Happiness psychology includes flow, a certain need, & failure. Plus, here's a bonus few happiness quotes for an extra pick-me-up!
Happiness psychology is – you guessed it – the study of human behavior and happiness. There are secrets to getting and staying happy; this article barely scratches the surface but we have to start somewhere, no?
- Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. – Abraham Lincoln
Happiness Psychology: Flow
Flow is psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's word for "the state in which one is immersed in an experience that is rewarding in and of itself, a state in which we feel we are one with the experience, in which 'action and awareness are merged.' "
That's happiness psychology talk for: lovin' what you're doin'. Flow is getting absorbed in something, whether it's computer programming or painting, swimming or solving Suduku puzzles. Flow is good. We like flow because we're involved and performing at our best. It's when time flies and we don't even know it.
Ironically, flow happens most often at work.
Mihaly (I'd call him Csikszentmihalyi but that's too much to write) figures that having goals or a clear sense of purpose is necessary for flow. Happiness psychology dictates that we need a clear destination to be happy. Doesn't matter what that destination is, as long as you're going somewhere.
Having goals makes you happier than achieving them. Who woulda thunk?
Happiness Psychology: We Need to Work
"The notion of hard work as punishment has become so embedded in our culture that we tend to depict heaven – the ideal place in which we would have the ideal life – as devoid of every hardship, including work. As it turns out, though, here on earth we do need to work to be happy." – Dr Tal Ben-Shahar, Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.
Work lets us practice our skills, hone our talents, solve problems, and contribute to society. Oh – and it brings in the bacon, too. The trick is finding meaningful work. It's tricky because what's meaningful to your parents or spouse could bore you to tears. So, you could be finding world peace but desperately unhappy because you'd really rather be building a house or operating on someone's brain.
Being happy is simple. Being happy is about figuring out what's meaningful to you, and finding a way to do it.
- Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are you NOT to be? – Marianne Williamson
Happiness Psychology: Taking a Hit
Facing challenges and overcoming them is not only the best way to boost your self-esteem, it's a sure road to happiness. Happiness is being scared to go to the job interview but doing it anyway – it doesn't matter whether you get the job. The fact that you faced your fear and did it anyway (to paraphrase Susan Jeffers and Mark Twain) is what'll bring you happiness. Failing doesn't bring misery; an easy life does.
This may be a hard happiness psychology concept to apply, but instead of thinking about what you want that you don't have, focus on how far you've come since yesterday or last week.
If you haven't come far, then it's time to reassess your goals – or start setting them.
- Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. – Harold Whitman
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