The How of Happiness

In a classic study conducted back in the 1970s, psychologists interviewed some lucky individuals who had won between fifty thousand and one million dollars (in 1970s dollars) in the Illinois State Lottery.44 Strikingly, less than a year after receiving the potentially life-changing news of winning the lottery, they reported being no more happy than

Why does hedonic adaptation occur? The two biggest culprits are rising aspirations (e.g., the bigger house you buy after your windfall feels natural after a while; you experience a sort of “creeping normalcy” and begin to want an even bigger one) and social comparison (e.g., your new friends in the new neighborhood are driving BMWs and you feel you

As significant as our major life events are to each of us, studies suggest that they actually determine, as the pie chart shows us, a tiny percentage of our happiness. The 10 percent figure represents an average from many past investigations, which reveal that all life circumstances and situations put together account for only about 10 percent in h

An impressive body of research now shows that trying to be happy by changing our life situations ultimately will not work. Why do life changes account for so little? Because of a very powerful force that psychologists call hedonic adaptation.

Many of us, especially those of us who are not very happy, believe that our unhappiness is genetic and there’s really nothing we can do about it. To the contrary, growing research demonstrates persuasively that we can overcome our genetic programming.

happiness, more than anything, is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching ourselves and the world in which we reside. So, if you want to be happy tomorrow, the day after, and for the rest of your life, you can do it by choosing to change and manage your state of mind.

Aristotle wrote that happiness is “an expression of the soul in considered actions,” Freud noted that it’s a matter of lieben und arbeiten—to love and to work—and Schulz famously proclaimed, “Happiness is a warm puppy.”

Below is a sample of my observations, as well as those of other researchers, of the thinking and behavior patterns of the happiest participants in our studies. They devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships. They are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have. They are often the fi

Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities.