01 Mar Happiness: what we can learn from our elders
via Business Insider by Shana Lebowitz
Would that we could combine the best parts of youth and old age.
Think physical strength plus existential wisdom. Good looks plus the knowledge of what you want in a partner.
Obviously, life doesn’t work that way. But I recently came across a potential exception to that rule in “Pre-suasion,” psychologist Robert Cialdini’s new book on using the art of influence to motivate yourself and others to do what you want.
Cialdini, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University and the CEO and president of Influence at Work, devotes a section of the book to what he calls the “positivity paradox”: People tend to be happier when they’re older, even as their physical and mental health are deteriorating.
Instead of accepting that phenomenon as intractable reality, Cialdini urges readers to adopt the same strategies older people use to maintain their positive attitude. In other words, to combine the comparative exhilaration of youth with the older person’s ability to appreciate it.
The strategy here is simple: Start paying attention to the positive aspects of your life…
…keep reading the full & original article HERE