In an interview in the March newsletter to the Grant Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, "What have you learned from the Grant Study men? He shared insights of the study with Joshua Wolf Shenk at The Atlantic on how men's social connections made a difference to their overall happiness:. Men's relationships at age 47, he found, predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable. Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger.
Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness. I think that last line is especially fascinating: Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness. So we could increase our annual income by hundreds of thousands of dollars and still not be as happy as we would if we increased the strength of our social relationships.
The Terman study, covered in The Longevity Project , found that relationships and how we help others were important factors in living long, happy lives:. We figured that if a Terman participant sincerely felt that he or she had friends and relatives to count on when having a hard time then that person would be healthier. Those who felt very loved and cared for, we predicted, would live the longest.
Surprise: our prediction was wrong Beyond social network size, the clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping others. Those who helped their friends and neighbors, advising and caring for others, tended to live to old age. In The Happiness Advantage , Shawn Achor recommends spending time in the fresh air to improve your happiness:. Making time to go outside on a nice day also delivers a huge advantage; one study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only boosted positive mood, but broadened thinking and improved working memory This is pretty good news for those of us who are worried about fitting new habits into our already-busy schedules.
Twenty minutes is a short enough time to spend outside that you could fit it into your commute or even your lunch break. A UK study from the University of Sussex also found that being outdoors made people happier:.
Being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny weekend afternoon is the perfect spot for most. In fact, participants were found to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than they were in urban environments.
The American Meteorological Society published research in that found current temperature has a bigger effect on our happiness than variables like wind speed and humidity, or even the average temperature over the course of a day.
It also found that happiness is maximized at 57 degrees The connection between productivity and temperature is another topic we've talked about more here. It's fascinating what a small change in temperature can do. One of the most counterintuitive pieces of advice I found is that to make yourself feel happier, you should help others. In fact, hours per year or two hours per week is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others in order to enrich our lives.
Spending money on other people, called "prosocial spending," also boosts happiness. The Journal of Happiness Studies published a study that explored this very topic:. Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on themselves or someone else.
Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future.
So spending money on other people makes us happier than buying stuff for ourselves. But what about spending our time on other people? A study of volunteering in Germany explored how volunteers were affected when their opportunities to help others were taken away:.
Volunteering was still widespread. For example, a recent two-part study found that practicing gratitude can have a significant impact on feelings of hope and happiness. As you go about your day, try to keep an eye out for pleasant things in your life. They can be big things, such as knowing that someone loves you or getting a well-deserved promotion.
But they can also be little things, such as a co-worker who offered you a cup of coffee or the neighbor who waved to you. Maybe even just the warmth of the sun on your skin. Research shows that performing acts of kindness can help you feel more satisfied.
You might be surprised by how good it makes you feel. If you want to offer someone a compliment on their physical appearance, make sure to do it in a respectful way. Here are some tips to get you started.
Turns out, that instinct is a good one. According to Harvard Health , deep breathing exercises can help reduce stress. A positive attitude is generally a good thing, but bad things happen to everyone. Acknowledge the feeling of unhappiness, letting yourself experience it for a moment.
Then, shift your focus toward what made you feel this way and what it might take to recover. A journal is a good way to organize your thoughts, analyze your feelings, and make plans. It can be as simple as jotting down a few thoughts before you go to bed. Not sure what to do with all the feelings that end up on the page? Our guide to organizing your feelings can help. Learn more about the upside of stress. Instead of letting yourself get overwhelmed, try to tackle the stressor head-on.
This might mean initiating an uncomfortable conversation or putting in some extra work, but the sooner you tackle it, the sooner the pit in your stomach will start to shrink. Decluttering sounds like a big project, but setting aside just 20 minutes a week can have a big impact. Set a timer on your phone and take 15 minutes to tidy up a specific area of one room — say, your closet or that out-of-control junk drawer. Keep a designated box for giveaways to make things a little easier and avoid creating more clutter.
Use the remaining 5 minutes to do a quick walk through your living space, putting away whatever stray items end up in your path. You can do this trick once a week, once a day, or anytime you feel like your space is getting out of control. Who do you miss? Reach out to them. Make a date to get together or simply have a long phone chat. In adulthood, it can feel next to impossible to make new friends.
People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injury often find housecleaning an insurmountable task. Attention deficit disorder, depression , chronic pain and grief can prevent people from getting organized or lead to a buildup of clutter. At its most extreme, chronic disorganization is called hoarding, a condition many experts believe is a mental illness in its own right, although psychiatrists have yet to formally recognize it.
While hoarders are a minority, many psychologists and organization experts say the rest of us can learn from them. The spectrum from cleanliness to messiness includes large numbers of people who are chronically disorganized and suffering either emotionally, physically or socially.
The chronically-messy person can change through behavioral therapy or with guidance from numerous self-help books on the topic. Get rid of the rest. One of my favorite bits of happiness advice comes from Ms. She proffers a one-minute rule that I have found incredibly useful in my own life. Here it is:. This simple sage advice helps you decide what to tackle in a messy room. Do the one-minute tasks first. If you do nothing else, incorporate the one-minute rule into your life.
