The data is pretty clear that happy people tend to hang out with other happy people.  Those same happy people also enjoy richer social connections.  Here is an exercise that we can all do, today. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and the data is pretty clear that happy people tend to hang out with other happy people.  They have richer social connections.  In fact, happy people tend to make more social connections by just talking to the barista at the coffee shop, striking up a conversation on the subway or in the store.  

I saw this exercise in a Yale happiness class where you track your progress. You take a week, and each day you write all of your social connections and notice how they made you feel when you jot it down.  

The idea is that social connection matters a lot when it comes to our happiness.  In fact, even a new social connection, like chatting with the barista at the coffee shop or the person in line with you, actually boosts your happiness.   

This can also be an exercise where you call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, have lunch with a friend or chat with someone new. 

Social Psychologist Nick Epley says that “Social connection can be almost anything, from making eye contact with another person, or smiling at another person to being in a long term romantic relationship with somebody. And it turns out that social connection across this entire spectrum tends to be pretty darn good for people.” 

What is really fascinating about Epley’s work is that he’s looked at these tiny micro-connections, even with strangers, that can happen on the daily which can be as small as when people smile at one another.   

To drive this point home, tomorrow, I am going to share with you the findings from Epley’s social experiment in a commuter train from the South side of Chicago. 

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