317-How The Medical School Syndrome And Negative News Affects Your Happiness

We all know watching the news doesn’t make us feel good, but does it scientifically matter for our well-being? Listen in to find out. 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2-ish minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and the medical school syndrome is this idea that in medical school the very first year, you read through all of the disease and symptoms that could happen and suddenly you start to think you have them all.  It’s the way our brains work.    

 

When we turn on the TV news and it’s all negative, we start to think that the world is all negative, that the sky is falling.   We see that the majority of the information is not positive and our brains start to think that is the ratio between positive and negative in the world. 

 

What researchers have found is that as little as three minutes of negative news in the morning affects our day. Even 8-hours later we are 27% more likely to report a negative day.  Shawn Achor says this negative news is transforming the course of our day.  

 

What positive psychology scientists research and prove is that It’s not the reality that shapes us but the lens we view the world around us through.  

 

We’ve talked about this idea in a slightly different way on this podcast, behavior contagion, where birds of a feather flock together, when if the people you hang out with are happy, you are more likely to be happy.  

 

What we know is that you can trump your genes and your environment in just two-minutes a day by practicing daily happiness habits, like gratitude and random acts of kindness.  

 

Today is a short episode.  I invite you to reflect on what you consume and ask yourself if you are setting yourself up for a positive day.  And reflect on any changes you may want to consider.  If you’re open, I’d love to know what changes you want to make.  I’m over @everydayhappinesswithkatie on social.  You can also subscribe to get a daily recap of the episodes to read in your inbox over at www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness. 

 

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