Creating Happiness Mateja Savoie Roskos

What does happiness mean to you? What creates happiness in your life? How often during a day do you want to experience happiness?

Don’t Worry Be Happy---Right? Happiness is not a choice—but it begins with making choices Happy people don’t FIND happiness—They make it happen

A Wandering Mind… A study conducted by Harvard researchers used an App that tracked happiness randomly throughout the day. Mind wandering was always associated with less happiness—no matter what they were doing. In Conclusion: “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.”— Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010

Giving Back In a study by Lyubomirsky et al., 2005 individuals who performed five random acts of kindness each week for six weeks were happier than the control group. A study by Dunn et al., 2008 found that using financial resources to help others increased their feelings of happiness. Donating to charity has been associated with feelings of happiness that are similar to receiving money for oneself (Harbaugh et al.,2007)

Material Possessions or Experiences? A study by Howell (2009) investigated happiness levels of possessions vs experiences among 154 college students. Students were randomized into two groups and were asked to write about either their most recent experiential purchase or material purchase. They were also asked a series of questions regarding happiness. People who wrote about experiential purchases were happier during and after the experience. Experiences increased the feeling of closeness with others and increased the feeling of being alive.

Practice Appreciation and Gratitude One study by Dr. Emmons and Dr. McCullough from the University of Miami randomized people into groups. Each group had to write about different topics each week Group 1: Things they were grateful for during the week Group 2: Events that had impacted them that week Group 3:Irritations or things that displeased them during the week After 10 weeks of weekly writing assignments, Group 1 experienced the most optimism and felt happier

Simples Ways to Create Happiness Indicate gratitude 3 times per day Daily journaling about a positive experience Daily exercise 5 minute meditation Daily acts of kindness

12 Ways to Creating More Happiness Love yourself Make peace with your past Practice appreciation Never settle Do the things that make you uncomfortable Find joy in the small things Moderation is key Keep dreaming and setting goals Be present Let go of what doesn’t serve you and live life Spend your time wisely Surround yourself with positive people Give back to those around you