Get A Raise, Increase Revenue And Change The World By Broadcasting…Happiness?

I recently read an article in SUCCESS Magazine, addressing something I thought was nearly impossible—scientific proof of the possibility to change people around you for the better. Given the recent violence in Charlottesville and around the world, this seems like a timely, but absurd, notion. How can you realistically influence people to adopt a more positive outlook, to feel more hopeful, or to communicate in a more upbeat manner? It turns out there is a proven approach to infecting people with the happiness bug as explained in an interview with Michelle Gielan, researcher and author of the book Broadcasting Happiness, and also detailed in the work of her husband, Shawn Achor, fellow researcher in the field of Positive Psychology, Harvard graduate and author of “The Happiness Advantage” and “Before Happiness.”

What comes out is just as important as what comes in

I have written many blog articles over the years, sharing ways to become a happier person. (Here is a recent one.) The basic formula is to increase self-awareness in terms of what you’re taking in, (i.e. what you see, hear, read, listen to—including conversations you engage in) and take note of how these things affect your mood, emotions, and overall state of mind. The next step is to limit your exposure to toxic people and information, and specifically choose to expose yourself to positive input on a daily basis.

According to Gielan’s findings, it’s equally important to intentionally transmit positive intentions and messages to others. She describes it as deliberately broadcasting an optimistic message in everything you say and do, which is likely to create a positive ripple effect.

The Research

In one experiment, Gielan partnered with Cornell University and obtained permission to study 689,000 Facebook feeds. She inserted emotionally-uplifting posts in some of the feeds, and pessimistic posts into others to see what would happen. As predicted, a ripple effect occurred. The Facebook users re-posted the material with a similar rate of frequency, proving that we possess a basic inclination to broadcast whatever information we’re receiving regardless of its positive or negative nature.

The fact that our words have the power to create a cascading impact is not surprising, but what about the words we don’t say? Gielan’s research also explored the non-verbal aspect of communicating one’s disposition in the experiments conducted by University of California, Riverside. Three subjects were placed together in a room and told to do nothing for two minutes. During the time spent in silence, researchers took note of the body language presented by the participants such as facial expression, arm placement and eye contact. The purpose of the experiment was to discover what effect the most non-verbally expressive person in the room had on the people around them. The research determined that if the most expressive person in the room folded his arms, or had a slightly irritated look on his face, the rest of the participants felt agitated or uncomfortable. The exact opposite was also true. If the most expressive person smiled and exhibited an overall pleasant demeanor, the others reported feeling happier and more light-hearted.

As Gielan dug deeper into this phenomenon, she applied her findings to the business world stating:

“An optimistic mindset is infectious, and lays the groundwork for individual and collective success. Our research shows that broadcasting optimism can increase sales by 37% and can increase the likelihood of a promotion over the next year by 40%.”

Conversely, Gielan points out that exposure to only 3 minutes of depressing or disturbing news at the beginning of one’s day has a 27% likelihood of negatively affecting your emotions and overall mood, sometimes lasting up to 8 hours.

In short, you have the power to affect your mood and the mental/emotional states of the people in your life simply by exposing yourself to upbeat information. Gielan offers a tool that employs many of these findings to effectively steer someone towards an optimistic outlook using something she calls “The Power Lead.”

The Power Lead

Ultimately, you are not responsible for the emotional states of others, and cannot be expected to revolutionize the mindset of someone deeply rooted in negativity or determined to remain in a pessimistic state. However, The Power Lead has proven to effectively shift the mood of most everyone you encounter throughout your day.

When someone asks, “How are you doing?” and you instantly come forward with a negative reply, the person asking can respond in two ways—neither of which is desirable. He or she can feel bad can offer sympathy: “I’m so sorry to hear that,” or the person can commiserate, and possibly even decide to play the One-Up Game with you: “You think you have it bad—let me tell you about my day!” Of course, there will always be a challenging circumstance or element in our lives, calling for improvement and kicking our asses. This is a universal, human condition, but we’d do well to resist leading with bad news as a baseline conversation opener.

A better choice would be to guide the conversation toward positivity. For example, rather than saying, “I’m exhausted. Our 5 year-old is going through growing pains and kept me up all night,” you could say: “I’m great. I’ll be walking my daughter to the bus today, and she’s all excited about her kindergarten science project. This is a new discovery for her, and we’re thrilled about it! How’s your day going?” This positive spin opens the door for people to search for an upbeat item to share from their lives; and even if they don’t come up with anything in that particular conversation, you’ve planted a seed by sharing a positive tidbit with them at the beginning of their day. You might even think ahead, and identify a positive headline you can keep in your back pocket, ready to share when encountering people throughout your day.

When you are the one starting the conversation, rather than using the stock opener: “How are you doing?” or “How’s your day going? try leading with something simple and positive in your mutually-shared world. For example, you can focus something pleasant that’s mutually shared within your community: “Wow, what a gorgeous day—perfect weather for the music festival. How are YOU doing? Do you have plans for the weekend?”

Illustrating the power of this technique, Gielan shares a compelling story about a woman who used The Power Lead to spark better moods among her co-workers at the office, simply by interacting with them in a positive way. Ironically, this woman had suffered several personal tragedies in her life, but was determined to maintain a positive attitude by way of helping others feel good in their daily lives. This was a personal mission for her—and it filled her with joy to inspire an upbeat attitude in her work environment.

My Own Experiment

I’m naturally curious, and after reading this article, I wanted to give it a whirl and see if it actually works. For three days, I consciously tweaked my personal broadcast to be more positive. I started with my daughter at the breakfast table by saying “Wow what a beautiful morning. Aren’t these eggs perfect! How great we can share a meal together as a family today!” I noticed she was consistently more upbeat for the rest of the morning. I tried it with my neighbor, too, whose baseline attitude tends to be cranky. I started with a flattering comment about her garden and then asked how she was doing. I could see her soften up and become warmer within moments of our initial interaction. I also adopted this approach with one of my most self-deprecating clients. At the beginning of our conversation, she asked me about my weekend, which, it just so happens, was filled with news of local violence and tragedy. Rather than unloading my thoughts and feelings about those disturbing events, I reported the details of a joyful family adventure—an epic bike ride followed by an impromptu picnic—one of the best ever! By planting this positive seed, my client’s mood was raised, and she avoided falling into a negative spiral (which is her habit) and she even reflected on some of her own, personal successes from the past week, and gave herself a pat on the back, rather than my having to do that for her. This was a notable shift in the right direction!

You can’t change the entire world, of course, but you can make intentional choices in terms of steering clear of negative input, and transmitting positivity and optimism to the people in your life, helping them (and yourself) feel better and more hopeful on a daily basis. Because we do have the power to choose!

Try experimenting with positive broadcasting over the next few days, and let me know how it goes for you in the comment section below.

Note: For more on the source material read, “The Science of Changing Other People” in the August Issue of SUCCESS magazine.