THE HAPPINESS FORMULA

H = S + C + V

In 2002, Martin Seligman, an American psychologist and pioneer of positive psychology published a book on happiness called Authentic Happiness. In it, he shares the Happiness Formula, an equation that distills years of research into practical and easy-to-understand guidelines for living a happier life.

Let's break it down, shall we?

H stands for Enduring Level of Happiness.

Enduring level of happiness is different than momentary levels of happiness which are more transient and involve bursts of happiness that come and go quickly. What Seligman was interested in studying was what factors impacted our enduring level of happiness and how can we affect this in our day-to-day lives.

S stands for Set Point.

Your set point of happiness is dictated by genetics and, as Deepak Chopra explains in a recent interview, by your early childhood experiences. These variables influence your overall attitude toward life. This, which in large part is out of your control, accounts for 50% of your happiness levels. This suggests that while you may experience moments of increased happiness when you achieve a big goal or get a promotion, these elevated happiness levels return to your lower Set Point within a few days, a phenomenon called Adaptation (which I write about in my Free Fulfillment at Work Audio Training). If you're a "glass half empty" kind of person, this may sound like bad news - half of your happiness level is entirely out of your control. However, consider this, the other half, another full 50% you can influence, and this is great news!

C is for Circumstance.

This relates to external factors - things like whether you live in a rich democracy or impoverished country matter and the strength of your social networks matter. These account for about 10% of your enduring happiness. Within this category of life conditions, there are external factors that have less impact on happiness. Though you wouldn't know this from the messages we see on social media and ads in general, the amount of money you make (above a base level), your position at work and the number of luxury trips you take have little impact on your enduring happiness. They may bring you a spark of happiness in the moment, but as described earlier, you quickly return to your Set Point (known as Adaptation) - meaning they do not increase your happiness levels in any long-lasting way. Even in dramatic circumstances like winning the lottery, having a serious accident leading to an irreversible physical injury or becoming President of the United States (as Obama describes in a recent episode of The Oprah Conversation series), we tend to become accustomed to our new reality and ultimately return to our baseline of happiness.

Which brings us to the variable that we can influence and offers us the best chance at intentionally increasing our happiness levels in a sustainable way - V is for Voluntary Variables.

Voluntary variables account for 40% of our enduring happiness and have everything to do with the choices we make. This is where our ongoing personal and leadership development skills come in handy - it's about enhancing our emotional intelligence, choosing how we perceive the world, expanding our perspectives, finding meaning to our lives and work and seeking fulfillment. This is about adopting a growth mindset, connecting with spirituality and opening up to new ways of understanding the things that happen around us. This is about our inner world and it's entirely up to you to develop.

Here's what I take away from the Happiness Formula.

While genetics and upbringing influence our level of happiness, we still hold the ability to increase our happiness levels in significant ways. And to that end, it's not money and power that are our best bets at enhancing happiness - our best bet to increasing enduring happiness is to modify our inner world (not the outer one) - happiness, then, is in good part an inside job.

Which brings me to Shakespeare, who wrote:

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

Warmly,

Lisa

Lisa is an Executive Coach, Founder & CEO of LDR Leadership Labs. For more from Lisa, join the LDR Leadership Community on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/company/ldrleadershiplabs and sign up for the LDR Insiders Newsletter here.