Category: Happiness

Happiness is boosted by activities like thankfulness, spending on others, making plans, using signature strengths and happy daydreams.

Happiness is an emotion that activates the whole body.

Happiness literally fills the whole body with activity, including the legs, perhaps indicating that happy people feel ready to spring into action, or maybe do a jig (see: What Happiness Feels Like).

Happiness doesn’t just feel great, it also benefits the body, right down to its instructional code.

Happier people have a stronger expression of antibody and antiviral genes that are responsible for fighting off infectious diseases and defending the body against foreign materials.

Here are 18 activities, habits and ideas that science has proven can make you happier.

1. Mentally subtract something good from your life

People spend a lot of time thinking about good things that didn’t happen, but might have done.

But what about the good things that did happen that might not have?

Say you’d never met your partner or friend or got that job?

What would life be like without some of those things we take for granted?

Thinking about what might not have been can be tremendously powerful for happiness if used in the right way.

Counter-factual thinking can create meaning in life and, and can increase satisfaction with what you have (Koo et al., 2008).

So, mentally subtract something good from your life to really appreciate it.

2. Send a thankful message

Gratitude is a powerful emotion that helps us enjoy what we have.

Evoke it right now by sending an email, text or letter to someone who has helped you in some way.

Thank them for what they have done for you, however small.

It’s easy and quick and one study has found that practising gratitude can increase happiness 25%.

Another found that just three letters over a three-week period was enough to reliably increase happiness and life satisfaction (Toepfer et al., 2012).

3. Spend money on someone else

Money can make you happy but only if you use it in the right way.

One of the easiest ways is by spending it on others.

So, why does spending on others increase your happiness?

It’s partly because giving to others makes us feel good about ourselves.

It helps promote a view of ourselves as responsible and giving people, which in turn makes us feel happy.

It’s also partly because spending money on others helps cement our social relationships.

And, people with stronger social ties are generally happier.

So, buy a friend a present today or take them out to lunch.

You’ll feel good about it, I promise.

4. Get some exercise for more happiness

Exercise is the number one strategy that people use to feel better, increase their energy levels and reduce tension.

It doesn’t have to be a marathon; a simple walk around the block will do the trick.

We all know it’ll make us feel better to get out and stretch our legs, but there are always excuses to avoid it.

If you’re at home, make time for a trip that doesn’t involve the car and does involve your legs.

If you’re in the office, make sure you get out for a walk at lunch-time instead of eating sandwiches in front of the computer.

5. Music brings happiness

Number two on the list of the best happiness strategies is listening to music.

Music can influence mood in many ways but most people rate its power to manage our positive moods as the top reason they love music.

We particularly like the fact that it can make our good moods even better.

Even sad music can bring pleasure as many people enjoy the contradictory mix of emotions it creates.

6. Make plans for happiness

Remember those childhood days leading up to Christmas when you couldn’t wait to rip open your presents?

The pleasure in anticipation was just incredible.

Research on the psychology of happiness shows that anticipation can be a powerful positive emotion.

We enjoy looking forward to things much more than we enjoy looking back on them afterwards (Van Boven & Ashworth, 2007).

So, make a plan now and try to always have something to look forward to, however small.

It will make you feel more happiness

7. Happiness is making plans with friends

The best types of plans for happiness are with friends.

It’s not just that you’ll have the pleasure of anticipation; it’s also that you’re keeping the friendship alive.

One study of 8 million phone calls has found, not exactly surprisingly, that when people call each other back, their friendships are much more likely to survive (Hidalgo & Rogriguez-Sickert, 2007).

The power of friendship on happiness is much greater than money.

Researchers have calculated that you’d have to earn £85,000 ($130,000) more a year to make you as happy as if you saw friends or relatives on most days of the week (Powdthavee, 2008).

So, not only is staying in touch with friends good, but it’ll save you a lot of effort trying to earn more money at work.

8. List 3 good things that happened today

At the end of the day, before you go to bed, spend a few minutes thinking about three good things that happened today.

They don’t have to be that amazing; just three things that made you feel a little better.

You can also think about why they happened.

