of what makes people thrive. Research in the field has found a strong connection between an individual's mindset, social support system and well-being. Recently I have been able to leverage the research behind positive psychology to help people living with multiple sclerosis. Through a program called Everyday Matters sponsored by the National MS Society and Genzyme, I am working to provide tools and resources related to positive psychology, wellness, work/education, relationships, family, and empowerment to the community. As a chronic, unpredictable and often disabling disease, the power of positivity is extremely important in managing MS.In my bookThe Happiness Advantage, I've outlined the advice I've been giving to Everyday Matters participants into simple tips that can help those not only with a chronic disease such as MS, but everyone, in achieving a more empowered existence. You can see myTED talkto hear more about this research, which is described in brief below.Send an Appreciative EmailWhen you open your inbox for the first time each day, take two minutes to send an email to someone in your social support network (family member, friend, teacher, coach, coworker) praising him/her or thanking that person.Studies from Harvardshow this is so powerful that there is actually a correlation between happiness and social connection of 0.7, significantly higher than the correlation between smoking and cancer. Social connection can be aspredictive of your longevityas high blood pressure, obesity and smoking.Smiling Is ContagiousThrough astudy involving 11,000 hospital employeesover six months, it was found that smiling, making eye contact and simply saying hello within 10 feet of another person increased the hospital's patient satisfaction, the doctors' job satisfaction, and the likelihood to refer the hospital to others. This is because of the way neurons function in our body, lighting up at the receipt of a friendly gesture, telling our brains to smile when someone smiles at us and spreading the joy all around.Give ThanksThink of three things you are grateful for before you go to sleep for 21 days.The Happiness Advantage, and at the end of the study, participants were significantly more optimistic, and further, the change wasn't temporary -- the positive mindset lasted even six months later. An added effect: Increasing your optimism can improve your productive energy by 31 percent!Never Give Up On the Good TimesTake two minutes every day to write down every detail you can remember about one positive experience that occurred over the past 24 hours. As our brains can't tell much difference between visualization and actual experience, by rehashing a high point in the day you double the effect of that positive experience. Overall, this leads to greater life satisfaction and meaning. Studies have shown thatwomen who wrote about positive experienceswere 40 percent more likely to live to age 94 than their negative peers.Have FunBy adding 15 minutes of a fun, mindful activity to your day, like gardening, going on a walk or working out, your brain learns to believe that behaviors matter -- the core of optimism. In fact, in one study, researchers took people suffering from depressions and had half take an antidepressant and half do light aerobic exercise in order to train their brain to believe that their behavior matters. While there were equal drops in depression for the first few months, the group that added a habit of exercise had significantly lower chance of relapse back into depression 10 months later. Habits like the "Fun 15" help your brain record a victory, which creates a "cascade of success," where individuals start creating a constellation of positive habits around them, decreasing the likelihood for depression and despair.MeditateTake two minutes each day to stop what you're doing and watch your breath go in and out. This exercise trains your brain to do one thing at a time.Research suggeststhat a multitasking brain has a harder time falling asleep, is more stressed, and has lower energy. By taking time to relax the brain has a chance to undo the negative effects of trying to manage everything at once.As part of Everyday Matters, we're following five people through personal text, video and photo journals as they learn to apply these tips in their everyday lives. To see how they are doing, comment on their journeys, to offer your own gratitude, or to access resources about positive psychology you can visitwww.everydayMSmatters.org.Happiness is a choice, even in the midst of a chronic illness. By taking small steps, large goals can be accomplished, enhancing the outlook and overall well-being of those living with or affected by a life-altering disease.
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Happiness is Happening!

Welcome toLive Happy.We’re a new magazine, website and resource about a timeless quest: Living a happy life. Happiness is what we want for our children, for ourselves and for the world. Understanding happiness empowers us to make a positive difference in our lives and in the lives of others. It is a constant, renewable source of inspiration, energy and insight. And it’s free!Happiness is a lifelong journey that is different for each of us.We share common everyday happiness like having a good laugh, catching up with friends or sleeping in on the weekend. And we associate certain life milestones with happiness, like graduation, landing a new job, finding true love or becoming a parent. But how we define and measure our own happiness is very personal. Happiness is like a smile.We all have one. But mine is different from yours.Authentic happiness is the kind that lasts.Enjoying a piece of homemade pumpkin pie makes me happy, but its effect is fleeting. Being a wife and a mother makes me happy, and it is central to my overall satisfaction with life. Authentic happiness is linked to our values and priorities. Once we know what matters most to us, pivotal measures of happiness begin to take shape. The importance we place on material expressions of success and happiness diminishes as we look inward and ask the tough questions: Have I been blessed with the love and admiration of family and friends? Do I have spiritual peace? Have I helped someone else get ahead? Have I given back? The questions we choose and the resulting answers help define our authentic happiness.Understanding happiness takes an open mind.We are fortunate to be living in a time when the study of happiness is growing rapidly all around the globe. Led in large part by positive psychologists and their colleagues, this research proves previously elusive correlations, like the tie between compassion in the workplace and the bottom line. It also is breaking totally new ground, like the gene-level impact of positive emotions. Live Happy makes this science understandable and relevant. We report on innovative, cutting-edge research in the contextof real life, authentic issues and common-sense realities.Applying happiness is easy to do and its effect multiplies with repetition.Once we understand the power of happiness, it changes our thinking, actions and conversations. We all know people who make us happy. A few on my long list: My grandmother Evelyn, my sisters, cousins and girlfriends, Juna (our dog—yes, she is a person). And we all know what makes us happy. From my life: Being with my husband, Don, and our kids, Lauren and Alec, biking the Iowa countryside, volunteering, gardening, making a huge holiday dinner. If I imitate these people and repeat these activities, happiness is sure to show up. I know, and research shows, having a happiness hangover is a good thing.Is all this talk about happiness important?You bet it is. Happier people are healthier, more satisfied with life and their relationships, and they live longer. By helping people have a happy home and family life, make a good marriage, find and grow faith, work well with others, experience fun, creativityand joy, and live life well, Live Happybrings the happiness movement toa personal level.We’re pleased, excited and honored to be on this happiness journey with you.We’d love to hear your viewpoints on happiness; your thoughts on this issue and what to put in following ones are also appreciated. Please tell your friends and family about us!
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About Live Happy

Live Happy: Making your world a happier place. Live Happy takes you on a journey to find your authentic happiness in life, at work and at home through inspiring stories and hands-on tips rooted in the science of positive psychology. We area national magazine, website, podcast, line of gifts and apparel—but more than that, we are your home base for happiness. Our mission is to inspire and empower you to act to make your world a happier place. Happier people are healthier, more satisfied with life and their relationships, and more successful in their careers. Research shows that happier people even live longer. And happiness is a journey anyone can take, using the right tools. It starts with just one step. What We Do Our award-winning content offers in-depth features and the latest news on mindfulness, health and wellness, gratitude and resilience—all delivered through fascinating stories about people, whether they be celebrities, authors or ordinary people with extraordinary lives. On livehappy.com, you’ll find your favorite, shareable features from the magazine, plus mood-boosting book and movie recommendations, lifestyle blogs, tech columns and practical advice. You’ll also find our podcasts and Live Happy store—all in one place. Want to share happiness in Spanish? Go to Live Happy en Espanol. Live Happy Now Our popular Live Happy Now podcast launched in 2015 at the top of the charts and features thought leaders such as Shawn Achor, Jack Kornfield, Laurie Berkner and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Listen during your commute, while making dinner or anytime you need a boost of positivity. Live Happy Store Looking for a gift to delight a friend, teacher or neighbor? Or a T-shirt that expresses your radiant positivity? Visit the Live Happy Store today IPEN Live Happy is a proud sponsor to the International Positive Education Network; Live Happy Co-Founders Jeff Olson and Deborah K. Heisz both sit on IPEN’s Advisory Board. Founded by leaders in the fields of positive psychology and education, IPEN seeks to expand the use of mindfulness- and strengths-based teaching in classrooms to increase student and teacher well-being around the globe. Join us for the biennial IPEN Festival. Get Social With Us! We want to hear from you. Your needs, wants, opinions and puppy pics are important to us, and they make us very happy—so get in touch! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat. What People Are Saying About Live Happy Press Releases Awards In the News Contact Us Advertise With Us The Live Happy Team Deborah K.Heisz,CEO, Co-Founderand Editorial Director As CEO, Co-Founder and Editorial Director of Live Happy LLC, Deborah K.Heiszis responsible for the management and development of the Live Happy business and creative operations. She joins the Live Happy team with more than nine years of experience leading and growing successful startups in the publishing industry and 20-plus years of management experience in a variety of fast-moving organizations. Deborah was the founding Editor in Chief of the current version ofSUCCESSmagazine (2008-2011). Also, asSVPof Publishing, in 2005 she successfully launched a thriving custom publishing business with several newsstand titles. She has also led the development of several multi-language titles, including placement on newsstands in Korea, Japan and countries in Europe. Deborah has a B.A. in English from Texas Tech University and an MBA from the University of Dallas. Her most significant asset is her expertise in starting and developing business initiatives. In prior roles, she has successfully led groups with responsibilities ranging from IT to Marketing to Product Development. What brings her the most happiness in the world is spending time in the great outdoors with her family and dogs. Her greatest source of joy and wonder is watching her three children learn, experience life and ask questions without filter.
