As the recession has deepened I notice that people are talking about the inevitable unhappiness that we are all going to experience in the coming years as a result of this.

Therefore this month I would like to offer a suggestion that can makes us happier irrespective of our external circumstances. I will also correct the mistaken assumption that less money in our pockets must mean less happiness. This month’s newsletter also has information on 2 free seminars we are running in October.

I hope you find the time to read this article and that you find it thought provoking and useful.  As this is such an important topic we will certainly revisit it again in future editions.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Are you happy? Or does it even matter? Of course it does. Being happy makes us feel good, helps our relationships, keeps us healthy and provides a whole host of other benefits. Which is why we spend most of our lives chasing greater happiness.

As we all continue our pursit of happiness, the negativity we are all experiencing would have many to believe that greater unhappiness is now inevitable and we should all brace ourselves for a very difficult few years ahead.

However, before we all get too down about this prospect we should think about what makes us happy? And indeed what doesn’t make us happy?

Therefore I would like you to consider the following points

* Money does not make you happy – unless you are living at or below the poverty line or are living in a third world country earning a few dollars a day.
* Becoming an optimist will increase your happiness irrespective of your external circumstances – and anyone can become one.

Money does not make you happy

Most people believe that if they had more money they would be happier. As a result they spend much of their lives trying to figure out how to make more money. Unfortunately the idea that money makes us happy is a very common misconception.

Robert Holden in his book “Be Happy” reveals that back in 1957 research showed that 52% of people felt they were very happy. Since then our standard of living and our incomes have increased significantly. And yet 50 years later the percentage of people who describe themselves as very happy has dropped to 36% with a 10 fold increase in people suffering from depression or other mental illnesses.

It has been found that, once people have enough money to meet their basic needs such as food and rent there is very little correlation between additional income and happiness. Even Forbe 100 club members, who earn millions from the interest on their investments alone, are only marginally happier than average and some are actually unhappier.

So the good news is that provided we can earn enough money to provide for our basic needs the recession does not have to have any impact on the happiness we experience during this challenging period. Now that’s food for thought!

Becoming an Optimist makes you happier

A common characteristic of happy people is optimism. It has been proved that optimists age better, experience better health and live longer than pessimists. They do better at work and in the playing field. They tended to exceed the predictions of apptitude tests and are more likely to get elected when they run for office. On the other hand pessimists generally give up more easily and get depressed more often than optimists.

Optimism and pessimism are habits of thinking. Pessimists generally believe that bad events will last a long time, that the consequences of these events will undermine everything they do and that these events are their own fault. On the other hand optimists when confronted with the same events view them in the opposite way. They see defeat as temporary, they see the causes as limited and they don’t blame themselves for what has happened.

As a result these habits of thinking have a major impact on our lives and in particular on the levels of happiness and success we experience.

Martin Seligman in his book “Learned Optimism” explains these habits of thinking in more detail and discusses ways that we can transform our thinking from pessimism to optimism. He deals with concerns some readers may have about optimistic thinking being too unrealistic and not centred in reality by proposing a method he calls “flexible optimism”.

Next month we will give our subscribers a summary of Martin’s book to help you all become more optimistic and much more happy in future.