Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

This article points to a study done with almost 1 million U.S. military soldiers. While the researchers expected that well-being and optimism matter, they were taken aback by just how much they mattered. Four times as many awards (the military’s consummate measure of performance) were earned by the happiest soldiers (upper quartile) compared with those who were unhappiest (lower quartile). You might dismiss this study as not pertaining to the business world; however, the U.S. Department of Defense is the single largest employer in the world. In fact, not only do happiness and optimism matter to employee performance, but they can predict how well employees will perform. As for my happiness, I was enlightened to learn that psychologists define happiness as how much positive emotion (enjoyment, enthusiasm, inspiration, or pride) someone experiences. So yes, I am very happy.