There is a little difference between being happier in life and being satisfied with life.
Happiness is being happy in your life. We experience it immediately and in the moment.
But
Life satisfaction is being happy about your life. It is the happiness that exists when we talk about the past and the big picture.
So to be happier, there are plenty of ways. But how to be satisfied with life???
Here are five things research says can make a difference for you:
1. Friends:
From the book "100 simple secrets of the best half of life",
Having more close friendships was associated with a 19 percent greater life satisfaction and a 23 percent greater sense of optimism.
Hence, having a lot of close friends makes your life satisfied about 20%.
From the same book,
Positive feelings about neighbors have been found to be associated with a 16 percent greater life satisfaction and a 25 percent lower likelihood of experiencing feelings of loneliness.
If you're satisfied with your neighbours, it will also boost your life satisfaction.
And also, the religious people are happier.
Why??? By the god's power???
The answer is No.
The reason behind this is,
what religion you practice or however close you feel to God makes no difference in your overall life satisfaction. What matters is the number of friends you have in your religious community. Ten is the magic number; if you have that many, you’ll be happier. Religious people, in other words, are happier because they feel connected to a community of like-minded people.
It's not all about getting from friends. There's a lot also in giving.
Giving is extra personally power too.
Now, the first step to boost your life satisfaction is Friends.
2. Having a life story:
From the book "100 simple secrets of the best half of life",
People who wrote about the history of their lives were 11 percent more likely to feel happy with their lives and 17 percent more likely to feel optimistic about the future.
Have you ever tried to write your own story?? It will boost your life satisfaction about 10%.
Knowing your family tree will also boost the satisfaction level.
The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.
3. Having Goals:
People who could identify a goal they were pursuing were 19 percent more likely to feel satisfied with their lives and 26 percent more likely to feel positive about themselves.
Yes. People having goals were 20% more satisfied with their lives.
Goal doesn't mean you need to win Nobel prize or making crores of money.
A consistent amount of small success produces more satisfication.
Ok. Not obtaining the success you'd like??
Don't give up. Have a grit to achieve your goals. People having grit on their goals have 40% more life satisfaction with their lives.
4. Having meaning in your life:
Among participants in one study, those whose values were the most materialistic rated their lives as the least satisfying.
So, wealth doesn't matter. Then what??
It's just meaning for your life. Yes, having meaning in your life twice the life satisfaction.
5. Keep growing:
People over forty who could identify at least one change in their viewpoints or behavior in recent months were 8 percent more likely to feel hopeful about the future and 5 percent more likely to say they were generally in a good mood.
If you're seeing any change in recent, that's a good thing.
And also, Older people who continue to read and learn are much more satisfied with their lives. People above fifty who continue to read and learn on their own interests are 20% more satisfied with their lives.
Studies focusing on the ability of people to maintain happiness as they age reveal that an openness to change in both family life and work life is associated with a 23 percent greater likelihood of maintaining high levels of life satisfaction.
So, being open mind also pays huge. But, maintaining strong core values is important.
If you can't learn, you can't improve.
Ok. Now you have the secrets of life satisfaction. Update these and be satisfied with your lives.
As long as you live, keep learning how to live.
Seneca, Stoic philosopher.
Keep visiting..STA
Nice
ReplyDelete