In one study in which people carried out this exercise, their happiness was increased, and depressive symptoms decreased, fully six months afterwards (Seligman et al., 2005).

If you’ve done some of the things mentioned here, then you’ll already have at least three things for your list.

9. Signature strengths help increase happiness

Simply put signature strengths are things you are good at.

Whatever it is, people usually feel more happiness when they do things at which they excel.

Think about things that you are good at: it could be social skills, physical skills, sporting skills or anything really.

It could be making someone laugh or giving someone a helping hand.

Then take some time during the day to use that skill.

When people practice their signature strengths it makes them happier.

10. Enjoy a happy daydream activity

If you’re less of a doer and more of a dreamer, then this activity is for you: have a happy daydream.

Over the course of the day our minds tend to wander a lot, but directing that mind-wandering in a positive way can be very beneficial.

In this research on life-savouring strategies, positive mental time travel was found to be one of the most effective.

In the study people thought back to times in their lives that gave them pleasure; moments filled with success, love and friendship.

The mind may try to fight back by travelling back to past embarrassments or failures, but keep it locked into a happy daydream for the best boost.

Go on, sit back and have a little daydream…

11. Pull together for happiness

What has happened to people’s happiness all around the world as they’ve faced recent crises?

How have they coped with job losses, less money coming in, the sense of despair and lack of control over a nightmare that seems to have no end?

One answer is: some have pulled together.

Data from 255 metropolitan areas across the US found that communities that pull together — essentially doing nice little things for each other like volunteering and helping a neighbour out — are happier.

Social capital has a protective effect: people are happier when they do the right thing.

12. Act like an extrovert

Acting like an extrovert — even if you are an introvert — makes people all around the world feel more happiness (Ching et al., 2014).

The findings come from surveys of hundreds of people in the US, Venezuela, the Philippines, China and Japan.

Across the board, people reported that they felt more positive emotions in daily situations where they either acted or felt more extroverted.

Participants in the study were told to act in an outgoing way for 10 minutes and then report how it made them feel.

Even amongst introverts — people who typically prefer solitary activities — acting in an extroverted way gave them a boost of happiness.

13. Enjoy ordinary activities

With increasing age, people get more pleasure out of everyday activities.

A recent study asked over 200 people between the ages of 19 and 79 about happy activities they’d had that were both ordinary and extraordinary.

Across all the age-groups in the study, people found pleasure in all sorts of activities; both ordinary and extraordinary.

But it was older people who managed to extract more happiness from relatively ordinary activities.

They were happier spending time with their family, from the look on someone’s face or a walk in the park.

Younger people, meanwhile, defined themselves more by extraordinary activities.

14. Become less materialistic

The reason that materialistic people are less happy is that a focus on what you want — and therefore don’t currently have — makes it more difficult to appreciate what you already have.

A study found that materialists also feel less gratitude which, in turn, is associated with lower levels of life satisfaction.

The study quotes the words of Greek philosopher Epicurus, who said:

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

By law, all credit cards should have this quote across the front in fluorescent pink.

15. Work on your relationships

Relationships have stronger associations with happiness than academic achievement, according to research.

Whilst strong social relationships in childhood and adolescence are associated with happier adults, the associations with academic achievement were much lower.

It seems that all the education in the world won’t necessarily teach you much about what it means to be happy, in either the emotional or philosophical sense.

Stronger relationships, though, tend to boost happiness.

16. Make concrete goals for happiness

Surprisingly, people are often wrong about the type of goals that will make them happiest.

Research finds that certain concrete goals for happiness work better than abstract goals.

The study found that acts performed in the service of a concrete goal (making someone smile) made the givers themselves feel more happiness than an abstract goal (making someone happy).

By thinking in concrete ways about our goals for happiness, we can minimise the gap between our expectations and what is actually possible.

17. Happiness from mundane moments

Mundane, everyday experiences can provide unexpected joy down the line, new psychological research finds.

In one study, 135 students were asked to create a time capsule at the start of the summer which included:

• a recent conversation,
• the last social event they’d attended,
• an extract from a paper they’d written,
• and three favourite songs.

At the time, they also predicted how they’d feel about these items when they opened the capsule three months later.

