Stress and Happiness

The workplace has always been stressful. For global companies, it seems as though the workday never really ends, because business is always open somewhere. Stress is clearly negative, while happiness is positive.
Happiness differs from stress in two key ways. First, happiness involves engagement of the approach system. And second, it is a positive feeling rather than a negative one. Happiness is not, therefore, the absence of stress. It is actually two dimensions away.

That means that if you want to turn stress into happiness, you have to take two (often very big) steps. First, you must shift from avoiding negative outcomes (i.e. disengage the avoidance system) to pursuing positive ones (activating the approach system). Then, you need to pursue your positive goals until you succeed. Therein lies true happiness.