There’s been a dramatic shift in how psychologists view happiness. Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard and apply ourselves, success will follow. And once we are successful, we’ll be happy.

Apparently we’ve had this equation backwards. According to Harvard researcher Shawn Achor who based his new book, The Happiness Advantage, on the findings of over 200 scientific studies, happiness is the fuel for success — not the result.

To illustrate this, he points to lawyers as one unfortunate group of professionals for whom extreme “stress is an occupational hazard.” According to Achor, if you are a lawyer, you are 3.6 times more likely to have a major depressive disorder than the rest of the employed population. Read More….