The simplest way to think about happiness is like a fuel tank. How much you fill it up determines how long you can drive without running out of gas.
Researchers generally agree that happiness is a feeling of life satisfaction or subjective well-being, combined with domain satisfactions and positive and negative emotions. But how do we measure it?
Money
Money can make or break your happiness, depending on how you use it. In 2023, Matthew Killingsworth debunked a much-cited study that found happiness peaked at $75,000 in income and found the opposite: that people can keep their levels of joy climbing even after that level is reached.
But he also says that you should look at how your spending is adding to your overall happiness. He recommends examining your purchases and ruthlessly eliminating anything that doesn’t bring you joy and optimizing the things you do choose to purchase, whether those are possessions or services like a house cleaner or gardening and grocery delivery. Research has shown that experiences are the best way to add to your happiness. It’s time to stop chasing the next big thing and instead think about the things that actually bring you happiness. This will require more introspection, but it may help you find a sustainable level of joy that is more likely to last.
Relationships
Whether it’s a satisfying romantic relationship, loving family relationships, or a lifetime of meaningful friendships, people are often attracted to the idea of “being in love.” The sense of fulfillment and joy that comes with being in a healthy relationship can contribute to overall happiness. However, strained or toxic relationships can have the opposite effect and cause people to feel disconnected.
People who have strong, happy relationships are not only happier, but also healthier and live longer than those who don’t. A decades long Harvard study has concluded that good relationships and close friends are the key to lifelong health and happiness. Ali Rogin speaks with Robert Waldinger, the director of this landmark study to learn more about its conclusions and how we can nurture our relationships.
Health
A healthy mind, body and soul are critical to happiness. People who are happiest work hard to maintain their health by eating well, exercising regularly and spending time in nature.
Investing in a healthier lifestyle helps people feel good about themselves and leads to greater levels of optimism, which can help foster positivity. Even small steps, such as switching up your workout routine or taking a different route to the grocery store, can lead to better moods.
Many people believe that their happiness is determined by external factors such as the weather or traffic delays. Changing this mindset will allow you to regain control of your emotions, so that happiness is something you create rather than react to. A good way to do this is by observing what activities make for your best days and worst days, then finding ways to engage in more of the former and avoid the latter. By doing this, you will retrain your brain to seek a happy middle ground.
Spirituality
Spiritual people aren’t merely happy because they experience pleasurable emotions, but because they also identify their lives as meaningful. This sense of meaning gives them gratitude for life’s enjoyable events and helps them gracefully process challenging ones. It’s why spirited individuals are more likely to be resilient in the face of stress and their brains are flooded with chemicals that boost immune systems.
These are all great reasons to take a journey toward understanding spirituality, but what does it really mean? The 19th Century philosopher and psychologist William James said that “the happiest of all men are those who have found something that gives their lives depth and meaning, which the world around them cannot give. They are, in a word, twice born.”
Several studies have examined the links between religion and spirituality and eudaimonic well-being. The authors of one meta-analysis report that strategies aimed at enhancing personal meaning appear to make people happier. The article also proposes a framework for organizing correlated dimensions of spirituality in horizontal axes so that researchers and readers can understand the findings in a more cohesive way.