Reading Comprehension (RC) | Research shows that when people work

Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level—productivity, creativity, engagement—improves. Yet the correlation between happiness and performance is perhaps not so easily understood by many. For one, most people believe that success precedes happiness, but, because success is a moving target, the happiness that results from success is fleeting. Instead people who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of a challenge. In a meta-analysis of 225 academic studies, researchers found strong evidence of directional causality between life satisfaction and successful business outcomes.

What is even more encouraging is that even though our genetics and our environment have an impact on how happy we are, our general sense of well-being is surprisingly malleable. Our habits, our interactions with coworkers, our attitude towards stress—all these aspects can be managed to increase our happiness and our chances of success. Habits such as taking short breaks and constantly having a positive engagement with coworkers not only reduce stress substantially but also enhance our productivity and thus better our prospects of professional success. Accordingly, encouraging employees to accept some level of stress as an inevitability and perceive it as a motivator and a fuel to growth, is vital for boosting the performance of the workforce.