Despite being relatively mundane, the students significantly under-estimated how surprised and curious they would be when they opened it.

The study is a reminder of how we tend to undervalue the happiness we can get from everyday events.

So, why not make a little time capsule today?

18. The six domains of happiness

One theory, put forward by Professor Carol Ryff, suggests there are six domains of human growth important to happiness:

1. self-acceptance,
2. the establishment of quality ties to other,
3. a sense of autonomy in thought and action,
4. the ability to manage complex environments to suit personal needs and values,
5. the pursuit of meaningful goals and a sense of purpose in life,
6. continued growth and development as a person.

Pay attention to these six domains of happiness — particularly where there is a lack — and do what you can to address them.

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The physical sensation of happiness and other emotions revealed by study mapping bodily emotions.

Unlike thoughts, the emotions don’t live entirely in the mind, they are also associated with bodily or physical sensations.

For example, when we feel nervous, we get ‘butterflies in our stomach’.

Thanks to a psychology study, though, we now have a map of the links between bodily emotions and bodily sensations.

Body maps of emotions

Finnish researchers induced different emotions in 701 participants and then got them to colour in a body map of where they felt increasing or decreasing activity (Nummenmaa et al., 2013).

Participants in the study were from both Western European countries like Finland and Sweden and also from East Asia (Taiwan).

Despite the cultural differences, they found remarkable similarities in how people responded.

Here are the body maps for six basic emotions. Yellow indicates the highest level of activity, followed by red. Black is neutral, while blue and light blue indicate lowered and very low activity respectively.

The authors explain:

“Most basic emotions were associated with sensations of elevated activity in the upper chest area, likely corresponding to changes in breathing and heart rate.

Similarly, sensations in the head area were shared across all emotions, reflecting probably both physiological changes in the facial area as well as the felt changes in the contents of mind triggered by the emotional events.”

What happiness feels like

It’s fascinating that happiness is the one emotion that fills the whole body activity, including the legs, perhaps indicating that happy people feel ready to spring into action, or maybe do a jig.

Along with the basic emotions, here are the body maps of six more complex emotions:

The stand-out emotion here is love, which only just fails to reach down into the legs, but lights up the rest of the body with activity very successfully.

The three centres of activity are head, heart and err…

The study’s lead author, Lauri Nummenmaa, explained:

“Emotions adjust not only our mental, but also our bodily states.

This way they prepare us to react swiftly to the dangers, but also to the opportunities.

Awareness of the corresponding bodily changes may subsequently trigger the conscious emotional sensations, such as the feeling of happiness.”

Image credit: Body maps courtesy of Aalto University

Use philosopher Martin Heidegger’s existentialist philosophy on how to live an authentic life and how to be real.

Feeling anxious is the price we pay for an authentic life.

So said Martin Heidegger, one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century.

Heidegger also thought people should live authentically by accepting death, experimenting with life by exploring all its possibilities and taking responsibility for their actions.

As well as being a philosopher, Heidegger was also a kind of early positive psychologist on how to be real.

Positive psychologists ask how we can live an authentic life by working on our strengths and improving daily experience.

Heidegger believed that becoming better is a choice we make ourselves, which is the first step to authenticity.

Here are six of the main points from Heidegger’s philosophy that bear on how we can live an optimal life.

1. Be an existentialist.
2. Live an authentic life.
3. Avoid the inauthentic.
4. Anxiety is the price for authenticity.
5. Escape guilt.
6. The limits to freedom.

1. Be an existentialist

Martin Heidegger was an existentialist philosopher.

This means he was interested in the meaning of human existence.

He wanted to place the human being at the centre, focusing on our ability to feel, choose and be individuals.

He was reacting against rationalist philosophers like Hegel and Kant who downplayed the importance of thoughts and feelings.

Heidegger said that people and the world in which we live are inseparable.

Without the world, people would not exist and without people, the world would not exist.

He used the word ‘Dasein’, which literally means ‘to be’ (sein) ‘there’ (Da).

Human existence is something special to Heidegger.

We are in a constant state of change: we have to choose what to accept and reject, how to expand and evaluate what is around us.

