Welcome to our 6-part series on the 6 categories that affect happiness the most.  Today we dive into category 2 of 6 - Relationships, so let’s go. 

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 Happiness Research Institute in Denmark has developed factors they think affect someone's happiness. They have 6 factors that they group together, they are: health, relationships, freedom, trust, kindness and money.  Today we’re talking about relationships.  Now, if you’ve been with me for a hot second, you know that I think and the science supports just how much relationships matter.  

Relationships with other humans give us a sense of community, sense of connection, that we belong.  We’re talking about relationships that could be your partner or neighbor or distant friend or acquaintance.  What science tells us is that having close relationships matter.  Relationships can be complex, messy and bring us un-happiness too, but when it comes to happiness, we need positive relationships to thrive. 

The Happiness Research Institute did a study in their backyard in a town outside of Copenhagen where they found that if you were dissatisfied in your relationships, you were on the happiness scale of being in poor, troubled regions in the world  and if they were satisfied in your relationships you reported very high levels of happiness.  This down and dirty example indicates just how much relationships matter.   These are all relationships, not just with a partner, but the totality of your close relationships.   

What they find is that your happiness in your relationships is a very strong indicator of your overall happiness.  So if you want to know if someone is happy, ask them about their relationships.    

In a Harvard Study, they tracked the lives of 724 men for 75 years. It’s the only study in history that takes a snapshot of a whole life in real time and looks at the factors that affect happiness, health, success, and whatever else might constitute a good life.

This study concluded, among other findings, that It’s not the number of friends or whether you’re in a committed relationship, but the quality of those relationships. Warm, protective relationships keep people healthy, but high conflict relationships are destructive.

We can start this today by spending more time in relationship with people, talking with them, and putting down the screens.  We can say hello to our neighbor.  These are little things that add up to make a big difference for our well-being.  

Don’t forget, kindness is contagious, so go out there friends, be a part of the kindness movement.  

And if you are enjoying what you are hearing, share this podcast with 3 friends.  Help us be a part of the kindness movement.  

This episode was inspired by The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark and their happiness course, The Happy Course.  

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