Practice, Practice, Practice: The Secret to Happiness
Do you want to know the secret to long-lasting happiness?
Of course you do. According to researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK, the secret is actually quite simple: practice.
That's right, we need to practice doing the things that make us happy.
One of the researchers, Bruce Hood, said: "It's like going to the gym — we can't expect to do one class and be fit forever."
He said we have to keep working on our mental health, just as we have to keep working on our physical health.
Hood and his colleagues have been teaching a course called "Science of Happiness" at their university since 2019.
The course teaches students about the latest research into what makes us happy, including recommended activities that could improve well-being.
But the researchers wanted to find out how effective the course had been.
They found that students who had taken the course reported a 10 to 15% improvement in their well-being after the end of the course. But that didn't last for everyone.
However, half of the students surveyed had continued to do the recommended activities after the end of the course and they reported improved well-being two years later.
Hood said that this shows we have to practice doing the things that make us happy.
He added that the course teaches students to do things that take our attention away from ourselves, including helping others and spending time with friends.
He said that while we are often taught to spend time with our thoughts, in fact a number of studies have found that we should be keeping our minds and bodies busy.