Human beings choose the nature of their existence.

2. Live an authentic life

Heidegger said it was vital to live an authentic life in order to be real.

An authentic life involves coming to terms with the fact that all of us will one day die.

With that knowledge accepted, we can get on with building meaning in our lives.

An authentic life involves becoming all that we can become.

Martin Heidegger (above)

The certainty of death brings urgency to the search for our individual potential.

We must explore all of life’s possibilities in order to become the most authentic version of ourselves.

An authentic life is exciting.

Here is a quote from Steve Jobs’ Stanford University commencement speech:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

You are already naked.

There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

That is how to be real.

3. Avoid the inauthentic life

The inauthentic life has pretence at its heart — it is a fake life.

Inauthentic people pretend they are not going to die, which reduces their urgency.

One way of being inauthentic is by living a conventional, traditional life that simply follows society’s rules.

Inauthentic people give up on the freedom that is given to them and let others make their choices.

A sign of an inauthentic individual is often saying things that one doesn’t actually believe or that doesn’t reflect one’s inner feelings.

4. Anxiety is the price for authenticity

One of the main barriers to leading an authentic life is that it provokes anxiety.

The reason is that freedom involves accepting responsibility for one’s actions.

If one is truly free and living an authentic life, one cannot blame genetics, circumstances, parents or anyone else for our choices.

That means that we must take responsibility for our actions.

This is a key problem at the heart of existentialist philosophy: we cannot be truly free without taking responsibility.

To be authentic, for Heidegger, means experimenting with life, trying different things to see what happens.

The unknown creates anxiety, as well as being the path to authenticity — it is the price we have to pay for trying to be real.

5. Escape guilt with an authentic life

Given the anxieties linked to living an authentic life, most people are not fully authentic.

Most people give up at least some of their freedom in order to minimise anxiety.

This generates guilt: the feeling of regret at violating our own standards.

The only way to escape from this guilt is to try and live more authentically.

6. The limits to an authentic life

Although Heidegger believed strongly in personal freedom, he recognised that it had limits.

We are each constrained to some extent by our circumstances, including our upbringing, culture and personal characteristics.

He accepted, then, that anyone cannot become anything they want, however hard they try to be real.

Rather, we can become better, given whatever we start with.

Becoming better is a choice which we make ourselves and this is the first step to authenticity.

Read on…

Find out what these other philosophers had to say about how to be real:

• Epicurus: The hedonist philosopher’s guide to happiness
• Schopenhauer: Extreme self-help for pessimists
• Confucius on happiness

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Over four thousand people were followed for six years to assess their chance of dying through any cause.

Even small increases in happiness are linked to living longer, research finds.

Dr Rahul Malhotra, study co-author, said:

“The findings indicate that even small increments in happiness may be beneficial to older people’s longevity.

Therefore individual-level activities as well as government policies and programs that maintain or improve happiness or psychological well-being may contribute to a longer life among older people.”

The results come from 4,478 people aged over 60, living in Singapore.

They were followed for six years to assess their chance of dying through any cause.

The results showed that among unhappy older people, 20% died in the subsequent six years.

However, in happy older people, just 15% had passed away.

Dr June May-Ling Lee, study co-author, said:

“The consistency of the inverse association of happiness with mortality across age groups and gender is insightful — men and women, the young-old and the old-old, all are likely to benefit from an increase in happiness.”

The study was published in the journal Age and Ageing (Chei et al., 2018).

“The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change.” — Confucius

In China two and half thousand years ago one man, Kong Qiu, and his followers, synthesised the traditions of the Chinese people to create what they believed were the fundamental principles of humanity.

Of course what Westerners now call Confucianism has changed over the years, just like the other major philosophies that have flourished in the East: Buddhism and Taoism.

But to have survived this long, these systems of thought must have at their cores a useful set of principles that help people live the ‘good life’.

Following on from previous posts on philosophers Epicurus and Schopenhauer, as well as the modern obsession with self-help books, I look at what Ancient Chinese philosophies have to teach us about how to be happy.

