From the course: Happiness Tips

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 22,600 courses taught by industry experts.

Common misbeliefs about happiness

Common misbeliefs about happiness

From the course: Happiness Tips

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

Common misbeliefs about happiness

“

- In this section, I want to have a quick look at four fallacies that people commonly believe when thinking about happiness and what they can do to change their perspective. And the first fallacy is that you can't increase your total happiness. There's a belief that it's just how you are and you can't change yourself. Some people just are happier than others. And this is indeed partly true but not completely. Research conducted at the University of California by Sonja Lyubomirsky which involved comparing twins found that 50% of sustainable happiness is genetically determined and therefore fixed, and another 10% comes from your environment and circumstances which are hard to change, but that leaves 40%, nearly half of your total happiness, which is determined by what she calls intentional activities, what we consciously choose to do and think. And that's what this series of videos is about. The actions that you take can make a big difference to that available 40% of happiness. Linked…

Contents