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Two Proven Keys to Happiness

Written on July 18, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Happiness, Uncategorized

happy There’s a rising call for developed countries to track happiness, rather than just income and wealth. Economists say that the goal of a “rational actor” is to maximize his or her “utility” – their fancy term for happiness – over the course of his or her life. Perhaps governments are trying to catch up with the economists!

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Leicester University in England has tracked happiness for the past 30 years. Consistently, Denmark – not Disneyland – has topped their list as the happiest place on earth.

We wondered why … why are the people in Denmark so darn happy?

Is it the weather?

Average temperatures in Copenhagen are about 68 degrees in the summer and around zero in the winter. We don’t know about you, but that’s not our idea of great weather!

Is it the taxes?

Like her sister Scandinavian countries, Denmark has some of the highest taxes in the world. Now, granted those taxes are matched with some of the highest benefits for any citizenry.

Is it their lifestyle or their habits?

Danes are some the heaviest drinkers and smokers in the world?

Is it their diet?

One of the staples of the Danish diet is herring – this is a country that eats a lot of herring!

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marylynn So it can’t be the diet, because … maybe it’s just my personal taste, but ick!

george Now there a lot of theories about what makes the Danes so happy. One of my theories is that they drink so much, they don’t remember whether they’re happy or not!

Seriously, theories are fine, but we thought we should look at what the research shows is driving this happiness.

Professor Kaare Christensen at the University of Southern Denmark found that Danes have low expectations. Because of this culture of expecting less, the people are happy when good things happen.

This made us think of something Tony Robbins said – if you’re not happy, you have a choice. You can either change your conditions or your expectations. But what if you don’t want to change your expectations?

Tal Ben-Shahar, who teaches the most popular class at Harvard University, found that the single most significant predictor of happiness is close relationships with friends and family. We found it interesting that 92 percent of Danes belong to some sort of social club.

Maybe that’s why social media has become so bigg! What do you think?

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Sources

University of Leicester Produces the first ever World Map of Happiness

Why Danes are smug: comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union

Denmark: The Happiest Place on Earth

Denmark ‘happiest place on earth’

The REAL Happiest Place on Earth

And The Happiest Place On Earth Is…

(Image by nookiez)

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How to Feel Rich Today

Written on March 19, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Balance, Happiness, Personal Growth, Success

rich_dessert Rich is a very rich word. It’s commonly defined as “wealth”, but “rich” has many meanings.

It means “quality” – “That’s a rich idea.”

It implies “fullness” – “I have a rich life."

Another meaning is “fruitful” – “He farms rich soil.”

Rich goes way beyond the common perception.

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Conditions vs. Expectations
If your current conditions equal or exceed your expectations, you’re happy. If you’re happy, you can feel rich.

If your conditions don’t meet your expectations, then you’re unhappy. In that case, you can either change your conditions or change your expectations.

3 ways to change your conditions

#1 – Change your attitude.
It all starts with you. If you think you can’t do something, you can’t. It’s that simple.

#2 – Change your self-talk.
Keep telling yourself that “you can do it”. Yes, we know about the Adam Sandler movies!

Say it over and over until you really, truly believe it. Every time you tell yourself something negative, you’re actually two steps behind. You’ve taken a step back because of this self-doubt, and you could have taken a step forward.

#3 – Emulate successful people.
You may not FEEL like doing something. Do it anyway. Fake it. Force it. Do what successful people do long enough and you’ll be successful.

3 ways to change your expectations

#1 – Stop trying to keep up with the Jones’.
It’s your life, not theirs. What difference does their opinion make? You’re the one who has to be proud of you.

#2 – Set goals that are achievable.
If you set the bar so high that all you do is work toward that goal, you won’t have a rich life. Set goals that stretch you, but don’t break you as you try to achieve them.

#3 – Look at what you have, not what you don’t have.
Savor your accomplishments before you move on. Look at your relationships and all the things for which you can be happy.

A man who changed his conditions
A friend of ours got in with a group at work that complained about everything – their conditions, their boss, and the company. They also never gave an ounce more than they needed to in order to keep their jobs.

One day, our friend got assigned to a project with a guy who was a bigg goal-getter. This guy only said good things about work, their boss, and the company. He did little things that made him stand out. Our friend emulated him. Before long, he got a promotion with a bigg raise.

A woman who changed her expectations
Sarah Susanka is an architect who has written ten books, including The Not-So-Big Life. She was a busy professional, but she was unhappy. She was so busy, though, that she couldn’t spare the time to figure out what to do about it.

After some time, she learned that she had breast cancer. While going through treatment, she didn’t have much energy, but she had time to think. She realized that quality, not quantity, is what matters. She says to focus on your comfort, not what impresses other people.