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The Keys to Happiness

The Keys to Happiness

Date: 2016-04-08
There may not be a magic formula, but here's what we know about how to get there, according to recent research and expert advice.

Make Friends and Family a Priorityone of the longest-running studies on living well and happily emphasizes the importance of your relationships withfamily, friends and spouses. Busy lives can get in the way of happiness. Our feeling ofwell-being peaks on weekends, largely because of more time spent with friends and family, this academic says.

Income Equality Helps, national unhappiness is strongly associated with a country's social inequality, research shows. One index finds that Scandinavia, a place with a wide and broad social net, is the location ofthe world's happiest countries.

Gratitude Does, Too, Pharrell Williams, the star behind the 2014 hit music video "Happy," on the happiness phenomenon: "If you're grateful, you can find happiness in everything."

The Health Factor, acorrelation between happiness and good healthhas been evident for centuries. But which comes first? Does robust health lead to a good mood or the reverse?

It's Really Good for Kids, happy kids learn faster, think more creatively, tend to be more resilient in the face of failures, have stronger relationships and make friends more easily. Well, most of them. Fifteen-year-old girls were found to bethe unhappiest groupin this report last month on boys and girls.

Don't Overdo It, happiness engineers, chief fun officers, ministers of happiness there's evidence that "fungineering" at work might have precisely the opposite effect:making people miserable.

And Don't Obsess About It, four academics discuss whether the pursuit of happiness isan unhealthy preoccupation.

If All Else Fails, Fake It, can you fake your way to confidence and happiness? You can, if you "Just say yes."