Translator: Eva Ieridou Reviewer: Tanya Cushman
This girl is Amalia, and she's a musician.
She has a great voice,
she's super talented
and she has a deep sensitivity to write her lyrics.
For many years,
Amalia suffered of stage fright.
This means that she was afraid to play in front of an audience,
and she avoided these kinds of situations.
This intense fear did not allow her to grow as an artist.
I am a pyschologist,
and I'm passionate about helping people create a positive change in their lives.
For many years, I've worked as a therapist,
and I've seen many patients just like Amalia.
As you know,
when people go to a psychologist,
they're usually seeking for a personal change.
Ironically, the first deep change in my life perspective
came without even looking for it,
and it was not because of therapy.
Let's go back in time.
I was a seven-year-old kid,
and I lived with my family in a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I was curious; I loved to read.
I was also kind of introverted,
but above anything, I had lots of fears.
My greatest fear was to spend the night at a friend's house.
The few times I had to tried to do that,
I ended up phoning my parents in the middle of the night
and asked them to pick me up.
But something interesting happened
when I received a proposition from my grandparents.
They were inviting me to travel with them -
a two-month trip to visit my aunts that lived in California and Hawaii.
It was going to be my first long airplane flight,
and it was the first time
I was going to spend so much time away from my parents.
I had mixed emotions about it.
Of course, I was fearful.
Yet deep down inside me, I wanted to travel.
On the day of the departure,
that fear of missing my parents started to grow,
and I remember I was there, in the airport, about to depart,
before crossing the security line,
and I started shouting:
"I don't want to leave. I don't want to travel."
I was crying and panicking
because of the two months I was going to spend away from home.
After a while, I managed to calm myself down
and I was able to connect with my desire.
So I grabbed all the courage I had and took the step.
I was going to travel.
Those two months were amazing.
And I remember when it was time to go back, to go back home,
to fly back home to Argentina,
I remember telling my grandma,
"Grandma, I don't want to go back home."
On this very first trip,
I learned two really important lessons that had a deep effect on me.
The first one
is that when we are fearful of something,
we can grab all the courage we have,
we expose ourselves,
and we can overcome that fear.
Our self-esteem will grow,
and we will be able to enjoy experiences we never thought we could.
The second great lesson
is that travel offers a great opportunity to gain a new perspective,
to change the way we see things.
Right after this very first trip, many more followed,
and each one of those trips shaped me.
But of all the trips I did,
the five weeks I spent in India
contributed the most to develop a positive state of mind.
What I experienced on that trip
is extremely related to an important psychological theory regarding happiness.
There are three factors that influence happiness,
and I'm talking about the long-term happiness,
the chronic feeling of happiness.
The first factor is the biological factor,
and it is responsible for 50% of our long-term happiness.
It's our genetic disposition,
it's our basic temperament,
it stays constant throughout all of our life,
and, of course, we cannot change this factor.
It's our set point for happiness.
The second factor is our life circumstances,
where we live, how old are we, if we are married or single,
the type of job we have
or even how much money we make.
Usually, most people think
this is the most important factor that influences their happiness level.
How many times have we heard,
"Oh, I will be happy when I find my soul mate,"
or maybe,
"Oh, I will be happy when I buy this new and incredible cellphone"?
And let me tell you, these statements, in a certain degree, they are true.
Because these events can make us feel happier.
But we sure overestimate the influence of its effect.
Because research showed
that our life circumstances
are responsible for just a 10% of our long-term happiness.
No matter how much control we have over our life circumstances,
their influence is small.
Why it's just 10%? Why?
Because we humans, the whole human race,
have an incredible capacity of adapting to the novelties that life brings us.
And six months after I start this new job, I adapt to what the job implies -
to its benefits, its responsibilities -
and I return to my usual level of happiness.
This phenomenon is called "hedonic adaptation,"
and by definition,
it's the human tendency
to quickly return to our relatively stable level of happiness
despite any major positive or negative changes in life.
So, my friends, the question is,
What else influences our long-term happiness?
And let me tell you, this last factor is very important
because we can work on this factor.
This last factor
is the intentional activities that everybody can do and practice.
They imply some effort, of course,
but if we do them frequently, we practice them,
we can turn them into habits,
and we can call them "happiness habits."
They will shape our way of thinking.
They will lead us into a more positive and happy state,
and, my friends, they will allow us to live happier lives.
Let's talk a little bit about them - I will give you some examples.
A really easy happiness habit is to do random acts of kindness,
being kind.
I mean doing things for others
without expecting anything in exchange, anything in reward, anything in return.
For example, it can be helping someone in the street,
helping that old lady to cross the street
or maybe donating money to charity.
Another happiness habit is to develop an optimistic view on situations.
If we work on being hopeful and confident about the future,
our happiness level will rise.
Let me give you a simple, practical tip to practice our optimism.
