Keller William’s Annual Family Reunion convention was held “hybrid” style this past weekend. Thousands of Agents gathered in Orlando, Florida to mastermind and learn from the very best leaders and Teams in the Real Estate industry. This year, we decided to soak in the knowledge from our office.

We were blown away by this year’s Keynote Speaker – Shawn Achor – Author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential. 

Shawn’s keynote speech incorporated pieces of his TedTalk and we are exploding with takeaways! (If you haven’t seen his TedTalk…watch it!! He’ll say all of this 10x better. You won’t regret it!)

🙂 Happiness is not an individual sport. In the example of the hill story, hills appear 20 to 30% steeper when you are looking at it alone. Looking at a hill with another brain will transform the perception that the hill is easier to climb.

🙂 Change to mindset changes the way we view the world and changes our brain positively. Other peoples brains can impact your brain – happiness IS contagious.

🙂 Our genes set an initial baseline for optimism/pessimism but genes can change by creating small blocks of change. It’s completely possible for someone to go from pessimistic genes to optimistic genes. For example, our teeth genes say that we should have rotted teeth by age 15 in this high-level sugar society but, we can change this by simply brushing our teeth. Gene’s only set the baseline.

🙂 Gratitude is the glue that keeps us more resilient. Shawn encouraged us to try journaling about positive experiences which is one of the fastest interventions to find the meaning of life. Specifically, write 3 things each day that you are grateful for that occurred within the past 24 hours. 

🙂 Another exercise he explained is to take 2 minutes each day to send a text or email to someone sending praise or thanking them for one meaningful thing. Keep up this habit and by Day #8 you’ll really see results. Social connection is the greatest predictor of your happiness. “Loneliness is not the absence of people,” Achor explained. “It’s the absence of feeling like you have a meaningful impact upon them, or they have [a meaningful impact] on you.”