Which comes first, success or happiness? Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard and perform well, we’ll be more successful. And if we are successful, then we’ll be happy.

But according to Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage: The 7 Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work (Crown Business, 2010), that thinking is exactly backward. In other words, happiness comes first. A happy brain performs better and breeds success. Not the other way around.

Achor is an expert on human potential, with a mission of bridging the gap between the science of happiness and performance in our everyday lives. He helped design and teach the famed “happiness” course at Harvard, one of the school’s most popular classes. He now serves as the founder and CEO of Aspirant, a research and consulting firm that uses positive psychology to enhance individual achievement and cultivate a more productive workplace.

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