New Study Reveals Habits to Unlock Happiness

Everyone can cultivate a mindset of happiness, contentment, and wellbeing by changing their perspective and building habits of happiness and that really is great news!

A new study, published by the journal Higher Education identifies seven habits that could positively impact people’s outlook and mood. Happiness, according to science, is something that can be learned.

The Science of Happiness
The study was the outcome of a University of Bristol course called the Science of Happiness. The 228 undergrads who participated in the course were surveyed about their wellbeing and mood, according to MedicalNewsToday. The results found that those who completed the course experienced a ten to 15 percent boost in happiness. For approximately half the group, this improvement lasted for years.

“The course content involves information on misconceptions about happiness and understanding our cognitive biases,” Dr. Bruce Hood, the study’s senior author, told MedicalNewsToday. “The intention was that by the end of the course, students have a well-rounded understanding of various factors that can contribute toward their own wellbeing, rather than a to-do list of activities.”

A novel approach to building joy
Hood also shared that the course’s approach to achieving joy in life differs from other popular self-help approaches, for example those suggesting that happiness is the outcome of self-care or treating oneself.

“My book is not a self-help book for those who want to indulge in self-care — which has gone too far in my opinion,” explained Hood, “but rather a self-destruct book!” He added that the habits described in the book are more related to connecting with others than to indulging in one’s own wants and needs.

Connecting to others allows you to obtain a broader perspective when approaching their own challenges and provides opportunities to get support from others.

Neurobiologist Dr. Tobias Esch shared, “I strongly believe that happiness, in general, is neither private nor egoistic, or solely hedonic.” The fact that happiness is social, not just individual, has allowed it to persist over the course of human evolution, Esch explained. 

“Happiness,” he said, “is a biological necessity. It is hardware and software, and has been conserved in evolution through millions of years, as even simple organisms have it, ie, possess the biological principle/apparatus.”

The seven habits for happiness
These are the seven habits that one can cultivate to affect a perspective shift and improve your overall wellbeing:

Habit 1: Doing kind deeds
Hood suggests giving up your seat on a bus, making tea for a friend, or doing volunteer work to build a positive outlook for oneself (and for others) reported The Mirror. Hood’s study isn’t the first to make this connection. A 2018 study also found that helping others is positively correlated with your own wellbeing. 

Habit 2: Building relationships
Promoting social connections boosts happiness. The Mirror suggests that this includes building relationships with strangers and talking with people you don’t know.

Habit 3: Savoring experiences
To practice this habit you needs to be present during events over the course of the day and focus on the feelings and experiences gained by being present at these events, according to verywellmind. Things like noticing details in your daily life, focusing on sensory input – the way things around you feel, smell, sound, and look — and making an active effort to notice the positive, in order to build joy through savoring experiences.

Habit 4: Focusing on the good
This habit involves deliberately finding the good in the world around you. A 2017 study, published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, found that focusing on the good was correlated with improved resilience and a decrease in depressive symptoms in older adults.

Habit 5: Being grateful
This involves not just thanking those who help you today, according to The Mirror, but reflecting on the past and thanking those who’ve helped previously but didn’t receive sufficient gratitude. Developing an attitude of gratitude and expressing it to others can improve your own wellbeing.

Habit 6: Getting up and moving
Physical activity can boost mood and flood the brain with positive hormones. Getting up and moving is good for your mind and body. 

Habit 7: Practicing mindfulness and meditation
Mindfulness teaches being present in the moment. Adding regular mindfulness and meditation practices to your daily routine can help to promote positive feelings. 

Enduring happiness
Hood told MedicalNewsToday that his next goal is to uncover why half the participants in the course were unable to retain their mood boost a few years after the course ended. Understanding is the key to helping people stay on a happiness track.

The reason may partly be related to genes. Esch thypothesizied that about up to 40 percent of the propensity for happiness may be genetic.

But there’s good news for those who aren’t inherently happy. More than 50 percent  of what makes people feel happy is related not to genes or outside circumstances, but rather due to developing joy-promoting habits and learning. Happiness,  according to Esch, is actually a decision that you can make.