Shawn Achor is redefining happiness. The American author, motivational speaker and Harvard graduate is an advocate for positive psychology. He believes that positive psychology is the key to success, rather than success being the key to positivity, so tours the world promoting this ideology. As a young psychologist, Shawn earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, then later graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian and Buddhist Ethics from Harvard Divinity School. His passion for happiness, gratitude and spirituality shapes Shawn as a public speaker.
After Shawn graduated, he worked as a teaching assistant at Harvard, supporting the renowned happiness course by Tal Ben-Shahar. Continuing his exploration of psychology, he then founded GoodThinkInc in 2007 and later co-founded The Institute for Applied Positive Research, both businesses invest in speakers, research and advisors on workplace performance, driven by positive psychology. Shawn has also presented one of the most viewed TEDx talks, with nearly 21 million views, on how success and happiness are directly linked. His speech has been listed as one of TED's 25 most popular talks.
Shawn completed a research paper entitled The Happiness Advantage while at university. As he continued to explore psychology and happiness, he expanded upon his research to later publish Before Happiness with Crown in 2013. In the book, he includes studies by the likes of Prof. Peter Salovey at Yale University, and explores topics on changing your mindset and handling stress. In 2018, he published another book entitled Big Potential, as well as writing for the Harvard Business Review.
As a motivational business speaker, Shawn is an integral speaker for business conferences and industry events. Charismatic, hilarious and passionate about his field of study, he has received countless positive testimonials for his speeches, with business owners seeing a visible improvement in their employees' wellbeing. From practising gratitude to overcoming personal challenges, Shawn's engaging presenting style is both personable and knowledgeable.
Books
Big Potential: Five Secrets of Reaching Higher by Powering Those Around You
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work
Before Happiness: Five Actionable Strategies to Create a Positive Path to Success
How to Make a Shark Smile
How to hire Shawn Achor
Contact the Champions Speakers agency to provisionally enquire about Shawn Achor for your event today. Simply call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Shawn's official speaking topics are listed below.
- The happiness advantage: linking positive brains to performance
- The ripple effect: how to make positive change easier
- Resilient optimism: restoring a culture of confidence
- Rethinking the formula for success: the power of positive education
- Positive genius: the key to raising success, spreading happiness and sustaining positive change
- 2014 - Published How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact
- 2014 - Named as CEO of BetterUp
- 2013 - Published Before Happiness
- 2013 - Published Rethinking Stress: The Role of Mindsets in Determining the Stress Response
- 2012 - Wrote Ripple's Effect
- 2010 - Published The Happiness Advantage
- 2007 - Founded GoodThinkInc
- Graduated from Harvard with a degree in English Language and Literature
- Graduated from Harvard with a master's in Christian and Buddhist ethics
- Given a TED Talk