Whenever you think of a situation that you can say,
"Mmm, this is a problem,"
let's change the word
and instead of "problem," use the word "challenge."
Remember, challenge instead of problem.
This will empower you
about the possibility of overcoming that issue.
Remember, challenge instead of problem.
This is being optimistic.
Another happiness habit
is to use our own internal standard,
to practice and stop comparing ourselves to others.
And believe me,
this is kind of hard these days with the all the exposure we have
to social media.
Another happiness habit is to learn how to forgive.
Another one - really, really easy, and I bet a lot of you actually do it -
is to exercise on a daily basis.
Another happiness habit is to focus your experience in the here and now,
in the present moment.
These are just some of the happiness habits;
there are many more.
But for me, the most important one came unexpectedly
on this backpacking trip I did in India.
On those five weeks, I lived experiences I will never forget.
I discovered magical places.
India is incredible:
its colors,
its smells,
the celebrations,
its people.
But there was not a single room where I stayed
that I had a shower with hot water.
I was on a tight daily budget - I had not a lot of money -
so all the places I stayed
were just cheap guest houses with small beds and no hot water.
Having only cold showers for five weeks
made me realize that something that was really common for me,
something that I took for granted - like taking a hot shower -
can actually not be that common.
And when I went back to Argentina,
this simple idea totally changed my head
because when I had the chance of finally having a hot shower,
I experienced a deep feeling of gratitude.
Since then, every time I take a hot shower,
as I feel the hot water hitting the back of my head,
I feel a deep appreciation for the simple things in life,
and I feel grateful.
This simple act enhances my happiness each and every day of my life.
It makes me realize the gifts that are all around us.
It can be a hot shower.
It can be a yummy meal.
It can be a visit from a friend or a hug from someone I love.
I remember the first time I came to Greece and I saw the beautiful blue Greek sea.
I was amazed, totally amazed.
And for many of you, this is just part of your everyday lives.
You can just take a bus and get to the sea.
In Argentina, some people have never even seen the sea,
and you can enjoy this beautiful gift life gave you
just really, really easy.
My friends, if we change our perception, not taking things for granted,
a sense of wonder will appear and we will start feeling grateful
and we will start feeling happier.
Let me give you a small and practical exercise
on how to make ourselves more grateful.
This exercise is called a gratitude journal,
it takes 15 minutes,
and you can do it once a week.
15 minutes - once a week.
You need to sit down and focus on this feeling
and write five things that you are grateful for.
Take your time, write them down,
think about the small and simple things that you are grateful for -
for these hot showers or this looking at the sea -
these small events that you are grateful for.
If you practice this exercise, you focus on this feeling,
you will start feeling happier.
But give it some time; it will not happen instantly.
Give it some time. Give it some time.
Do you think you can do it?
Yes.
Okay, so we have a commitment.
Today, some of you will do this gratitude journal.
So this is how one day I had this crazy idea
of integrating my two passions:
psychology and traveling.
And I thought,
What would happen if I take someone
that needs a change in life
on a trip?
And on this trip,
every adventure within,
every experience we chose,
would be especially thought to promote this change we are searching for.
Do you remember Amalia?
This is what happened.
(Video) (Spanish) My name is Amalia. I am 22 years old.
I love music,
so I write my own songs, I play the guitar, I sing.
But I have stage fright.
It's been like four years since I last played live.
And I block myself.
I would love to be able to play live,
but what happens to me is that I get terrified.
(Video) Javier Labourt: These are specially intended trips
to promote personal change,
the same change that takes place while traveling.
Amalia will be the leader of this trek; she will take us to the top.
We made it, we did it - 272 steps!
We are on a classic Kuala Lumpur market.
It's good.
A: I don't like it!
It’s good, it's good! Probably the best I’d tasted.
JL: Each of the adventures has a goal: potentiate the travelers' personal change.
In Bali’s traditional market, I taught Amalia how to bargain.
A: I did it!
Good, it was easy!
JL: I saw she was more relaxed, she loosened herself.
She started talking to people, she started taking initiative.
This is the real happy yoga, the laughter yoga.
A: To tell the truth, I don’t want to be hit with the mud,
but maybe today …
JL: We were in the mud, fighting.
This was incredible.
A: I feel really great. I feel really great here.
JL: The effort we put into our things has its positive consequences.
A: The hike was hard.
But having arrived,
sitting and watching the sun come out gave me a lot of peace.
It has something, a nice energy.
JL: Amalia is here, about to play live.
She is nervous, but I think she'll do great.
She has an amazing talent that comes from her soul.
Every trip changes you,
but traveling with me will transform your life.
Could you see her transformation?
There are many ways we can achieve a positive change in life.
Traveling can help us.
Exposing ourselves to what we fear can help us.
Developing a sense of gratitude can help us.
Practice these happiness habits and start building happier lives.
The solution is in our hands.
Thank you.