Written by the unfortunately named Wrath and Hater (sorry, Rath and Harter), Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements explores what it takes to make us happy.
As Lord Layard, the Labour government’s one-time “Happiness Czar” launches the Movement for Happiness, Gallup pollsters Tom Rath and Jim Harter have released this new book outlining what it is that makes us happy.
Key notes are as follows:
Career Wellbeing
Consider who you work for. Hostility at work comes from feeling that your boss ignores you or overly focuses on your weaknesses, and that can have negative impacts on your health.
Having a best friend at work makes you 7 times more likely to be engaged in your job. Sadly, only 30% of the 15m surveyed feel that they do have a best friend in the workplace…
Even small increases in social cohesiveness (water cooler chat) increases productivity significantly.
The likelihood of being diagnosed with depression over the next year is double for those actidvely disengaged with their careers. 4.6% (engaged) vs 6% (not engaged) vs 8.8% (actively disengaged)
Social Wellbeing
Spend at least 6 hours socialising – you’ll feel better for it. Whether online, phone or in person. Even 3 hours of social time reduces our chances of having a bad day by 10%.
Spend time around happy people. Each happy friend you have increases your own chances of being happy by 9%.
Financial Wellbeing
Success is relative. Our previous musings on behavioural economics have taught us that already. Essentially, we compare our success to those around us. (This goes for feeling “overweight” too – self perception is relative to your social group). Given a choice between earning £32k while those around you earn £16k or earn £64k whilst those around you earn £128, nearly half of those surveyed chose the former. We should want to earn more, but it’s the comparisson set that counts. Earning twice as much is more appealing than the actual amount on offer.
Feeling miserable can lead us to make bad financial decisions. Respondents who watched a sad film were willing to pay four times as much for a product as those who had not watched the video.
Spend your money on experiences, not material goods. They prodcue 2 to 3 times the levels of wellbeing compared to material purchases.
Physical Wellbeing
49% of over-18s do less than 3 days exercise per week. A healthy lifestyle is good for you. Fact.
Community Wellbeing
Of those surveyed, people who felt they had made the biggest contribution in life all talked about the impact they had had on another person. giving is better than receiving. Even money. We feel closer to others and it delivers a sense of reward, making us more likely to do it again.
Read the book to find out more.
