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The run-up hug

The run-up hug (inspired by @KSunray3).

In The Art of Being Brilliant I talk about the science of hugging, and in particular the seven-second hug. It makes perfect sense and it gets a laugh.

And then someone comes along and blows it out of the water with the ‘run-up hug’. You don’t need to have any knowledge of science whatsoever to know that this is the ultimate in hugging. I’ve seen it done a lot in airports (long haul flights, not RyanAir), when long lost relatives come out of the arrivals door, their eyes meet sis/bruv/mum and the person hurls themselves. There are always tears and that’s lovely.

But not quite as lovely as when young children do it. So I’ve set myself a grand-parenting challenge. My kids are 21 and 17. I’m not a grandpops yet. Fingers crossed that someday I will be. And when I visit my kids, or when they visit me, I want my grandchildren to feel the need to do run-up hugs. Of course, we can cheat. My daughter can give her four-year-old a stern talking to as they pull up on the driveway – “Now remember what I told you. Your grandad likes run-up hugs so make sure you throw yourself at him. No pressure but our inheritance depends on it.” But she knows, my future grandkids know and I know, that’s not the way it works.

So the huge question is ‘what kind of person do I need to be to get my grandchildren to want to do run-up hugs?’

That ladies and gents is the biggest question I’ve ever asked myself. Luckily, the answer, just like the whole of positive psychology, is the simplest thing in the world.

Andy’s brand new book delves into the science of how to feel great in a world that is trying to knock the stuffing out of you

He’d like to point out that the title ‘The little book of emotional intelligence’ is misleading as the book is neither ‘little’ nor about ‘emotional intelligence’. But it is fab.