Michelle Gielan Talks About Broadcasting Happiness and Resilience

🚨 The Forge Your Future Challenge is back – August 7–9, 2025!

Join yours truly, Mike Vardy, for this free 3-day experience to reconnect with what matters, regain control of your time, and set your future in motion. Just two hours a day for three days—no fluff, just focus. Save your spot now: https://mikevardy.com/forgeyourfuture

In this Flashback Friday episode of A Productive Conversation, I revisit a 2016 conversation with Michelle Gielan, author of Broadcasting Happiness. Michelle is a renowned happiness researcher, former CBS News anchor, and executive producer of PBS’s The Happiness Advantage. Since our original chat, Michelle has continued to make an incredible impact by focusing on resilience and the power of positivity in everyday interactions.

As we approach the end of the year, this episode is a timely reminder to think about how we can sustain happiness—not just during the holiday season but year-round. Michelle shares practical strategies to reframe negativity, foster optimism, and create ripple effects of positivity that improve productivity and relationships.

Key Discussion Points

• The concept behind Michelle’s book Broadcasting Happiness and how small mindset shifts create significant change.
• The story behind CBS’s “Happy Week” and how it reshaped viewers' perspectives during the recession.
• Research findings on how positivity can increase resilience and enhance creativity by up to 20%.
• The long-term benefits of starting your day with positivity, such as sending gratitude emails.
• Simple strategies for fostering optimism and improving workplace productivity by 31%.
• Why words matter: How shifting language impacts mindset and influences others.

It was wonderful to revisit this conversation with Michelle and hear her insights on broadcasting happiness and building resilience. Whether you’re looking for actionable ways to reframe negativity or small steps to boost optimism, this episode is full of practical takeaways. Let’s all strive to sustain happiness beyond fleeting moments and make it part of our daily lives. (Originally released December 2016)

Links Worth Exploring

• Connect with Michelle: Website | Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn
• Buy Michelle's book: Broadcasting Happiness: The Science of Igniting and Sustaining Positive Change
• Related Conversation: Episode 59: The Habits of a Happy Brain with Loretta Breuning
• Related Blog Post: Celebrate Tonight To Boost Your Productivity Tomorrow

Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page.

Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can subscribe on Spotify and also on Apple Podcasts. Not using either of those to get your podcasts? Just click on this link and then paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice.

Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📘 Grab My New Book: The Productivity Diet: A Practical Guide to Nurturing your Productive Potential

If you’re looking to build a sustainable, personalized productivity practice that actually sticks, my latest book is for you. It’s available now—wherever books are sold. Learn more at mikevardy.com/lit or request it at your favorite local bookstore.