It will give you a short boost of happiness after you accomplish so much in a short time — and as a bonus, you will end up with a cleaner room, which will also make you happy.
A lot of potential for happiness happens in the bedroom. As a result, many people who study and write about happiness encourage people to focus on life in the bedroom. The same can be said for people who are happy with their sex lives — they are happier overall than people with less-than-satisfactory sex lives. Sleep is essential to better health. So how do you become a more successful sleeper? Grab a pillow and find out. Studies consistently show that our own happiness is linked with the happiness of others.
One of the ways we know this is from the Framingham Heart Study, a massive study started in that has tracked three generations of participants. The study was designed to identify risk factors for heart disease, resulting in reams of data on health, food, fitness habits, stress, family issues and happiness. To measure happiness, the Framingham study asked people how often they experienced certain feelings during the previous week.
Yale scientists decided to mine the data to study happiness and social networks. The structure of the study allowed them to track changes in happiness over time. And because the scientists who designed the study wanted to keep track of people, they asked participants to identify their relatives, close friends, place of residence and place of work.
Psychologists conducted a series of experiments to determine the role that pets play in our happiness. They found that pet owners were happier, healthier and better adjusted than were non-owners. Pet owners said they received as much support from their pets as they did family members. And people who were emotionally closer to the pets also tended to have deeper ties to the humans in their lives.
Dog owners who felt a strong connection to their pets were happier and healthier. And in one expressive writing exercise, writing about pets was just as effective as writing about a friend when it came to staving off feelings of rejection, according to the report published by the American Psychological Association.
Many people think of their marriages as a source of happiness. In one study of 24, people in Germany over 15 years, researchers found that getting married only triggered a small bump in happiness, measured as one-tenth of a point on an 11 point scale.
Of course, there were big variations among individuals. Some people were much happier after marriage; and sadly, some were much less happy after getting married. The bottom line was that if you are already a happy person, you will not gain much extra happiness from marriage , probably because you already have a rich social network. At the same time, if you lack a strong social network, you will get a bigger happiness benefit from partnering up.
At the same time, a married person with a limited social network will suffer more after divorce or the death of a spouse. The lesson: Improving all of our social connections and relationships is good for overall happiness. Get the best of Well, with the latest on health, fitness and nutrition, delivered to your inbox every week. See sample Privacy Policy Opt out or contact us anytime. So tell us, what do you think will make you happy?
More money? A bigger house? A dream job? Even lottery winners are not any happier than those of us who never win anything. But once people escape poverty and achieve a middle-class or slightly higher lifestyle, more money does not result in significantly more happiness.
It means that when we get what we want money, job, love, house we may get a burst of happiness, but we quickly settle back to our previous level of happiness and then start thinking about the next thing that will make us happy. We like to complain about work, but it plays an important role in our happiness.
Work, even the most mundane work, helps us feed our families, put roofs over our heads and connect with other people. Ideally, we will find work that has meaning to us. But not everybody can quit their day job and pursue charity work or join Teach for America. Studies show that we get satisfaction from all kinds of work — not just our dream job.
Yale researchers studied custodians who worked in a hospital. Far from seeing the drudgery of their jobs, the janitors had unofficially broadened the definition of hospital custodial work. Many of them viewed their work as including providing comfort to patients, helping families find their way around the hospital and providing a clean, pleasant environment for doctors and nurses to do their work and for patients to heal.
Even people who do telephone solicitation — viewed by many as the bottom of the career ladder — can find satisfaction in work. Wharton professor Adam Grant arranged for a student to talk about the difference his scholarship made to his life.
In a column about Why You Hate Work , Christine Porath, a Georgetown associate professor, and Tony Schwartz, chief executive of a consulting firm called The Energy Project , found that the jobs that make us happiest are those that include four characteristics: renewal, value, focus and purpose. When you are deciding how to spend your money, consider buying some more time. Harvard researchers found that spending money on convenience items and time-saving services help can lower stress and make us happier.
The time-savers had less time-related stress and a bigger increase in well-being. But even very wealthy people can sometimes feel reluctant and guilty about the indulgence of spending money on maids, messengers and other helpers. But do it anyway if you can afford it. Giving yourself the gift of more time, if you can afford it, is a quick and convenient way to a happier life. Take control of your time at work. Write it down. Did you know that taking the time to write down 3 positive things each day will make you more optimistic and less stressed?
And yes, we have an app for that : Get outside. Just a few minutes of fresh air can give you a fresh perspective. Walk it out. A minute brisk walk gets the heart pumping and will decrease stress. Make a statement. With your accessories. A bold statement necklace, your too-cool- for-school shades or your favorite kicks can be all you need to turn a 'blah' day around.
Give yourself a boost. Of healthy nutrients! We're talking fruit, veggies and protein. When your body feels good your brain will follow. Leave a note. Make someone's day by leaving a "you're beautiful" note on the bathroom mirror. Do something. Whether it's sending an email or clearing the clutter off your dining room table, just getting one tiny little thing off your to-do list and onto the 'it's done' list will give you a huge mental sigh of relief. Say "thank you.
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