“Dopamine, which your brain makes when you’re happy, has one important side effect: It makes you smarter. A positive brain is 31% more productive.” This is a quote from this article titled, “Harvard psychologist explains how to achieve happiness—and it’s actually simple.”

Earlier this year I attended the California Conference for Women…

…and one of the speakers was this Harvard psychologist—Shawn Achor. 

I admit that at first I wondered why they didn’t choose a woman to kick off the CA Conference for Women, but I quickly got on board with their choice because Shawn’s talk ended up being my favorite of the entire day.

You can catch a version of it in his TED talk here.

Below, I’ve shared the four takeaways from the article, but I promise if you can take 12 minutes out of your 24 hours today, you’ll get more from watching his TED talk.

Take two minutes every day and do one of these things:

1. Write down three new things that you’re grateful for.
2. Journal about one positive experience you’ve had in the last 24 hours.
3. Try meditation, to teach your brain to focus.
4. Use the first email you write every day to praise or thank someone you know. Spread the happy.

Cheering for you and your happiness.