I ran across this article in YES! Magazine Winter 2009: Sustainable Happiness, “10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy” by Jen angel.
According to this article, scientists can now tell us how to be happy. Really. The article identifies 10 ways to be happy, with the research to prove it.
“In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? Researchers like the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonya Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world to find out how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect our well-being. The emerging field of positive psychology is bursting with new findings that suggest your actions can have a significant effect on your happiness and satisfaction with life.”
So what do you think? Before I present each of these strategies, do you think science can actually measure and identify what it takes to be happy?
If you knew scientifically and without a doubt what it took to be happy, would you do it? The easy answer is, “OF COURSE! Wouldn’t everyone?”
But then again, I know exactly what to do to lose 25 pounds, but have I done it? Not yet. And for whatever reason(s)….and there’s a million of them, I haven’t done what it takes to lose weight and keep it off. And like many things in life, we all want change to be easy and painless, don’t we?
While I plan to review the 10 things this article talked about in future blogs, I want to share that while science may have the answers to insure happiness (and many other things), human beings are much more complex than the “just do it” brand from Nike.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying change is impossible-I’m in the change business after all. Change is possible for all of us. Making changes is simple, but it is not easy.
That’s where support teams and coaches come in. Change is easier with education, lots of support and accountability.
I’ll be posting a strategy every couple days, so you’ll have time to practice each strategy and see how you can incorporate them into your life.
1. Savor Everyday Moments-Pause now and then to pay attention to what’s happening around you. “Thinking back on pleasant happenings in your day showed significant increases in happiness and reduction in depression.” (Sonja Lyubomirsky)
Our family shares highs and lows around the dinner table every night and it’s helpful to spend time acknowledging events that happen in your day especially recognizing the good things….so matter how small. Remember Oprah’s gratitude journal? Writing down your gratitudes on a daily basis really does help!
Give it a try…I’d love to hear how it works for you.