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Oh, you foolish Alice! she answered herself. 'How can you learn lessons in here? Why, there's hardly room for you, and no room at all for any lesson-books! And so she went on, taking first one side and then the other, and making quite a conversation of it altogether; but after a few minutes she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen. He took me for his housemaid,' she said to herself as she ran. 'How surprised he'll be when he finds out who I am! But I'd better take him his fan and gloves—that is, if I can find them.' As she said this, she came upon a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name Rabbit engraved upon it. She went in without knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the real Mary Ann, and be turned out of the house before she had found the fan and gloves. 'How queer it seems,' Alice said to herself, 'to be going messages for a rabbit! I suppose Dinah'll be sending me on messages next!' And she began fancying the sort of thing that would happen: '"Miss Alice! Come here directly, and get ready for your walk!" "Coming in a minute, nurse! But I've got to see that the mouse doesn't get out." Only I don't think,' Alice went on, 'that they'd let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering people about like that!' By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up the fan and a pair of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass. There was no label this time with the words 'DRINK ME,' but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips. 'I know SOMETHING interesting is sure to happen,' she said to herself, 'whenever I eat or drink anything; so I'll just see what this bottle does. I do hope it'll make me grow large again, for really I'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!' By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up the fan and a pair of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass. There was no label this time with the words 'DRINK ME,' but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips. 'I know SOMETHING interesting is sure to happen,' she said to herself, 'whenever I eat or drink anything; so I'll just see what this bottle does. I do hope it'll make me grow large again, for really I'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!' It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected: before she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing against the ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken. She hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself 'That's quite enough—I hope I shan't grow any more—As it is, I can't get out at the door—I do wish I hadn't drunk quite so much!'
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Michelle McQuaid

Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, workplace well-being teacher and playful change activator. She is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from positive psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies for health, happiness and success.An honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education, her work has been featured in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Boss magazine, The Age, Women’s Agenda, Wellbeing Magazine and more.She holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Appreciative Inquiry under the supervision of David Cooperrider.Michelle lives to help people discover their strengths, move beyond their fears, and finally discover what it truly takes to flourish with confidence.To learn more about Michelle visit www.michellemcquaid.com.
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Breck Costin

Breck has over 30 years of experience as a pioneering seminar leader and is known internationally for his groundbreaking work on emotional freedom, liberation and creativity. Breck is the founder of the Absolute Freedom seminars and has helped thousands of people see their lives with new clarity and freedom from unwanted patterns of behavior. He helps people pinpoint where they are stuck and then collaboratively finds creative solutions. Through honest and diligent exploration, Breck works to contest the beliefs that have not been challenged, examine the answers that have gone unquestioned, and confront the superstitions that have been deemed sacrosanct. His style is both direct and compassionate, and his focus allows people to dismantle their fantasies so they can develop a genuine sense of what is (and isn’t) possible. “Your fantasies must die,” he says, “for your dreams to come true.”For over 30 years, Breck has worked closely with actors, directors, heads of studios, Fortune 500 companies, therapists, individuals and families as a seminar leader, mentor, trainer and coach. He consulted organizations including NASA, JPL, major corporations, professional and college sports teams, and has been a featured guest on network television and radio shows. In addition to his seminar work, Breck has a private practice, BCC & Associates, in Los Angeles.Breck brings a playful spirit and open heart to all of his work. Everything Breck says and does is counterintuitive, which is what makes his work so fresh, so effective and so completely transformational.
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