How to make your life better by sending five simple emails

How to make yur life better by sending five simple schmelzglassHow to make your life better by sending five simple schmelzglassHow to make your life better? All you need is email.Ive covered a lot of research on how to make your life better but many people struggle with implementing changes because it seems like a major undertaking. It doesnt have to be.You can make strides in 5 fundamental areas by just sending 5 emails.HappinessEvery morning send a friend, family member or co-worker an email to say thanks for something.Might sound silly but its actually excellent advice on how to make your life better.Therestonsandtonsandtonsof research showing that over time, this alone one silly email a day can make you happier.Via Harvard professor Shawn AchorsThe Happiness AdvantageThis is why I often ask managers to write an e-mail of praise or thanks to a friend, family member, or colleague each morning before they start their days work- elend just because it contributes to their own happin ess, but because it very literally cements a relationship.(More onincreasing happiness here.)JobAt the end of the week, send your babo an email and sum up what youve accomplished.They probably have no idea what youre doing with your time. Theyre busy. They have their own problems.For your boss, this lets them know what youve been up to without having to ask and saves them from wondering and worrying. Theyll appreciate it and probably come to rely on it.For you, its proactive and shows off your efforts, whichStanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer says is the key to successin any organizationyou should make sure that your performance is visible to your boss and your accomplishments are visible.Your superiors in the organization have their own jobs, are managing their own careers, are busy human beings. And you should not assume that theyre spending all their time thinking about you and worrying about you and your career.More onimproving your work life here.GrowthOnce a week email a potent ial mentor.Doesnt have to be related to your job. Who do you admire that you could learn from?As Ive blogged about before,mentors are key to success.ViaThe Genius in All of Us New Insights into Genetics, Talent, and IQAny person lucky enough to have had one great teacher who inspired, advised, critiqued, and had endless faith in her students ability will tell you what a difference that person has made in her life. Most students who become interested in anacademic subject do so because they have met a teacher who was able to pique their interest, write Csikszentmihlyi, Rathunde, and Whalen.It is yet another great irony of the giftedness myth in the final analysis, the true road to success lies not in a persons molecular structure, but in his developing the most productive attitudes and identifying magnificent external resources.This is one of those things everyone seems to know but nobody does anything about.Its the age of the internet, folks. If you have Google and half an ounce of resourcefulness its not that hard to find almost anyones email address. If they have a website, their email is probably listed on it.What do you write? TryAdams methodorTims methodorRamits method.(More on thepower of mentors here.)FriendshipEmail a good friend and make plans.What does research say keeps friendships alive?Staying in prise every 2 weeks.Got 14 friends? Then you need to be emailing somebody every day.And what should you email them about? Make plans to get together.Research showsthe best use of electronic communication is to facilitate face-to-face interactionThe results were unequivocal. The greater the proportion of face-to-face interactions, the less lonely you are, he says. The greater the proportion of online interactions, the lonelier you are.Surely, I suggest toCacioppo, this means that Facebook and the like inevitably make people lonelier. He disagrees.Facebook is merely a tool, he says, and like any tool, its effectiveness will depend on its user. If you use Fa cebook to increase face-to-face contact, he says, it increases social capital. So if social media let you organize a game of football among your friends, thats healthy. If you turn to social media instead of playing football, however, thats unhealthy.(More onimproving friendships here.)CareerSend an email to someone you know (but dont know very well) and check in.These weak ties are the primary source of future career opportunities.From Charles Duhiggs excellent bookThe Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessIn fact,in landing a job, Granovetter discovered, weak-tie acquaintances were often more important than strong-tie friends because weak ties give us access to social networks where we dont otherwise belong.Many of the people Granovetter studied had learned about new job opportunities through weak ties, rather than from close friends, which makes sense becausewe talk to our closest friends all the time, or work alongside them or read the same blogs. By the time t hey have heard about a new opportunity, we probably know about it, as well. On the other hand, our weak-tie acquaintances- the people we bump into every six months- are the ones who tell us about jobs wewould otherwise never hear about.But I dont know what to say. Do any little thing that benefits them, not you. TryAdam Rifkins 5 minute favor.Or just send them a link they might find useful.Still stuck? Okay, send them the link to the post youre reading right now.If this has helped you with how to make your life better it can probably help them too.??