The Single Most Important Ingredient to Happiness
What makes people happy?
When asked about their life goals, millennials mention money or fame.
But do money and fame make us happy?
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| Photo by D Jonez on Unsplash |
To a certain extent, yes.
Financial stability offers a sense of security, reducing anxiety about the future. Knowing you have a safety net can lead to peace of mind.
And about fame: We humans are social beings and have a natural desire for acceptance and approval from others. Fame brings fulfills the need for social validation and boosts self-esteem.
However, money and fame are not the main actors.
The most important ingredient to happiness is good relationships as the longest study on happiness (started in 1938 at Harvard University) shows.
Good relationships keep us happy and healthy.
There are three main lessons about relationships, you should keep in mind:
- Social connections are perfect for our mental (and physical) health. Evidence shows, that loneliness kills.
- It is not just the number of friends you have or if you are in a close relationship. It is more about the quality of the relationships. Bad relationships can be even worse than having no relationships. There has been an analysis made based on the information from the data when the men were 50 years old. The quality of their relationships was the best predictor of them becoming healthy octogenarians.
- Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies but also protect our minds. Being in a good relationship in your eighties is protective and ensures that your memories stay sharper longer.
As Robert Waldinger, currently leading the study, I want to end my article with a quote.
“There isn’t time, so brief is life, for bickerings, apologies, heartburnings, callings to account. There is only time for loving, and but an instant, so to speak, for that.” - Mark Twain
Thank you for reading my article! What do you think about happiness? Let me know in the comments at Medium!
For this article, I’ve used “The Longest Study on Happiness” led by Robert Waldinger. If you are interested in more details, check out his TED talk.