3 Lessons Learned From the

Longest Study on Happiness

byJeph Maystruck/Oct 3, 2022/inAdvice, Blogging, Marketing, Our Work, Stories, Strategy

Want to know how to be happy? Let’s look at the research from the longest study on happiness ever carried out.

80% of young adults interviewed wanted to become rich.

50% of young people want to be famous.

It’s no secret, many of us want to be rich and famous. That’s pretty consistent across many different cultures. What isn’t understood is what makes for a “good” life. How do you ensure you’re going to be happy and fulfilled when it’s your time to kick the bucket? This study can help you answer that question.

In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, for 75 years they’ve tracked 724 individuals to understand their work, home life, social circle, etc. There’s a lot you can learn from following people for the better part of a century. The Ted Talk goes into much more detail and it’s really worth a listen.

Here are my three main takeaways.

1. Good relationships keep us happy and healthier.

Making social connections is really important for our health and wellbeing. Loneliness can actually be harmful to our health, and can even lead to premature death.

Having strong social connections can help us live longer and healthier lives. In fact, studies have shown that social isolation is a major risk factor for mortality, comparable to well-known risk factors such as smoking and obesity.

So if you’re feeling lonely, make sure to reach out to your friends and family, and connect with others. It could be the key to a long and healthy life!

2. It’s the quality of our close relationships that matters.

Relationships can help our health. Whoever was satisfied in their relationships at age 50 predicted who would be healthiest at age 80. Want to be healthy later in life? Mind your relationships at 50, they will be a major predictor of your future health.

These findings suggest that relationships can have a profound impact on our health. Therefore, it is important to nurture our relationships and make sure they are satisfying.

3. People in good relationships after 80 stayed sharper longer.

Having a companion can make you smarter later in life. Those in the study who were in a good relationship at 80 stayed smarter longer. With a partner, you keep communicating, doing things together, and navigating through life. It shouldn’t be a surprise that a companion can make your life much better, now we know based on a peer-reviewed study. Partners make us smarter.

The people who faired the best in the study over the years had the best relationships with their friends and family. Want a better life? Take care of your friends and family. Make time for them, and go out of your way for them. When you put relationships first you’ll be a happier person. Just took a 70-year Harvard study to show us why.

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