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| 1956 Wisc. Badgers Cheerleaders possibly cheering for Friday* |
Happy Friday!
After a very informal survey, resulting in not-so-surprising
results, most American’s least favorite day of the week is Monday and we
strongly favor Saturday. Friday beat out Sunday by a large margin, and Thursday
took a close fourth. Chances are your favorite days are Friday and Saturday as
well... But why?
Anticipation
Disclaimer: I’m no scientist, and wanted to write this quick
blog post in time to be relevant, so I didn’t do a lot more research, but I
believe it is because anticipation of happiness is almost as powerful as the
experience of happiness. The converse also applies, perhaps more so.
I mean, if you hate Mondays because of work/school, and love
Saturdays because of lack thereof, then it rationally follows that Sundays
should yield the same level of happiness as Saturdays. But they don’t for most
of us. Friday is also a workday (and often a more demanding workday), and yet,
we love Fridays. Some of us even prefer Thursdays to Sundays because the week
is almost over.
Your Weekend Homework
Yup, I’d like you to do something over the weekend. I’d like
you to take this information to increase your own happiness. Now, Fridays are
awesome, and I want to you to continue to love Fridays… that anticipation of
future bliss is a valuable tool, which can be applied to many other parts of your
life, as well as improving outcomes for your clients**. My advice to you is to
nurture anticipation of future happiness while suppressing negative emotions
related to future misery. When things are not quite where you want them, look
forward to the brighter future and positive outcomes of your work. When all is
right with the world, be there in the now. Enjoy your Sunday. Hope for the
best, and realistically prepare for the worst without cynically dwelling on it.
I promise this will make you happier, healthier, and more productive.
*image used via Creative Commons license, attributed to http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/UW
**I had a section prepared for how to leverage anticipation of positives for winning more deals and improving customer satisfaction, but decided that subject would be better discussed in its own post. Stay tuned!
**I had a section prepared for how to leverage anticipation of positives for winning more deals and improving customer satisfaction, but decided that subject would be better discussed in its own post. Stay tuned!
