The Woohoo! Report

By TOM MUHA, For The Capital

That means the majority of Americans lack any great enthusiasm for life, which undoubtedly accounts for our nation ranking 16th in the 2008 global well-being study.

Most of us are not actively and productively engaged in all vital aspects of life – exercising, working, loving, parenting, socializing, playing and cultivating spirituality.

It has been said that the greatest obstacle to learning something is thinking you already know it. Positive psychologists have found that most of what people think will make them happy is flat out wrong. Their research has uncovered three major myths surrounding happiness that permeate our society.

The first myth is that the positive external events that occur in our lives will bring us long-term happiness. We imagine that getting a promotion, having our favorite sports team win or going out for a fabulous dinner will make us much happier than it really will.

Money is the classic example. Contrary to the old saying, making and spending money does make us happy, but just a little bit and for a very short time. Meanwhile, the amount of time and energy we devote to attaining material possessions could be better invested in other activities that would produce much higher levels of well-being.

Of the factors over which you have control, external elements have been found to contribute about 20 percent to your happiness. That leaves 80 percent of your happiness being determined by the values you choose.

The second myth is that people are born happy or unhappy. Many folks, especially those who are languishing, don’t believe they can change their level of happiness. But the recent positive psychology research has debunked that notion.

Happy people have been found to follow particular patterns of behavior in their daily lives. When people who aren’t so happy are taught to make the same choices, their lives become much happier.

Here’s a sampling of the values that happy people live by in their day-to-day life:

They nurture and enjoy their relationships with family and friends.

They frequently express gratitude for what they have.

They appreciate the good things that happen every day.

They love helping other people.

They’re optimistic about their future.

They make exercise a regular ritual.

They routinely do things to further their lifelong goals.

They play to their strengths when confronting challenges.

Which of the activities on this list could you engage in to make yourself happier?

The third myth is the notion that you’ll be happy when something eventually changes to improve your life.

How many times have you thought, “I’d be happy if .” Or “I’ll be happy when.” The fallacy of this way of thinking is that it presupposes that happiness is something to be found in some other time or place.

Sometimes people fondly recall a time in the past that they were happy and hope to re-create those days in the future. For example, they remember their college days or the first few years of their marriage. They imagine that re-creating those circumstances would make them happy. But if they think back to those times, they can recollect thinking then that they’d be happy once they were out of school and making money. Or early in their marriage they thought they’d be happy once they could afford their own home.

The only circumstances to be concerned about when it comes to being happy are those occurring right here, right now. Positive psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky says it best in ”The How of Happiness” (Penguin, $25.95), “If you’re not happy today, then you won’t be happy tomorrow unless you take things into your own hands and take action.”

Happiness, it’s been said, is an inside job. The main factor in becoming happier is learning to manage your mind. Your perception of yourself and your world shapes your decisions about whether you’re going to be proactive about making your life happy.

As Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”

You must identify what’s most valuable to you so that your passion is stirred for making your life truly satisfying. Then you must envision optimistic short-term outcomes and focus on your strengths in order to figure out what actions to take every day to make your life happy.

If you’re unsure about what would make you happier, go to www.authentichappiness.org and take the Approaches to Happiness Questionnaire for free.

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