(More onhow to network effectively here.)Join more than 32o,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsHow To Get People To Like You 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertNew Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You HappyNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.How to make your life better by sending five simple emailsHow to make your life better? All you need is email.Ive covered a lot of research on how to make your life better but many people struggle with implementing changes because it seems like a major undertaking. It doesnt have to be.You can make strides in 5 fundamental areas by just sending 5 emails.HappinessEvery morning send a friend, family member or co-worker an email to say thanks for something.Might sound silly but its actually excellent advice on how to make your life better.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreTherestonsandtonsandtonsof research showing that over time, this alone one silly email a day can make you happier.Via Harvard professor Shawn AchorsThe Happiness AdvantageThis is why I often ask managers to write an e-mail of praise or thanks to a friend, family member, or colleague each morning before they start their days work- not just because it contributes to their own happiness, b ut because it very literally cements a relationship.(More onincreasing happiness here.)JobAt the end of the week, send your boss an email and sum up what youve accomplished.They probably have no idea what youre doing with your time. Theyre busy. They have their own problems.For your boss, this lets them know what youve been up to without having to ask and saves them from wondering and worrying. Theyll appreciate it and probably come to rely on it.For you, its proactive and shows off your efforts, whichStanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer says is the key to successin any organizationyou should make sure that your performance is visible to your boss and your accomplishments are visible.Your superiors in the organization have their own jobs, are managing their own careers, are busy human beings. And you should not assume that theyre spending all their time thinking about you and worrying about you and your career.More onimproving your work life here.GrowthOnce a week email a potential me ntor.Doesnt have to be related to your job. Who do you admire that you could learn from?As Ive blogged about before,mentors are key to success.ViaThe Genius in All of Us New Insights into Genetics, Talent, and IQAny person lucky enough to have had one great teacher who inspired, advised, critiqued, and had endless faith in her students ability will tell you what a difference that person has made in her life. Most students who become interested in anacademic subject do so because they have met a teacher who was able to pique their interest, write Csikszentmihlyi, Rathunde, and Whalen.It is yet another great irony of the giftedness myth in the final analysis, the true road to success lies not in a persons molecular structure, but in his developing the most productive attitudes and identifying magnificent external resources.This is one of those things everyone seems to know but nobody does anything about.Its the age of the internet, folks. If you have Google and half an ounce of resour cefulness its not that hard to find almost anyones email address. If they have a website, their email is probably listed on it.What do you write? TryAdams methodorTims methodorRamits method.(More on thepower of mentors here.)FriendshipEmail a good friend and make plans.What does research say keeps friendships alive?Staying in touch every 2 weeks.Got 14 friends? Then you need to be emailing somebody every day.And what should you email them about? Make plans to get together.Research showsthe best use of electronic communication is to facilitate face-to-face interactionThe results were unequivocal. The greater the proportion of face-to-face interactions, the less lonely you are, he says. The greater the proportion of online interactions, the lonelier you are.Surely, I suggest toCacioppo, this means that Facebook and the like inevitably make people lonelier. He disagrees.Facebook is merely a tool, he says, and like any tool, its effectiveness will depend on its user. If you use Facebook to increase face-to-face contact, he says, it increases social capital. So if social media let you organize a game of football among your friends, thats healthy. If you turn to social media instead of playing football, however, thats unhealthy.(More onimproving friendships here.)CareerSend an email to someone you know (but dont know very well) and check in.These weak ties are the primary source of future career opportunities.From Charles Duhiggs excellent bookThe Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessIn fact,in landing a job, Granovetter discovered, weak-tie acquaintances were often more important than strong-tie friends because weak ties give us access to social networks where we dont otherwise belong.Many of the people Granovetter studied had learned about new job opportunities through weak ties, rather than from close friends, which makes sense becausewe talk to our closest friends all the time, or work alongside them or read the same blogs. By the time they ha ve heard about a new opportunity, we probably know about it, as well. On the other hand, our weak-tie acquaintances- the people we bump into every six months- are the ones who tell us about jobs wewould otherwise never hear about.But I dont know what to say. Do any little thing that benefits them, not you. TryAdam Rifkins 5 minute favor.Or just send them a link they might find useful.Still stuck? Okay, send them the link to the post youre reading right now.If this has helped you with how to make your life better it can probably help them too.??(More onhow to network effectively here.)Join more than 320,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.This article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.