( CNN ) -- Scientifically , can happiness be an advantage ? Some people think if you are happy , you are blind to reality . But when we research it , happiness actually raises every single business and educational outcome for the brain . How did we miss this ? Why do we have these societal misconceptions about happiness ? Because we assumed you were average . When we study people , scientists are often interested in what the average is . If we study what is merely average , we will remain merely average . Many people think happiness is genetic . That 's only half the story , because the average person does not fight their genes . When we stop studying the average and begin researching positive outliers -- people who are above average for a positive dimension like optimism or intelligence -- a wildly different picture emerges . Our daily decisions and habits have a huge impact upon both our levels of happiness and success . Watch Shawn Achor 's TED video to hear about this research . Scientifically , happiness is a choice . It is a choice about where your single processor brain will devote its finite resources as you process the world . If you scan for the negative first , your brain literally has no resources left over to see the things you are grateful for or the meaning embedded in your work . But if you scan the world for the positive , you start to reap an amazing advantage . See also : When losing your job is a positive . Now that there is research validity to these claims , the working world is starting to take notice . In January , I wrote the cover story for the Harvard Business Review magazine on `` Happiness Leads to Profits . '' Based on my article called `` Positive Intelligence '' and my research in The Happiness Advantage , I outlined our researched conclusion : the single greatest advantage in the modern economy is a happy and engaged workforce . A decade of research in the business world proves that happiness raises nearly every business and educational outcome : raising sales by 37 % , productivity by 31 % , and accuracy on tasks by 19 % , as well as a myriad of health and quality-of-life improvements . Given the unprecedented level of unhappiness at companies and the direct link between happiness and business outcomes , the question is NOT whether happiness should matter to companies . Given this research , it clearly should . The first question is : What can I do in my own life to reap the advantage of happiness ? See also : Ambition could make you rich , but not happy . Training your brain to be positive at work is just like training your muscles at the gym . Sounds simple , right ? Well , think about how easy it is to make yourself go to the gym . The key with any new resolution is to make it a habit . New research on neuroplasticity -- the ability of the brain to change even as an adult -- reveals that moderate actions can rewire the brain as you create `` life habits . '' In The Happiness Advantage , I challenge readers to do one brief positive exercise every day for 21 days . Only through behavioral change can information become transformation . • Write down three new things you are grateful for each day ; . • Write for two minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours ; . • Exercise for 10 minutes a day ; . • Meditate for two minutes , focusing on your breath going in and out ; . • Write one quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising someone in your social support network ( family member , friend , old teacher ) . But does it work ? In the midst of the worst tax season in history I did a three-hour intervention at auditing and tax accounting firm KPMG , describing how to reap the happiness advantage by creating one of these positive habits . Four months later , there was a 24 % improvement in job and life satisfaction . Not only is change possible , this is one of the first long-term ROI ( return on investment ) studies proving that happiness leads to long-term quantifiable positive change . In a study I performed on 1,600 Harvard students in 2007 , I found that there was a 0.7 correlation between perceived social support and happiness . This is higher than the connection between smoking and cancer . So if in the modern world we give up our social networks to work away from friends and follow celebrities on Twitter , we are trading off with our happiness and health . Following up , I switched around the questions and asked how much social support employees provided ( instead of received ) . The results were off the charts . Those high on provision of social support are 10 times more engaged at work and have a 40 % higher likelihood of promotion over the next four years . In other words , giving at the office gets you more than receiving . The greatest cultural myth in modern society is that we can not change . My research proves that you can not only become more positive , but if you prioritize happiness in the present , you can reap an extraordinary advantage . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Shawn Achor .
The greatest advantage in the economy is a happy workforce , argues Shawn Achor . Achor says if you scan the world for the positive , you start to reap an advantage . He explains how to train your brain to be positive at work .