Happiness myths

What the science says?

 

The three major myths about happiness that we tend to fall for are plainly illuminated by the happiness pie chart.

 

HAPPINESS MUST BE “FOUND”

 

Incorrect. Happiness is not something that we must find, that it’s out there somewhere, a place just beyond our reach. If you’re not happy today, then you won’t be happy tomorrow unless you take things into your own hands and take action. To understand that 40 percent of our happiness is determined by intentional activity is to appreciate the promise of the great impact that you can make on your own life through intentional strategies that you can implement to remake yourself as a happier person.

 

Happiness is not out there for us to find. The reason that it’s not out there is that it’s inside us. 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.

 

HAPPINESS LIES IN CHANGING OUR CIRCUMSTANCES

 

Incorrect. This kind of thinking is “I would be happy IF ” or “I will be happy WHEN”

The reality is that the elements that determined our happiness in the past, and can make for future happiness, are with us right now and are right here waiting to be taken advantage of. As we can see from the pie chart, changes in our circumstances, no matter how positive and stunning, actually have little bearing on our well-being.

 

YOU EITHER HAVE IT OR YOU DON’T

 

Incorrect. This notion - that we are born happy or unhappy - is ubiquitous. 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.