Science says: You are what you think

The Science Behind “Create Happy”

Happiness isn’t luck or circumstance. It’s science. Design.org uses this science to help you “create happy” in your life.

Where does happiness come from?

Modern culture teaches us that:

Success leads to Happiness

In other words, all your life, you’ve been taught that your happiness is determined by external factors, like:

  • Where you go to school
  • Your IQ
  • Your grades
  • Your salary
  • Your productivity
  • Your accomplishments

Science, however, disagrees.

More and more, science is showing that the modern way of thinking is completely backwards. In reality, the pattern is:

Happiness leads to Success

Design.org is centered around this idea: that your thoughts can help you create your own happiness, which will in turn lead you to success.

Our self-assessment, personalized coaching, and affirmation packs take the science on happiness and help you apply it to your life, so that you can “create happy”—right now, in the present, regardless of circumstance or external factors.

The Design.org method can help you learn for yourself that if you can create happiness now, success will follow.

Scientific findings on happiness

We’ve learned for ourselves that happiness leads to success, but we’re not the only ones. Scientific studies have been conducted on the subject, and they’ve found that:

  • Happy people “tend to feel confident, optimistic and energetic and others find them likeable and sociable.1
  • “Positive ideation can be used to effectively counter worry.2
  • “Happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health.3” 
  • Positive mood is correlated with fewer illnesses, lower reported pain (based on a study of sickle cell disease patients), and lowered likelihood of drinking and smoking.3
  • Other health benefits of positive thinking include: increased life span, lower rates of depression, better psychological and physical well-being, better cardiovascular health, and greater resistance to the common cold.4
  • “The unique contribution of positive attitude to math achievement is as large as the contribution from IQ.5
  • “Your brain at positive is 31%  more productive than your brain at negative, neutral, or stressed. You are 37% better at sales, doctors are 19% faster and more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis.6” 

In short, science says that happiness leads to success, not the other way around.

Creating Happy: creativity, thoughts and positive affirmations

But if happiness doesn’t come from external circumstances, how can we create it?

Creativing

At Design.org, we’re big on creativity. We believe that creating is what brings meaning to life; it’s what makes you truly happy.

Creativity is scientifically linked to happiness as well. In fact, studies have been done that show:

  • Participating in creative activities every day can improve your overall wellbeing7
  • Simple daily creativity both “fosters and reflects” psychological health8

Thoughts & Affirmations

"Happiness comes easier to some people, but happiness is a possibility for all if we change our behavior or mindset" —Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage

Just as there is science surrounding the benefits of happiness, there is science behind how to create it.

Today, a good amount of this research is centered around positive daily affirmations.

Positive affirmations: Positive statements that help combat negative thinking. 

Positive affirmations can be used to build confidence and motivation, to drive action, or to drive any other positive change in your life.

But do they work? The science says yes.

Science shows that positive affirmations can help:

  • Decrease health-deteriorating stress 8
  • Increase physical behavior 8
  • Activate “reward centers” in the brain 9
  • Help create an emotional buffer against negative or threatening information 10
  • Combat subconscious, negative self-talk 8
  • Preserve self-worth in the face of shortcomings 11

When you use self affirmations to change your thoughts, you can change your attitude, your behavior, and your life.

This is why Design.org offers affirmation packs that allow you to schedule positive affirmations to be emailed or texted to you on a daily basis. Our packs are centered around topics like “Being Fearless” and “Achieving Simplicity,” but we also allow you to create your own affirmations that speak to your unique needs.

Whether you want to receive one affirmation a day, or six, Design.org makes it easy to make affirmations a part of your daily positivity and happiness practices.

Want to get started with affirmations? The best place to start is with our assessment. It will help you discover where you’re at on your current journey toward a meaningful life, so you can start designing the thoughts that will move you forward.

How Design.org Can Help

Design.org takes the science behind creativity and happiness and incorporates it into a program that helps you “create happy” in your life.

We’ve already discussed our affirmations, but we believe that the maximum benefit we have to offer comes through our coaching sessions. 

Our weekly live Q+A coaching sessions utilize our innovative Egg framework to help you identify where you are, point you in the direction of where you want to be, and empower you to get there.

In short, we use the science of happiness to help you:

  • Conquer entropy through creation
  • Break free from fear
  • Embrace your fierce creativity
  • Use love as your ultimate guide and motivator

Interested? Become a Plus Member to attend our coaching sessions.

If you’re ever going to get there, you have to get started. Take our free assessment today, and take the first step toward creating the happiness you deserve.


Take the AssessmentLearn more about Design.org

Sources:

  1. 5 Scientific Studies that Prove the Power of Positive Thinking
  2. The power of positive thinking: Pathological worry is reduced by thought replacement in Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  3. The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?
  4. Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress
  5. New Stanford Study: A Positive Attitude Literally Makes Your Brain Work Better
  6. The happy secret to better work
  7. Everyday creative activity as a path to flourishing
  8. Everyday creativity in daily life: An experience-sampling study of “little c” creativity.
  9. Positive Daily Affirmations: Is There Science Behind It?
  10. Study Reveals the Neural Mechanics of Self-Affirmation
  11. Self-Affirmation Enhances Performance, Makes Us Receptive to Our Mistakes