Apply the new science of happiness in: • Education • Health • Business • Your Life.

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.


After yesterday's blog post where I discussed that we all have the ability to be creative, I thought I'd keep the focus on emotional well being and the importance of using tools that we now know scientifically improves our happiness quota. Being creative and innovative at work requires us to address our lives in very different ways, to invest in our emotional well being. In fact, I continue to be astounded how companies can expect the best from employees when so many work surroundings are dull in atmosphere, many even lacking a window to the world. The space you occupy to do your most creative and innovative work is important and so too is the way we savour our lives.

It is for this reason that I thought I'd share with you The How of Happiness. I heard Sonja Lyubomirsky speak at the Happiness and its Causes Conference in Sydney last year and her book The How of Happiness is an excellent read and guide to how to increase your own happiness in life. I know it's sounds trite to some who think happiness is a given but try it for yourself, it really does work. There is also an excellent and fun app available for the iPhone that can assist you on your happiness journey.

You can change your personal capacity for happiness. Research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's pioneering concept of the 40% solution shows you how.. Drawing on her own groundbreaking research with thousands of men and women, research psychologist and University of California professor of psychology Sonja Lyubomirsky has pioneered a detailed yet easy-to-follow plan to increase happiness in our day-to-day lives-in the short term and over the long term. The How of Happiness is a different kind of happiness book, one that offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves. Using more than a dozen uniquely formulated happiness-increasing strategies, The How of Happiness offers a new and potentially life- changing way to understand our innate potential for joy and happiness as well as our ability to sustain it in our lives. Beginning with a short diagnostic quiz that helps readers to first quantify and then to understand what she describes as their "happiness set point," Lyubomirsky reveals that this set point determines just 50 percent of happiness while a mere 10 percent can be attributed to differences in life circumstances or situations. This leaves a startling, and startlingly underdeveloped, 40 percent of our capacity for happiness within our power to change. Lyubomirsky's "happiness strategies" introduce readers to the concept of intentional activities, mindful actions that they can use to achieve a happier life. These include exercises in practicing optimism when imagining the future, instruction in how best to savor life's pleasures in the here and now, and a thoroughgoing explanation of the importance of staying active to being happy. Helping readers find the right fit between the goals they set and the activities she suggests, Lyubomirsky also helps readers understand the many obstacles to happiness as well as how to harness individual strengths to overcome them. Always emphasizing how much of our happiness is within our control, Lyubomirsky addresses the "scientific how" of her happiness research, demystifying the many myths that unnecessarily complicate its pursuit. Unlike those of many self-help books, all her recommendations are supported by scientific research. The How of Happiness is both a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology and a gift to all those who have questioned their own well- being and sought to take their happiness into their own hands.


Here are some tips for getting started:
(1) Count your blessings: Expressing gratitude for what you have (either privately,
through contemplation or journaling, or to a close other) or conveying your
appreciation to one or more individuals whom you've never properly thanked.
(2) Cultivate optimism: Keeping a journal in which you imagine and write about the
best possible future for yourself, or practicing to look at the bright side of every
situation.
(3) Avoid over thinking and social comparison: Using strategies (such as
distraction) to cut down on how often you dwell on your problems and compare
yourself to others.
(4) Practice acts of kindness: Doing good things for others, whether friends or
strangers, either directly or anonymously, either spontaneously or planned.
(5) Nurture relationships: Picking a relationship in need of strengthening, and
investing time and energy in healing, cultivating, affirming, and enjoying it.
(6) Do more activities that truly engage you: Increasing the number of experiences
at home and work in which you "lose" yourself, which are challenging and absorbing.
(7) Replay and savor life's joys: Paying close attention, taking delight, and going
over life's momentary pleasures and wonders – through thinking, writing, drawing, or
sharing with another.
(8) Commit to your goals: Picking one, two, or three significant goals that are
meaningful to you and devoting time and effort to pursuing them.
(9) Develop strategies for coping: Practicing ways to endure or surmount a recent
stress, hardship, or trauma.
(10) Learn to forgive: Keeping a journal or writing a letter in which you work on
letting go of anger and resentment towards one or more individuals who have hurt or
wronged you.
(11) Practice religion and spirituality: Becoming more involved in your church,
temple, or mosque, or reading and pondering spiritually-themed books.
(12) Take care of your body: Engaging in physical activity, meditating, and smiling
and laughing.

Footnote: The new science of positive psychology has a lot to offer us to enhance our lives. It is a pity with the wealth of scientific research now available to us that more of these tools and techniques are not mainstream yet and so many unproven self help courses and books still survive.