The world of wellbeing has changed a lot in the 20 years that I've been professionally involved in it. One of the biggest areas of development has been in the science and research, driven by the relatively new area of positive psychology.

My guest on today's episode spent 12 years researching the subject of happiness and positive psychology for his PhD and he shares some of what he learned in that time.

Dr Andy Cope - AKA The Doctor Of Happiness, AKA Dr Happy - lives and breathes the practical applications of the science to our every day lives.

Much of what we intuitively knew about how we should be taking care of ourselves has been proven through numerous studies, and one of the most exciting developments has been the shift towards happiness as a 'performance enhancer'.

We have more energy, we're more creative, more productive, more resilient and concentrate better when we're happy, but is it as simple as just deciding that's how we're going to be?

Andy and I get into this topic, as well as what happiness really means, and what is it that differentiates what he calls the '2 percenters' when it comes to performance.

Andy has written numerous books for adults and children (including the Spy Dog series!), and is the host of the Art Of Brilliance podcast.

https://www.artofbrilliance.co.uk