Formula of Happiness

Happiness and Well-being

In scientific publications on happiness, the term well-being is mentioned as well. Moreover, about well-being even more often. And the feeling of happiness itself is considered a component of well-being.

Among the three aspects of well-being, they cite evaluative well-being (or our life satisfaction), hedonic well-being (the actual feeling of happiness), and eudaimonic well-being (the sense of purpose and meaning in life). Have they checked? Is everything in place?

Chicken or the egg?

The feeling of happiness and well-being is linked to longevity and health, in particular the functioning of the immune system, as well as our success in relationships and in career. And it should be noted that in many cases this connection can indeed have a reverse character.

However, people can often have roughly the same set of "components" of happiness and feel it differently. And today some scientifically grounded approaches have been formulated to how to feel happier.

What is needed for happiness?

Quality sleep. Sleep problems worsen both our well-being and health. Anxiety disorder and suicide risk are often linked to sleep disorders. Therefore, the first aid for a deficit of happiness is a large glass of deep sleep!

Movement. In the direction of happiness, you need to move. Studies say that you can move even not very fast or intense: moderate performance of simple physical exercises helps us distract and triggers in the brain a "chemical kitchen" for the production of neurotransmitters that actually give us a sense of pleasure.

It is important to understand that this concerns far from just sports — the feeling of happiness is linked to a generally higher level of physical activity in everyday life.

And a special bonus is that this physical activity has not only an "here and now" effect, but also long-term positive impact on the quality of our life and self-esteem.

Healthy eating. On the one hand, a balanced diet affects our health and, accordingly, — life satisfaction. There is also another mechanism that is actively used and even sometimes exploited: our conscious choice in favor of healthy eating gives us the opportunity to feel emotionally stronger and significantly boosts our self-esteem.

Social activity. Humans are social beings. Therefore, our sense of happiness largely depends on the opportunity to talk about it with someone. It is considered that extroverts generally feel happier than introverts mainly due to a greater number of social interactions.

However, no matter what "ventor" you are, pay attention to spending time with family and friends — and, by the way, this also adds to their happiness. Friendly communication and joint activities strengthen your relationships and help find solutions to many problems.

Good deeds. This is the same eudaimonic well-being (the sense of meaning and purpose) that not only moves our world forward but makes people happy who move it in this way. Volunteering, charitable activities, the habit of helping acquaintances and strangers, acts of cooperation, altruism and kindness activate the brain regions responsible for rewards.

In some studies it has been shown that children up to 2 years old experience more happiness when they give something to someone than when they receive. The very experience of positive emotions during giving is a driving mechanism for cooperation.

Learning. When we learn something new, we gain useful knowledge and skills that open up new possibilities and also boost our self-esteem. Therefore the habit of learning new things throughout life is associated with satisfaction, optimism, and the ability to cope with stress more easily.

Smile. If you have a sense of humor — use it and practice it. Because it is one of the factors of the quality of life. Interestingly, forced smiles can also be useful, because in response to the habitual smiling movements of facial muscles, the brain also produces [happiness molecules]. However, don’t overdo this technique. Because if your mood is not that good and a duty requires faking joy, you can quickly become emotionally exhausted and even slide into depression. In addition, our emotional intelligence fairly well identifies a fake smile and, conversely, signals anxiety. Smile when you want to — for both close ones and not-so-close ones.

And if you are a medical professional, be sure to smile to your patients! Because your smile reduces patients' anxiety and strengthens their trust. Patients who are smiled at by doctors cope better with painful procedures and the treatment process in general. Also, patients tend to rate the professionalism of such doctors higher compared to their more restrained colleagues.

Personal approaches to coping with stress. Most often these can be some of your hobbies. What brings pleasure, distracts, and fascinates. It allows you to switch and rest, so that you can later again work effectively and find good solutions.