Yoda Was Wrong About Happiness!
Yoda sure was wise…but it seems that he was wrong when he said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try!”
That is at least when it comes to being happy…
According to a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology by academics Yuna Ferguson and Kennon Sheldon, being happier can actually be as easy as “trying” to become happier. The results from their study suggest that people who were exposed to a happy environment (in this case listening to ‘happy music’) and simultaneously “tried” to be happy by focusing on improving their happiness, experienced far more happiness than people who were in the same happy environment and just focused on the music without actively trying to be happy.
The takeaway: Listening to positive or happy music is an effective way to improve happiness, but it’s even more powerful if you combine it with the intention to be happy.
In other words…try.
I’m a big Yoda fan and I actually tend to live my life by his famous quote. But it seems that for happiness, I’ll make the exception. How about you?
