Secret To A Happy Life

When researchers studied the happiest people and scientifically analyzed what they had in common what secret did they discover?

There was a clear answer to what differentiated these people from everyone else — and it wasn’t money, smarts, age, gender or race.

Secret #1 – Relationships !!!

Turns out, there was one factor that distinguished the happiest 10 percent from everybody else: the strength of their social relationships.

Social interaction was a far greater predictor of happiness than any other factor, more than, family income, SAT scores, age, gender, or race. The correlation between social support and happiness was 0.7. This may not sound like a big number, but for researchers it’s huge—most psychology findings are considered significant when they hit 0.3. The secret then is, the more social support you have, the happier you are.

In a studies it was found that the capacity to love and be loved was the single strength most clearly associated with well-being at age eighty.

If you do one thing today to be happier, spend time with friends. Not spending more time with people we love is something we regret the most.

Secret #2 – The happiest people are those that are very busy but don’t feel rushed…

Research suggests it is those fortunate folks who have little or no excess time, and yet seldom feel rushed. You’re tired. You want a break. But doing nothing is not the answer. Too much time is a burden and surveys “continue to show the least happy group to be those who quite often have excess time.” Boredom, it seems, is burdensome.

So what do you need to be doing? What's the secret?

Do things you’re good at. “Signature strengths” are the things you are uniquely talented at — and using them brings you joy. People who deliberately exercised their signature strengths on a daily basis became significantly happier for months.

When volunteers were encouraged to pick one of their signature strengths and use it in a new way each day for a week, they became significantly happier and less depressed than control groups. And these benefits lasted: Even after the experiment was over, their levels of happiness remained heightened a full month later. Studies show that the more you use your signature strengths in daily life, the happier you become. Signature strengths are the secret to experiencing more “flow” at work and in life. Exercising them is why starving artists are happier with their jobs.

The old adage “those who do what they love never work a day in their life” seems true.

Secret #3 – Don't Stay In A Job You Hate

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