Success and Well-Being. What comes first in your life?

Well-being, broadly understood as frequent positive emotions, regular experiences of positive activities, and a satisfying sense of meaning, matters far more than was once believed.  People who experience high levels of well-being are more successful across a wide range of areas such as relationships, work and health. In recent research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener people who reported high levels of well-being were:

o More socially active and likable

o More altruistic, exhibiting more pro-social behaviour

o In possession of higher self-esteem

o Living longer

o Having better physical health and stronger immune systems

o Coping better when they are ill

o In possession of better problem solving skills

o Exhibiting more creative thinking

o Earning more money and performing better at their jobs

o More resilient and better able to find positive meaning in adversity

So, it sems that although a relationship exists between well-being and success, it is more often the case that well-being comes before success. 

 A similar trend seems to be the case for resilience. Research has shown that people who reported frequent positive emotions and continued to experience them over the course of a month showed increased resilience at the end of that month. 

"More than education, more than experience, more than

training, resilience determines who succeeds and who fails."

Dr. Shatté - co-author of ‘The Resilience Factor’

“Your natural reserves of resilience affect your performance in work, school, your physical health, your mental health, and the quality of your relationships.

It is the basic ingredient to happiness and success.”

Dr. Karen Reivich - co-author of ‘The Resilience Factor’

Make time for yourself and others, today and every day.