Training your mind to look for errors and problems (as happens in careers like accounting and law) can lead you toward a pervasive pessimism that carries over into your personal life.
We discovered if you play Tetris for too long you start parsing the world into “How do I make straight lines.” It’s great if you’re playing Tetris, but maladaptive if you’re not. This is called The Tetris Effect. It’s the same thing if I take a flash photograph of you. That flash should leave a blue or orange dot in your vision.
The same thing happens to us on the cognitive level. I’m working with a very large accounting firm right now, working with tax auditors on how to make them happier. I discovered the tax auditors who are the most successful sometimes are the ones that for eight to 14 hours a day were looking at tax forms, looking for mistakes and errors.
This makes them very good at their job, but when they started leading their teams or they went home to their spouse at night, they would be seeing all the lists of mistakes and errors that were around them. Two of them told me they came home with list of the errors and mistakes that their wife was making. This is what makes me so good at work.
They were stuck in a negative Tetris Effect. We’re finding the same thing with lawyers. Lawyers have three times the level of depression of most of the other occupational groups in America. We discovered that many of the lawyers were coming home and started deposing their children or thinking about their quality time with their loved ones in terms of quantified billable hours.
Retrospective judgment is a technique naturally happy people unknowingly use. It’s putting a positive spin on negative past events so you remember them as good. It’s very effective.
Honolulu, Hawaii Best Place for Lifelong Health The heavenly climate helps, but the key to well-being here also includes enviable health care and a rich cultural tradition of looking out for one another.Colin Anderson—Blend Images/CorbisSan Francisco Bay Area, Calif. Best Place for Eating Right. The "farm to table" movement began here. The region's bounty of produce and year-round growing season make eating healthy—and local—a natural.Getty ImagesBurlington, Vt.Best Place for Raising Healthy Kids
This New England city offers great schools, excellent pediatric care, loads of culture and limitless options for healthy outdoor fun all year long.Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.comSilicon Valley, Calif.Best Place for Workplace Wellness
With treadmill desks, meetings on bikes, time off for creativity, and gobs of organic food, tech titans are reinventing how to stay healthy on the job.Jim Wilson—The New York Times/ReduxMinneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.Best Place for Aging Well
Yes, it can be cold. But with a plethora of stimulating activities and a robust web of support, the Twin Cities prove that growing old doesn't mean slowing down.Getty ImagesDenver and Boulder, Colo.Best Place for Keeping Fit
The urge to get outside and get moving is contagious in these Rocky Mountain cities, where physical challenge is built into the landscape.Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/CorbisPlano, TexasBest Place for Staying Safe
Once a rural outpost, this booming, diverse city has kept its small-town vibe, thanks in part to a police force and community that knows how to work together.Misty Keasler—Redux for TIMEPortland, Ore.
Best Place for a Healthy Environment
Small, walkable neighborhoods, 300 miles of bike paths, and urban policies that foster active living and sustainability make for one clean, green city.Getty ImagesBoston, Mass.Best Place for Health Care
This history-rich city is home to some of the nation's most advanced medical institutions and policies that help ensure that quality care is available to all.K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's HospitalProvo and Orem, UtahBest Place for Spiritual Well-Being
A stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop and a tight-knit population that lives its faith contribute not only to this region's serenity but also to lower rates of disease.Getty Images
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