The Top Two Factors Affecting Personal Happiness
One of the biggest drivers in my life these days is a pursuit of happiness. As such, I've been doing a decent amount of reading on the subject. With goal setting season just around the corner, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share with you some of what I've learned about the key factors affecting happiness. After I tell you about the top two happiness contributors, I'll explain how I'm using this information to shape my own personal goals.
Recent Reading
Before I get into the top two sources of happiness, I should let you know where I'm getting this information. It comes from a book by Robert Layard called Happiness: Lessons From A New Science which I recently borrowed from my local library. The information about the factors that affect our happiness comes from a series of studies in which people are asked to rate their overall level of happiness. They are also asked for information about their personal lives. Using this information the researchers were able to see which aspects of a person's personal life have the greatest affect on their overall happiness.
So, let's move on to the top two sources of happiness that were found. Of course, there are more than just two sources of happiness, but by focusing on the main ones first we can get the most bang for our goal setting buck. So here they are:
1) Our Family Relationships
Our close personal relationships are the single most important factor affecting our personal happiness. If we have stable, loving relationships with our family and friends, we are consistently more happy than if we are lacking these types of relationships. In the studies, people who's close personal relationships had fallen apart (such as a separation or a divorce) were consistently less happy than people who were married, cohabitants or single.
2) Our Financial Situation
The second most important factor is our financial situation. It's important to note that, when it comes to our financial situation and our happiness, more is not always better. In fact, money is only a significant contributor to our happiness when it is bringing us up to a level that can comfortably provide for our basic requirements of life. These basic necessities include food, shelter, health care, basic transportation, etc. Once we have enough money to cover the basics, more money has less and less direct affect on making us happier.
Some Personal Observations
Well, one observation I have is this:
Family is more important than money. I would be happier with a strong, loving family relationship and less money than I would be with a lot of money and a crumbling home life.
This helps put things in perspective but it can also be misleading. Be careful not to take an either-or position. It doesn't have to be family or money; it can be both. We don't have to settle for one or the other. It'll take more effort, but it can be both.
How I'm Using This Information
I'm doing everything I can think of to have both. Here are a couple examples:
- I'm focusing on building an investment portfolio that generates a stable, favourably taxed, income stream. Over time I hope to gradually increase this investment income.
- I've decided that I will pursue a home based career. We've got a baby coming in a couple of weeks and I don't want to miss out on our child's early years. The less time away from home the better as far as I'm concerned.
So my long term goal is to get enough investment income that my requirement to work for money is reduced to zero. Then I can spend my newfound time with my wife and kids.
It's not all roses, though, as you can imagine. Working for myself is challenging since contracts don't always come when you need them. Money is always a concern. However, by placing these challenges front and centre in my life I'm forcing myself to come up with solutions. Over time, I'm convinced that I'll be able to make it work.
Now, with the New Year coming, when I sit down to review my goals, I plan on keeping the top two sources of happiness in mind. I recommend that you do the same if your overlying desire is for a happier life.
So good luck, be happy, and be sure to drop by and let me know how it goes by leaving a comment below.
If you enjoyed this post you may want to consider subscribing to Plan Your Escape via Email or via RSS feed.
Comments
I must disagree with the
I must disagree with the comment above about people who are married being happier than those divorced or single. 6 months ago I finally left a marraige, that was OK at first but made me increasingly less happy as time went on. Whether that was due to me and my personality or that of my husband (or both) is another argument, but now that I am single and have much more control over the way I spend my free time, I am MUCH happier. So- I guess it all depends on individual circumstances and the choices we make in our lives. Ultimately, I feel that life is just too short to be miserable. If, as in my case, your life is not making you happy, then you must do whatever it takes to make it happy and fullfilling. Unfortunately, this is not always pain free, as I have found. Our choices sometimes make life sad and more difficult for someone else. I did what was right for me.
Thank you for sharing your
Thank you for sharing your story here. It's very generous of you. I'm glad to hear that you are much happier now!
About the "married vs single" debate, I think the label assigned to the relationship is unimportant compared to the quality of the relationship. I very much believe that a single person can lead a happy life. What the study above found, was that people who's close personal relationships had fallen apart tended to be less happy than people with relationships still intact. What I didn't mention, was that the study also found that as time went on, these people gradually became happier. So time tended to heal wounds.
I know from my own experience that I've been much happier when I've had close friends and family around me than when I've been on my own.
As my dad once said, "life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived." He may have been quoting someone else but I think there is truth in what he said. In the end we're all learning as we go.
Thanks again for taking the time to share you thoughts. Drop by again soon!
Peter
Post new comment