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Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work - Inspired.

I recently watched a talk on how we view things in life, and how happiness is what inspires productivity. I have long believed it and seen it applied to different areas, particularly when I worked at Google over the summer where I saw how the environment that surrounded us that summer really inspired my work ethic. That stated, I will compile a list of 63 things I am grateful for, writing 3 things every day.

I am grateful for:

February 7, 2012
  • The love my friends and I share.
  • The dedication the College of Computing (and specifically Cedric & Jennifer) put into making me feel at home here, as it has gotten me where I am today.
  • Shawn Achor's inspiring TED talk which has lead me to do this in my life.
February 8, 2012
  • Family, for their loving support.
  • My bicycle for getting me places in Atlanta.
  • My research professor for allowing me to continue pursuing my research.
February 9, 2012
  • My roommates for their understanding of my intense work schedules.
  • My team at SCAD for their great work and dedication.
  • the work my professors put in, it's really life changing.
February 10, 2012
  • my friend Summit, for always being there to talk to.
  • the AS3NUI online community which has provided so much support and great ideas.
  • Microsoft and Primesense for developing the Kinect in such a cost effective manner.
February 11, 2012
  • My girlfriend, for understanding and supporting me through my work.
  • The dedication that everyone puts into what they love doing. It is inspiring to me to see others succeed, it is what makes me want to succeed just as much.
  • The food at Fogo De Chao, that place was amazing.
February 12, 2012
  • The miracle of medicine that have allowed my friends and family to go through rough times and come out healthy.
  • The work that Georgia Tech puts into giving me housing and food at affordable prices, it really helps out.
  • My government and their scholarship program, it has changed my life completely.
February 13, 2012
  • My mother specifically, for helping me and dealing with me and my crazy arguments :p.
  • Google, for taking me on as an intern again this summer, they have really changed my career path, they are great!
  • The dean of the College of Computing, Zvi, for his dedication to help the undergraduates and anything they need.
February 14, 2012
  • Greg for taking me to Whole Foods, that was awesome!
  • My friends, Christine, Colleen and Kiersten, who invited me over last night, sadly I couldn't make it but it was lovely of them to invite me!
  • Matthias, for helping me publish my first paper.
February 15, 2012
  • My colleague Vinay for showing me the great work he has done on the dataset I am working on. It's the closest I've gotten to the step by step process of submitting a paper, aside from the one paper I submitted with the help of another one of my colleagues.
  • Dawn, for being a great person to talk to when I can't work.
  • My colleague Morgon, who gave me sound advice on sleep and taking a break sometimes to not overwhelm myself :).

To be continued :).
Daniel.

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