Commentary: Richard Branson’s key to happiness? Stop chasing after it
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Commentary: Richard Branson's central to happiness? Stop chasing subsequently it
Studies prove there are ways to achieve happiness but it doesn't come up in the course of a high-flying job or an all-expenses paid vacation, says one observer from SUSS.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson speaks at the Constitute of Directors annual convention in London September 18, 2013. (File Photo: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett)
13 Sep 2022 06:28AM (Updated: 03 Jul 2022 12:09PM)
SINGAPORE: "Being happy" is an endeavour many strive for.
In many of his talks, famed billionaire Richard Branson shares tips on achieving happiness. Branson recommends making happiness a habit rather than a goal, focusing on others instead of oneself, living in the moment, and "being" rather than "doing".
Be healthy, make fourth dimension and be effectually family unit and friends, rather than become caught upwardly in "doing things" in order to attain goals like landing a good chore or acquiring fabric wealth, he prescribes.
Just Branson himself is a successful magnate, who enjoys expensive skiing holidays and has accomplished many of these goals people chase after, and then how applicable are these recommendations?
HAPPINESS A Office OF PERSONALITY
A person'southward happiness depends on how satisfied he is with his life as a whole, and the positive and negative emotions that he experiences. But as much as 39 per cent of variation in well-beingness betwixt people is due to personality traits.
Personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion are key predictors of well-being, research shows.
This is because an individual'southward level of neuroticism (defined as his emotional stability) and extraversion (his activity level, need for stimulation, and quantity and intensity of interpersonal interaction) strongly determine his emotions.
People who are more extraverted and lower in neuroticism experience greater positive emotions, life satisfaction, and happiness, and less negative emotions.
As personality traits are predominantly influenced past genes, tin can we overcome our genetic predispositions and become happier if we seek happiness?
Y'all Tin Chase Later HAPPINESS Simply It MIGHT Non Piece of work
The common perception is that you can be happy if you lot seek and value happiness more than. However, valuing happiness could exist self-defeating. The more people value happiness, the likelier they will feel disappointed near their feelings or level of happiness, research shows.
This supports Branson'south betoken that the pursuit of happiness should not exist a goal, since pursuing happiness may paradoxically lead people to exist unhappy.
Seeking happiness can besides negatively impair interpersonal relationships, which are essential to well-being.
READ: The quiet, nourishing power of gratitude, a commentary
In Western contexts, happiness is often defined in terms of personal accomplishment; still, striving for personal gains or wealth can cause ane to fail social relationships or damage connections with others, leading to greater loneliness.
Indeed, studies show that the more people value happiness, the lonelier they experience.
And so how exercise nosotros become happier if we exercise not actively pursue happiness?
There's no denying that cloth wealth, personality, psychological needs, wellness, and social relationships are important determinants of happiness.
People who are richer are more satisfied with their lives, although there is a limit to the extent that money can improve i'south life satisfaction.
The effect of income on life satisfaction levels out around US$95,000, according to the latest Gallup Earth Poll. Satiation points vary from country to state, and are college in wealthier countries, suggesting that the general idea that money matters to happiness is true, up to a sure limit.
READ: Kingdom of denmark reveals the underground to being one of the world'southward happiest countries, a commentary
Merely the study also shows well-nigh people around the world have not reached a point where coin does not brand a divergence and where they can disregard monetary goals.
Try GIVING
The solution may be not allowing striving for fabric goals to lead to self-focus or come at the expense of human connections.
Moreover, though at that place is a limit to how much money tin can improve our happiness, spending it the right way helps amend our well-existence. In experimental studies, people who spend coin on others are happier than those who spend on themselves.
This type of pro-social spending is associated with greater happiness beyond the world, fifty-fifty in poor nations.
The universality of the benefits of giving behaviour is axiomatic, with studies showing that fifty-fifty toddlers exhibit more happiness when they requite treats away.
Farther empirical prove indicates that people who donate are happier than those who exercise not, while those who volunteer live longer, and have healthier and happier lives than non-volunteers.
Apparently, engaging in altruistic behaviours improves our well-beingness.
One reason why giving enhances happiness is that such behaviour satisfies one's bones, innate psychological needs for relatedness, autonomy, and competence. Giving provides us opportunities to connect with others, hence satisfying our need for relatedness.
Having a selection about whether to help satisfies our need for autonomy. And when people tin see that their generous deportment have made a difference to others, our need to experience competent is satisfied.
Furthermore, engaging in donating behaviour helps to distract 1 from our personal bug and imbues a deeper significant and purpose to ane'due south life. Helping others also produces positive emotions, which non but build physical and social resources, just can undo the detrimental effects of negative emotions and ameliorate psychological resilience.
SPEND Time WITH OTHERS
So information technology seems focusing on others — whether by spending time with or coin on them, may be the key to happiness.
Studies show that people with strong social relationships, or who report being closer to their family, friends, or community tend to be happier, healthier, and live longer than their less social counterparts.
Compared with those who never ally, or those who take separated or divorced, married people are happier and more satisfied with life.
Activities associated with greatest happiness are those that facilitate social connectedness, for example, socialising and engaging in intimate relations, whereas working and commuting are activities associated with lowest happiness.
All in all, the evidence illustrating the importance of altruism and social relatedness for well-being suggest that the strategies of focusing on others and "beingness", tin be the best ways to achieve happiness.
It looks like Richard Branson was right after all.
Ng Wei Ting is an associate professor in psychology at the Singapore Academy of Social Sciences.
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