How can you instantly improve performance in difficult situations?

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Think positive by imagining the happiest day of your life. Students who did it before a test excelled.

Via The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work:

…who were told to think about the happiest day of their lives right before taking a standardized math test outperformed their peers.

Can thinking positive before a business negotiation help? Yup:

…And people who expressed more positive emotions while negotiating business deals did so more efficiently and successfully than those who were more neutral or negative.

Even works for doctors doing a diagnosis:

…happy doctors made the right diagnosis much faster and exhibited much more creativity. On average, they came to a correct diagnosis only 20 percent of the way through the manuscript—nearly twice as fast as the control group—and showed about two and half times less anchoring.

Stressed out afterwards? Best way to unwind is more positivity:

…the people primed with positive feelings experienced a faster recovery from the stress and its physical effects. Not only had the happy films made them feel better, but they had undone the physiological effects of stress. In other words, a quick burst of positive emotions doesn’t just broaden our cognitive capacity; it also provides a quick and powerful antidote to stress and anxiety, which in turn improves our focus and our ability to function at our best level.

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