Happiness Advice from the World’s Happiest Places
by Goop
Takeaways
The Facts
- Happiness itself is a meaningless term because you can’t measure it.
- There are three components to happiness: pride, pleasure, and purpose.
- Happy places make sure all kid scan read, prioritize public health, and have trust and equality.
- People are often misguided about what can make them happier.
- People are happy in their twenties, hit their lowest in their forties, but steadily become happier in their fifties. The happiest people are centenarians.
Solutions
- Indulge in social activities.
- Stay fit and healthy.
- Know what you’re good at and do it!
- Get the right amount of sleep.
- Surround yourself with people who make you happy.
Reflection
What does it mean to be happy? By reading this article, I wasn’t able to define it because after all, we each have our different definition of happiness. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that I value contentment more than happiness. To me, happiness is necessary but it’s also fleeting. Contentment is a true enjoyment of your situation and place in life. What I enjoyed about this article is how relevant it is to the Flourishing class. For example, happiness is about maintaining balance among several different areas, like we’ve discussed in PERMA. The article also mentioned sleep, which we so often take for granted but plays such a huge role in maintaining our physical and mental health. Though we weren’t assigned this particular piece in Flourishing, I think it would make a great addition to the syllabus.