In an article in the Journal of Happiness Studies, Zhang and Veenhoven (in press) compare the ancient Chinese versions of Taosim, Buddhism and Confucianism with the modern conditions of happiness.

They use findings from the multitude of studies collected in the World Database of Happiness to reach the conclusion that, compared to ancient Buddhism and Taoism, it is Confucius’ philosophical teachings that are most likely to lead to a happy life.

So, here (briefly) is Confucius’ advice on how to live the good life, contrasted with some of the tenets of Taoism and Buddhism.

1. Invest in intimate ties

Confucianism’s view of life is built on the idea of ‘Jen’.

This means a feeling of concern for the wellbeing of others.

Those following Confucianism should bring Jen into both their social relations and, so far as they are able, into society itself.

Compared with the modern observed conditions of happiness this looks like good advice.

Generally speaking marriage makes us happier, more friends make us happier and people are especially happy if they have someone to confide in.

Classical Taoism goes along with this point but ancient Buddhism runs counter to the evidence, advising the avoidance of intimate ties.

2. Confucius said embrace society

Society is accepted within Confucianism and the philosophy encourages its followers to engage in it.

Looking at the research, this is also good advice.

People who are members of clubs, churches and other organisations are happier, people who have a job are happier, and so on.

The evidence shows that this is also true at a societal level.

Countries in which people have the densest networks of friends are also those in which people are the happiest.

In comparison, ancient Taoism says retreat to nature and Buddhism says withdraw completely from society – both these points of view are suspect if happiness is your goal.

3. Be successful for happiness

Confucianism recommends a devotion to your occupation.

The wealth earned from working is also seen in a positive light within Confucianism.

Generally speaking people with more money and higher status are happier (but bear in mind that more money doesn’t always equal more happiness).

In contrast, both ancient Taoism and Buddhism are sniffy about earnings.

4. Confucius said have fun

Confucius thought moderate amounts of fun were acceptable.

This is backed up by modern research finding that people who engage in pleasurable activities are happier (I know, surprise surprise!).

Follow-up studies show no long-term disadvantages to a bit of short-term fun.

So there’s no point rejecting the possibility of happiness, as does ancient Chinese Buddhism, which warns that the pursuit of happiness will only end in disappointment.

5. Live healthily for happiness

Still in the land of the blindingly obvious – yes, people who are healthier are happier.

Still, just because the advice is obvious doesn’t mean it’s any less relevant, or any more likely for people to actually act on!

Despite this the self-evident nature of this advice, ancient Chinese Buddhism actually recommends physical privation.

Again, we’ll stick with Confucius on this one.

6. Meet your obligations

One of the most important aspects of ancient Chinese Confucianism is a sense of duty and responsibility.

There’s some sparse evidence from the individual level that this might lead to greater happiness.

At a societal level, however, people who live in collectivist societies, like the Chinese, tend to be less happier than those who live in individualistic societies.

This may be because collectivist societies stifle the individual’s search for self-actualisation.

7. Confucius said school yourself

You’ve guessed it, the well-educated are also happier.

On the other hand education mostly contributes to happiness by enabling you to get a better job, and lots of education doesn’t necessarily lead to more happiness.

One thing is clear though, it is better to live in a more educated society, even if others are more educated than us.

Education is partly endorsed by Taoism, while classical Buddhism advises avoiding school completely.

Again, Confucianism wins on this one.

Ancient wisdom

Perhaps it is no surprise that the man who the West knows as ‘Confucius’ is revered by many as the ‘Ancient Teacher’ and ‘Perfect Sage’.

I’m particularly impressed with the prescient quote at the top of the article.

This clearly anticipates modern research finding that we quickly get used to new positive experiences so that they no longer continue to increase our happiness.

On the other hand it’s important to note that these comparisons are made on the basis of the ancient Chinese versions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

There is a considerable variation within each of these schools of thought – so much so that for the present purposes the modern versions might as well be completely different schools of philosophy.

Ancient Buddhism does fare badly in this comparison, but people do vary considerably in what they want from philosophical teachings.

Not everyone’s main aim in life may be to achieve happiness, some may place a higher value on different goals.

The study was published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (Zhang & Veenhoven, 2008)