The Happiness Institute in Australia reminded us how very culturally dependent measures of happiness can be.
Today they cite a study in the United Kingdom that reports hairdressers are the happiest profession.
We don’t know where hair dressing ranks in University of Chicago’s study, nor do we know where the clergy rank in happiness and job satisfaction in Great Britain.
It’s important to appreciate how very subjective and culturally dependent happiness and job satisfaction studies can be.
Are similar questions being asked in the same way to similar groups of people? Do the questions and answers mean the same things?
The United States and Great Britain are very similar in many ways, we would expect surveys of happiness and job satisfaction to be alike too.
Just as we were surprised to see tomatoes regularly served for breakfast on our first trip to Great Britain, we should expect surprises in happiness and job satisfaction rankings between countries and cultures as well.
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us for reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights. Michele Moore is author of How To Live A Happy Life - 101 Ways To Be Happier.
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Here’s a typical abstract of recent happiness studies from Scientific American:
We tend to adapt, quickly returning to our usual level of happiness. The classic example of such “hedonic adaptation” comes from a 1970s study of lottery winners, who a year after their windfall ended up no happier than non winners. Hedonic adaptation helps to explain why even changes in major life circumstances - such as income, marriage, physical health and where we live - do so little to boost our overall happiness.
Not only that, but studies of twins and adoptees have shown that a determined from birth. This “genetic set point” alone makes the happiness glass look half empty, because any upward swing in happiness seems doomed to fall back to near your baseline.
How Depressing! Academic research proves even unexpected abundant wealth does not bring lasting happiness and our happiness is a prisoner function of our genes!
What are we meant to do if we want to be happier and live happy, spiritually successful lives? Take drugs? See a psychotherapist? The psychologists at these major research institutions leave us hanging without solutions, suggestions or resolutions.
They don’t want you to know there are simple, enduring, universal truths that lead to happiness and a happy life!
Another synopsis from the “father of Flow” Mihály Csíkszentmihályi one of the world’s leading researchers in positive psychology suggests we: 1) Be attuned to what gives us satisfaction; 2) Study ourselves; and 3) Take control. It’s hardly a complete recipe for happiness!
Most happiness research is conducted by psychology departments at major universities who have huge investments in treating problems and disease. The emergence of simple, teachable Happiness Truths would undermine these psychologists professed preeminence, prestige, power and economic well-being. Expect academic research to biased towards Daniel Gilbert’s “Stumbling on Happiness” thesis that most people don’t know what makes them happy.
Pharmaceutical firms are major advertisers. Over eleven million prescriptions for psycho active mood elevators are written annually in the United States alone. Is the media willing to cover options that could jeopardize this revenue?
There are universal, enduring, eternal truths that lead to happy, spiritually successful lives. We call these happiness habits…
“Be Guided By Goodness • Fuel Your Life With Fun • Passion Is Empty Without Compassion • Profit From Your Mistakes • Beating Yourself Up Reinforces Errors You Want To Avoid • Drive Discipline With Desire • Make Decisions Not Judgments • Schedule Your Time Not Your Tasks • Be Driven By Desire NOT Duress • See Obstacles NOT Problems • Focus On How You Want To Feel • Touch Each Person You Meet With A Positive Spirit • Love Propels Happiness ”
Don’t expect them to be covered by television, magazine or major media enterprises that rely on advertising for their revenue.
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Contact us for reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights. Michele Moore is author of How To Live A Happy Life - 101 Ways To Be Happier.
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It’s official, recent scientific research shows bacteria commonly found in dirt, bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae, can lift levels of serotonin in the brain, brightening our moods and contributing to our happiness.
At last, scientific proof of what gardeners have known since the beginning of time, digging in the dirt is enjoyable, satisfying and good for our happiness!
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us for reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights. Michele Moore is author of How To Live A Happy Life - 101 Ways To Be Happier.
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Habitually happy people consciously choose their moods and their attitudes, they like to enjoy all life has to offer.
They don’t want to waste time in bad, unhappy, non productive moods or mental states.
They decide what they are going to do and they consciously decide to enjoy it. They manage their actions and their attitudes very effectively.
They don’t continually look outside of themselves for happiness. They create their own joy though their actions, appreciation and their achievements.
