How To Be Happier in 90 Seconds or Less
This works.
In the Harvard Course, “Managing Happiness” Arthur Brooks explores the intriguing connection between facial expressions and emotions, particularly focusing on the genuine manifestation of joy, known as the Duchenne smile.
This phenomenon, named after the French anatomist Duchenne de Boulogne who discovered it in 1862, reveals that authentic happiness involuntarily activates specific facial muscles. The zygomatic major (your cheek muscles) and the orbicularis oculi (located near the eyes and temples) together form what is universally recognized as a smile.
This smile isn't just a cultural expression; it's a global symbol of true joy, engaging the orbicularis oculi and zygomatic major. The link between the Duchenne smile and genuine happiness is so profound that the relationship works both ways. By consciously producing a Duchenne smile, we can actually cultivate feelings of happiness.
Try this simple experiment:
Hold a pencil or chopsticks between your teeth for 45 to 90 seconds. This act activates the orbicularis oculi and zygomaticus major muscles, signaling to your brain that you're experiencing joy. As a result, your heart rate may decrease, and your body releases tension, leading to a sense of happiness.
The Duchenne smile teaches us three key insights about happiness:
It's a universal human experience.
It has physiological markers.
It can be intentionally stimulated to enhance our mood.
So, if you're looking to boost your happiness swiftly, the solution might just be a smile away, and it only takes 90 seconds to start. Fake it till you make it works here.
Tag me on Instagram at @unhustle with your smile photo.
Fake it till you make it doesn't work for creating a more intentional, meaningful, and conscious way of living. Maybe it does. Speaking from experience, it took me decades to figure it out. And I want to save you decades of effort, struggle, and frustration.
I’m taking 8 people on the Unhustle Journey. Doors to the Unhustle Method close tomorrow and we have only 1 spot left. Learn how to create success without sacrifices. Are you coming? Smiles included.
Yours truly,
P.S. If you’re still wondering, “Do I have time for it,” then it’s absolutely for you. Get inside.