6 skills of happiness
How would you describe happiness?
You may have trouble putting it into
words, but you know you want it for
yourself and your loved ones. One
thing that’s harder than describing
it for many people is knowing how to
achieve it.
Researchers studying social emotional
well-being define happiness as a balance:
the combination of how frequent and robust
your positive emotional experiences are, how
gracefully you recover from difficult experiences,
and how meaningful and worthwhile you feel
your life is overall.
“Happiness is the ability to consistently
recognize that life is good, even if it’s difficult,”
says Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., science
director of the Greater Good Science Center at
the University of California Berkeley. “It’s being
able to identify and enjoy the positive times but
also have resiliency to bounce back from the
hard times.”
This is particularly important for youth.
Research shows two out of three American teens
are stressed and many don’t know how to cope.
When school is in session, teens are the most
stressed group in the country. The inability to
reduce and cope with stress and anxiety can
negatively impact different facets of a teen’s life
including their health, friendships, relationships
with parents and academic performance.
To help further the idea that happiness skills
must be learned, Simon-Thomas identified six
Sustainable Happiness Skills which provide
the foundation for a new initiative called Life’s
Good: Experience Happiness, which helps
bring scientific, evidence-based tools and
sustainable happiness skills directly to young
people across America. Backed by 70 years of
scientific research showing that happy people
are healthier, live longer, earn more and do better
in school and life, the platform aims to reach,
teach and increase sustainable happiness.
Happiness is associated with several
positive health effects, according to the Journal
of Happiness Studies, including less insulin
resistance, better sleep, higher HDL cholesterol
levels and less reactivity to stress. Additionally,
teens who identify as happy are more creative,
helpful and sociable.
Research has also shown that happy kids
do better in school. Happy learners remember
information better and happiness is positively
associated with GPA. The research also shows
that schools that teach happiness skills
outperform schools that don’t, and typically
experience dramatic drops in bullying,
absenteeism and discipline issues. They also
see impressive gains in student engagement,
optimism, test scores and executive functioning
skills that are key to future success.
When practiced, the six sustainable
happiness skills can sustain a person’s ability
to recognize that life’s good, even if it’s hard
sometimes, according to the research from
Simon-Thomas. These are the foundation of
Life’s Good: Experience Happiness, the new
corporate social responsibility initiative led by
LG Electronics USA.
Mindfulness: Being aware of your thoughts
and feelings in the present moment, without
judging those thoughts or feelings as admirable,
shameful or anything in between.
Human connection: Building and sustaining
relationships with significant others, friendships
and social engagement with peers, which is the
most reliable, enduring predictor of happiness
in life.
Positive outlook: Harnessing the ability
to imagine a fruitful outcome and maintain
a readiness to pursue and experience the
opportunity in any circumstance.
Purpose: Understanding your ability to make
a difference in the world, at work, school or for
a team leads to a refined sense of purpose and
increases your sense of happiness.
Generosity: Helping and giving to others can
increase one’s own happiness. According to a
study overseen by Harvard University, people
who donated time or money were 42 percent
more likely to be happy when compared to those
who didn’t.
Gratitude: The simple act of appreciating and
thanking others for the goodness they contribute
to your life helps foster happiness.
To learn more about these six skills,
find tools you can use to teach happiness
skills to your children and start your own
journey to sustainable happiness, visit www.
LGExperienceHappiness.com. A primary focus of
the Life’s Good: Experience Happiness platform
is driving positive change in lives across America
with the goal of equipping 5.5 million youth with
happiness skills over five years.
Courtesy BPT
help teens live
a more positive life
/www.LGExperienceHappiness.com
/www.LGExperienceHappiness.com