A good friend asked me recently, what do I consider to be a good 'quality of life'
I said absence of financial troubles, a decent amount of adventure, and a good group of friends
So when I saw this WikiHow webpage called "How to be happy" I thought back on that conversation, here are the 8 important factors they said were key to a happy life:
- Be optimistic: researchers suggest that we each have a baseline level of happiness. No matter what happens, good or bad, the effect on our happiness is only temporary and we tend to rebound to our baseline level.
- Trust your instincts: pick what feels right, and go with it. Never regret the decisions you make though. Just live by the 3 C's of life: choices, chances, and changes. You need to make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.
- Make enough money to meet your basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing. Once you make enough money to support your basic needs, your happiness is not significantly affected by how much money you make. Your comfort may increase with your salary, but comfort isn't what makes people happy. It makes people bored. That's why it's important to leave your comfort zone to fuel your growth as a person. This one is particularly relevant for me as I am such a creature of comfort, I often fail to push myself becase its easier not to.
- Stay close to friends and family: our relationships with our friends and family have a far greater impact on our happiness than our jobs do. This is particularly interesting seeing as I've been applying for jobs all over the world, I suppose I believe a great job will make me happier, but would it make me happier than my friends and family do?
- Find happiness in the job you have now: Many people expect the right job or the right career to dramatically change their level of happiness. If you have a positive outlook, you will make the best of any job, and if you have good relationships with people, you won't depend on your job to give your life a greater sense of meaning. Now that doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire towards a job that will make you happier; it means you should understand that the capacity of your job to make you happy is quite small in comparison to your outlook on life and your relationships with people. Again, very relevant to my job goals I do admit I have this idea that the right job will change everything, I could do my current job so much better if I committed to it, but I'm constantly looking for a better one so barely engage with it. I am also guilty of looking to a job to give my life a greater sense of meaning. I was saying just the other day to lovely Eleni how nice it would be to be a "nurse" or "teacher" as appose to " I do admin and stuff" how nice it would be to have a proper job role! I suppose this is seated in wanting recognition for what you do. This is some food for thought, I will continue to pursue more exciting jobs of course, (as I feel, at least for now, I have nothing to lose by trying) but its worth considering that your outlook on life and your relationships with people hold more sway over happiness than your job.
- Smile: Your mood is elevated when you smile, whether you are happy or not. So smile all the time!
- Forgive: Studies have shown that an people who are unforgiving suffer increased risk of stress, anxiety, depression, anger, hatred, jealousy, ill will, sadness and insomnia.
- Make friends who share your interests: forming of friendships based on mutual interests and beliefs is what makes the difference.
Ooh, I like the three Cs! I am also a creature of habit and tend not to pursue change, although I've always been pretty good at coping with it when it thrusts itself upon me...really good article!
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