This is a very different perspective from people who continually seek happiness outside of themselves. When they can’t find it, they are often disappointed and dejected. Some retreat into a mythical sort of lotus land to find some semblance of happiness and bliss.
Enduring Happiness is not a retreat from reality but a different perspective on reality.
- It’s knowing we are truly at our best when we are up and happy, so we try to be that way all of the time.
- It’s knowing life is far richer and beautiful when we are appreciating all that’s around us, not judging.
- Happiness definitely requires an independent, rebellious spirit that refuses to let difficulties take control of our hearts and minds. Refusal to let difficulties define our identity, feelings or our actions is a key to happiness.
Is it easier to be happy when everything around us is beautiful and life is going well? Absolutely, especially if you already embrace and practice these happiness habits.
If you don’t, no measure of good things coming into your life will ever bring you enduring happiness.
We can use difficult times to strengthen our happiness skills and our determination to triumph over distress and despair.
You decide what you want to do.
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more insights on how to live a happy life. Post your comments below.
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We are always amazed and delighted by how truly and consistently nice genuinely happy people are. This was one of the biggest surprises from our interviews and studies of habitually happy people. Happiness and niceness invariably are linked together.
By nice, we don’t mean door mat, subservient, submissive or excessively concerned about other people’s opinions. Habitually happy people were anything but that! They all tended to be very independent, somewhat outspoken and in many ways, adventurous.
By niceness we mean genuinely caring and being concerned about other people and the people around you. Passion propels happiness. Passion without caring and consideration for others is empty and self serving. Caring for others helps create compassion.
Many thanks to the Happiness Institute for today’s posting from Eastern Progress that reminds us how niceness contributes to happiness. Helpful messages often come when we need them the most! 
We know people who are nice but who are not especially happy, niceness by itself does not ensure happiness. We never encountered anyone who was genuinely and consistently happy who was not nice. Sociopaths may fall into this category, their happiness is delusional.
Focusing our time and attention on doing good things well helps ensures happiness. Niceness, care and concern for others as well as ourselves is part of living well.
On a very different tone, ever wonder Why Having More No Longer Makes Us Happy? See an excellent article on the over emphasis of continued economic growth in AlterNet but be warned, it’s serious stuff! That’s why they call economics the dismal science.
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more insights on how to live a happy life. Post your comments below.
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UPDATE
CBS removed Gilbert’s second quote* from the CNBSnews.com website after we received his angry email.
Our comments had impact!
Katie Couric’s interview today with “Stumbling on Happiness” author Daniel Gilbert shares revealing insights into how psychologists view happiness.
Here are Dr. Gilbert’s closing comments:
“This interview has, of course, been the single happiest experience of my entire adult life,” says Gilbert.
“I’d have to say that I am especially happy when my 4 year old granddaughter and I spread the tinker toys out on the living room floor and build a geebenfloober. Neither of us has any idea what a geebenfloober is, but it’s really fun to say with a mouthful of pretzels.”
Conspicuously absent were any steps people can take to live happier, more fulfilling lives, like…
Be Guided By Goodness, Fuel Your Life With Fun, Your Aim Determines Your Achievements, Avoid All Unnecessary, Non-Productive Negativity and the Fault Finding Feel Goods, Focus On How You Want To Feel, Drive Discipline With Desire, Live According To Your Aspirations Not Your Inclinations, Touch People With A Positive Spirit, Live By Only The Highest And Best Values, Be Driven By Desire Not Duress, Love Propels Happiness.
Psychotherapists have major investments in treating disease. Growing happiness does not necessarily further their goals.
*Gilbert begins by saying, “in the land of plenty, plenty of people are unhappy and want to know why.”
He seems to view unhappiness as something that is wrong, as a disease, not as a difficulty that can be overcome by thinking and acting in new or different ways.
Don’t look to psychologists or psychotherapists for compelling insights about happiness.
Instead, seek out genuinely happy people. Study and acquire their values, beliefs and ideals and then become happy like them.
Gilbert comments, “You should do some homework before criticizing others as a means of promoting your book.” Hmmm, did we really criticize? Or did we just quote him fairly from the interview and state the facts? We were certainly kind and supportive on the CBS website.
You decide.
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. See HappinessHabit.com for more insights about how to live a happy life. Comment on this posting below.
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Are God and Jesus Christ are the only true sources of happiness?
“Sometimes, the person who has everything he could desire is still not happy; meanwhile someone deprived of everything, even freedom or health, can be joyful and peaceful, if God is within his heart. ”
~ Pope Benedict XVI
We both agree and disagree!
Certainly many church teachings are central and crucial to living a happy, spiritually successful life. Compassion, goodness, honesty, virtue and truth are the basis of a happy life.
We also know many very religious people who are not especially happy. Some of the most horrendous crimes in history were committed with a false sense of religious righteousness.
Some of the happiness people in the world are Buddhists who do not have a concept of God that is central to our Judeo Christian creed. Buddhists do have compelling teachings about compassion, care and concern for others that are central to their beliefs.
It is these values, we believe, that bring Buddhists happiness. The ancient Greeks agreed, “A man who is not virtuous will never be happy.” ~ Epicurus
Herb Benham jokes about a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reporting that fat men are less likely to commit suicide than thin men!? One wonders if worry is keeping people thin and unhappy.
Taking pride in feeling good and looking good is important source of happiness! We don’t believe habitually over eating is a healthy, enduring source of joy.
What do you think? Post your comments below!
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Contact us for Reprints See HappinessHabit.com for more information.
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Should Happiness Be Pursued? Or does happiness flow best and naturally just from a life well lived?
See Happiness Without Pursuit
Mark Teeter 3/17/07 St. Petersburg Times
One of my grandfathers pursued happiness and the other did not. The first tried a dozen disparate jobs but found only modest success and fleeting satisfaction.
The non-pursuer — a rare combination of journalist, historian and Methodist minister — did all three for their own sake and that of others, and did them very well. When he died, Time magazine titled his obituary “A Happy Man.”
It’s a wonderful article and analysis of happiness in Russia!
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India is studying happiness in an effort to bring happiness studies into schools. Certainly being absorbed in productive, creative activities can be very rewarding.
A wonderful article from Thailand Times linking flow states to happiness disappeared from their site. Creative flow states as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi are often linked to happiness.
We don’t disagree that creative flow states can be a source of happiness. It is easy to get lost in the flow and loose site of what you have to do and what you really want to achieve.
We found habitually happy people were generally very time conscious, they tended to schedule their time not their tasks. Time was generally their limiting resource.
Being concerned about time protected them from getting lost in the flow and loosing site of what they really want to achieve.
The Mercury News reports Clairmont College in California is initiating a doctoral program in Happiness. They will research “What makes people happy?”
We wonder, why not ask, “How can people make themselves happy?” Isn’t our goal to be happy and find ways to live a happier, more spiritually successful life?
We agree with Wil Wilkinson’s Happiness & Public Policy Blog about happiness research. Today’s posting is, as always, very sophisticated and complete. He refers to research on aging and happiness, which was also recently reported in Slate.
Science Blogs reported research on the decline in happiness during the 20th Century. Reading it did not make me happy!
Copyright 2007, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Contact us for Reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more information. Comment on our posting below.
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Happiness Blog is moving, expanding and will include current happiness articles of interest.
See HappinessHabit.com for a listing of Happiness Habits.
We’ll continue to respond to reader’s comments and what we read, like this for example:
“Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” was posted by the Happiness Institute today…
“A negative judgment is the force behind all fears, anxieties and worries!”
Why say any day “May not be good?” When you start off that way, your negative projections can become a self fulfilling prophecy! Why not say, “How can I make the best of this day and every day?”
The International Herald Tribune writes Darrin McMahon author of “Happiness: A History” still has problems defining Happiness, so does Hootiepalooza who writes.. Wikipedia defines happiness As an effective state?!!!
Why not try our Happiness Habit definition… ”
A happy life is generally…
Pleasant & Pleasing,
Purposeful & Productive,
Prosperous & Spiritually Successful!”
“Happiness is the energized, elevated emotion we experience when we enjoy, appreciate or achieve a worthwhile goal.”
Deciding what happiness means to us helps us decide what steps we can take to attain it. For more insights see our Happiness Habit resources.
Tell us if you like our new approach. It may be a bit redundant at times, but repeating key concepts helps them to be reinforced and retained. That’s the way to build happiness!
Copyright 2007 Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints. See HappinessHabit.com for more insights on living a happy, spiritually successful life. Comment on this post below.
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