‘Cheerfulness in the face of adversity.’

A science-backed tool the Royal Marines use to improve their performance.

See researchers from the UK’s Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance ran an experiment.

They had cyclists ride to exhaustion.

Some were shown subliminal cues of happy faces. Some sad.

Those shown happy faces rode further. And with less perceived effort (it felt easier).

They reckon it works in 2 ways:

1. 🗺  Adaptive coping strategies

A positive frame of mind means we can better adapt to hard and changing conditions. Shown to improve performance. (More on this soon)

2. 😃 Happy hormones

A positive frame of mind pumps us up with chemicals like serotonin. It helps rein in the pain. And we can push on.


Me telling you to be positive isn’t real helpful though.

But the cool thing is:

We’ve got our own cheerfulness switch.

See our brains don’t know the difference between a real smile and a fake one.

And research from the University of South Australia found:

Smiling (real or fake) lights up the amygdala. Which:

"Releases neurotransmitters to encourage an emotionally positive state.”

So whether you’re pushing it up in an endurance event or managing your team through a draining, long-term project… High spirits in low times are gonna help our performance.

Harness the science of a smile.

When it gets tough, get grinning.