Feel-Good Resolutions for the new year
31 Dec 2011 | Action for Happiness
* Make your New Year's Resolutions enjoyable as well as
beneficial *
* Evidence shows happier people have better health and
live longer *
As a new year approaches and people plan their 'resolutions' for
the year ahead, Action for Happiness is encouraging a different
approach from the usual, dull self-improvement list. Instead,
people are being asked to take the Action for Happiness pledge and
do things to make themselves and others happier. Evidence shows
that how happy you are can have a greater impact on your health and
how long you live than stopping smoking or losing weight.
From fun and sociable outdoor activities, to connecting with
your neighbours and doing acts of kindness to help others - there
are lots of actions to take that have a proven impact on people's
happiness. Many of these involve other people and doing things that
make them feel good too.
Director of Action for Happiness, Mark Williamson, said: "New
Year's resolutions are traditionally seen as hard work and
difficult to keep up; having to do less of the things we enjoy and
more of the things we know are good for us but aren't very fun.
This year, we're asking people to take positive and effective
actions to ensure that their New Year's resolutions are not only
beneficial, but are also enjoyable and have a positive impact on
others too."
10 actions for happiness:
- Let your family and friends know how much they mean to you
- Find ways to make exercise fun and sociable
- Do extra acts of kindness to help others
- Get outside and enjoy the natural world together
- Spend more time getting to know your neighbours
- Take time each day to be 'mindful' and notice how you're
feeling
- Change something that's been making you or others unhappy
- Support a good cause you feel passionate about
- Try something new that puts you outside your comfort zone
- Write down three good things that happen each day
There is extensive evidence showing the health benefits of
happiness. It is at least as powerful, if not more powerful, a
predictor of health and longevity than other lifestyle factors that
tend to get a lot more focus - like stopping smoking, improving
diet or increasing physical activity. For example, the evidence
that positive emotions and enjoyment of life contribute to better
health and a longer lifespan is stronger than the data linking
obesity to reduced longevity. [1]
Williamson continued: "Of course it's great for people to give
up things that are bad for them, like smoking or an unhealthy
lifestyle, but we're suggesting simple and enjoyable actions that
anyone can take to increase their wellbeing and make others around
them happier too. You can think of these like a regular work out
for the mind to improve emotional fitness, in much the same way
that you work out your body to improve physical fitness."
Did you know?
- Happiness can lengthen life. A recent study measured the
positive emotional states of nearly 4,000 people aged 52-79 and
followed them for an average of five years, tracking their
subsequent death rates. Those with high levels of positive emotion
were 35% less likely to die during the subsequent period than those
who experience low levels of positive emotion (after controlling
for other factors). [2]
- Happy people have been found to be significantly less likely to
catch the cold virus than their less happy peers; and if they do
contract the virus they tend to report fewer symptoms. [3]
- Doing good is one of the best ways to feel good. People who
care more about others are happier than those who care less about
others. When people do good, their brain becomes active in the same
reward centre as where they experience other rewards. [4] Studies
show that giving money away makes people happier than spending it
on themselves. [5]
- People who take a basic course in mindfulness training are on
average 20% happier than a control group one month later and have
better responses in their immune system. Such training can lead to
structural brain changes including increased grey-matter density in
the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and
in structures associated with self-awareness and compassion.
[6]
- Our happiness influences the people we know and the people they
know. Research shows that the happiness of a close contact
increases the chance of being happy by 15%. The happiness of a
2nd-degree contact (e.g. friend's spouse) increases it by 10% and
the happiness of a 3rd-degree contact (e.g. friend of a friend of a
friend) by 6%. [7]
Founder of Action for Happiness, Lord Richard Layard said: "We
want people to approach their New Year's resolutions in a different
way and join the thousands who have already taken the Action for
Happiness pledge, 'to create more happiness and less unhappiness in
the world around'. Acting on this pledge has the potential to not
only increase people's wellbeing, and the happiness of those around
them, but can also bring very significant benefits for people's
overall health. By choosing to take a positive, outward-looking
approach to the year ahead we can make it a better year for all of
us."
Join 18,500 people from 120 countries who have already taken the
Action for Happiness pledge at www.actionforhappiness.org
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References
[1] Diener, E., Chan, M.Y., Happy People Live Longer: Subjective
Well-Being Contributes to Health and Longevity, Applied
Psychology: Health and Wellbeing, 2011
[2] Steptoe, A. and Wardle, J., Positive affect measured using ecological momentary
assessment and survival in older men and women, PNAS, 2011
[3] Cohen, S et al, Positive Emotional Style Predicts Resistance to
Illness After Experimental Exposure to Rhinovirus or Influenza,
Psychosomatic Medicine, 2006
[4] J. Rilling et al, A Neural Basis for Social Cooperation, Neuron,
2002
[5] E. Dunn et al, Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness,
Science, 2008
[6] BK Hölzel et al, Mindfulness practice leads to increases in
regional brain gray matter density, Psychiatry Research:
Neuroimaging, 2011
[7] J.H. Fowler and N.A. Christakis, Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social
network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years, British Medical
Journal, December 2008
Tags:
Do things for others, Connect with people, Look for what's good, Family & friends, Be a Happiness Activist