𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐀. 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 is a Professor of Psychology at Amherst College who speaks regularly for public & corporate audiences on topics such as the science of happiness, the power of emotional intelligence, the art of aging well, & the psychology of courage & inaction. She’s an author of several books including: 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭: 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, & 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. Her goal in the Positive Shift book is to provide science-based strategies people can use to improve the quality & longevity of their lives. On 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 podcast, we discuss:-How positive, optimistic thoughts don’t come easily to many people, including her, and why even she has to work for her happiness. -How she rates her your own happiness most of the time, on a scale of 1 to 10-What researchers in the field of Positive Psychology tell us-What happens when we spend time on Facebook -Why expensive brand-name medicines provide better pain relief than the generic stuff, even if they share the same ingredients. -Why placing a cell phone on a table reduces the quality of a conversation. -Why patients in a hospital room with a view of nature recover faster from surgery than those without. Why people with positive expectations about aging live on average seven and a half years longer than those without-How Mindset matters and how to get in the proper frame of mind How our happiness in daily life, the state of our physical health, & even how long we live is largely determined not by external events but rather by the way we think about ourselves & the world around us.-How do we find some good in terribly difficult circumstances-THE POWER OF MENTAL SHORTCUTS and how this process of taking shortcuts to make sense of the world is based on stereotypes we’ve formed from our experiences-How, according to one study, midlife adults who hold negative beliefs about aging report having less interest in and less enjoyment of sexual behavior.-How we can learn to use mental tricks to influence our behavior in positive ways.-How our Expectations Create Reality-How the anxiety about potentially making a mistake will increase the chances that you do so. -Why you should take more chances and risks