Leadership Advantedge: Leadership | Influence | Talent | Neuroscience

It’s not all doom and gloom in the brain! There’s the positive aspects of Eustress and on the flip side of fear, anxiety and depression, we can feel Pleasure, Happiness and Joy!If you ask, most people will tell you that their goal in life is to be happy. Indeed the United States Declaration of Independence considers the “Pursuit of Happiness” to be an unalienable right.But there’s a problem. When most people think about happiness, they’re really thinking about what gives them pleasure and having more of those things. These are by definition, temporal - Aristotle referred to this as Hedonia, which is happiness as pleasure.Eudainomia, on the other hand is happiness as personal Fulfilment.Let’s begin with a quick reminder about the six essential human needs and then examining the important differences between the three states: Pleasure, Happiness and Joy.Six Essential Human Needs RecapEveryone shares six essential human needs that drive our behaviour to satisfy those needs. When those needs are not being met or