Sonja Lyubomirsky
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of the bestseller The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, a book of strategies backed by scientific research that can be used to increase happiness...
commitment effort strategy
Every day you have to renew your commitment. Some of the strategies should become habitual over time and not a huge effort.
community fulfilling happy health high less likely marriages peers people robust superior work
Happy people are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life.
fake good
Only very, very good actors can fake them.
affect among attribute expertise found lead physical positive role several
We found that this isn't always true. Positive affect is one attribute among several that can lead to success-oriented behaviors. Other resources, such as intelligence, family, expertise and physical fitness, can also play a role in peoples' successes.
benefit energetic happy likable others people tend thus
When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable. Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions.
born effort happier happy hard kinds means people strategies thin using work
It just means that the person who's born happy doesn't have to try as hard -- just like thin people don't have to work at it as much. You can make yourself happier using all kinds of strategies -- but you have to put some effort into it.
clear relationship
It's clear that the relationship is bi-directional. It's an upward spiral.
actively benefit build energetic experience frequently goals happy likable likely moods others people positive prompt tend thus toward work
This may be because happy people frequently experience positive moods and these positive moods prompt them to be more likely to work actively toward new goals and build new resources. When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable. Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions.
happiness stress emotional
Last but not least, the happiest people do have their share of stresses, crises, and even tragedies. They may become just as distressed and emotional in such circumstances as you or I, but their secret weapon is the poise and strength they show in coping in the face of challenge.
mean writing opportunity
Write down your barrier thoughts, and then consider ways to reinterpret the situation. In the process, ask yourself questions like... What else could this situation or experience mean? Can anything good come from it? Does it present any opportunities for me? What lessons can I learn and apply to the future? Did I develop any strengths as a result?
gratitude jobs children
When we are fully mindful of the transience of things - an impending return home from an overseas adventure, a graduation, our child boarding the school bus for the first day of kindergarten, a close colleague changing jobs, a move to a new city - we are more likely to appreciate [be grateful for] and savor the remaining time that we do have. Although bittersweet experiences also make us sad, it is this sadness that prompts us, instead of taking it for granted, to come to appreciate the positive aspects of our vacation, colleague, or hometown; it's 'now or never.'
self people negative
The combination of rumination and negative mood is toxic. Research shows that people who ruminate while sad or distraught are likely to feel besieged, powerless, self-critical, pessimistic, and generally negatively biased.
important wellness misery
It is equally important to investigate wellness as it is to study misery.
children careers goal
Women’s magazines will often ask me things like, 'All right, I need six five-minute happiness strategies.' And I say, well, there aren’t any five-minute happiness strategies. This is something you have to do kind of every day for the rest of your life. Just like if you want to raise moral children or if you want to advance in your career. It’s a goal you pursue your whole life.