SILT #1: The Science of Happiness

This week’s issue highlights Something I Learned Today (SILT).

Let’s dive in.

SILT #1: The Science of Happiness

A friend recently asked me if I’ve come across any good insights about what makes people happy.

I recalled watching a TED talk several years ago about the longest-running study in the world on adult life, health and happiness… so I went back and rewatched it.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the video was published, so at this point the study has now tracked the lives of 700+ original participants and 1,300+ descendants over 85 years!

10 Takeaways

1. Studies like this (or any projects of this magnitude) are exceedingly rare. It required luck and persistence of several generations of researchers for the study to survive. Side note: It may be wishful thinking, but I’d love to see more long-term thinking and coordination across generations like this.

2. The clearest message from the study is this: ”Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

3. “People who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, they're physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected.”

4. “It’s not just the number of friends you have, and it’s not whether or not you’re in a committed relationship, but it’s the quality of your close relationships that matter.”

5. Emotional pain can magnify physical pain. “Our most happily partnered men and women reported, in their 80s, that on the days when they had more physical pain, their mood stayed just as happy. But the people who were in unhappy relationships, on the days when they reported more physical pain, it was magnified by more emotional pain.”

6. “Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies, they protect our brains. It turns out that being in a securely attached relationship to another person in your 80s is protective… that the people who are in relationships where they really feel they can count on the other person in times of need, those people’s memories stay sharper longer.”

7. “Good relationships don’t have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”

8. It’s human nature to ignore wisdom from past generations, and instead look for a quick fix.

9. “The people in the study who were the happiest in retirement were the people who had actively worked to replace workmates with new playmates.”

10. “The good life is built with good relationships.”

Want more?

Sahil Bloom has written several great posts on this topic. Here are my two favorites:

The Science of Happiness. Learnings from a discussion with Dr. Arthur Brooks about his three “macronutrients” of happiness (all are needed in balance and abundance):

• Enjoyment: Enjoy your life.

• Satisfaction: The feeling of reward from a job well done.

• Purpose: Big picture meaning and significance.

5 lessons from a Conversation With a World-Renowned Happiness Expert (aka, Robert Waldinger, the current director of the 75-year-old study mentioned above).

• Lesson 1: Relationship Satisfaction Impacts Health

• Lesson 2: Loneliness Kills (& It’s More Prevalent Than Ever)

• Lesson 3: Make “Social Fitness” a Priority

• Lesson 4: Check Your Energy to Improve Your Life

• Lesson 5: Ambivalent Relationships are the Most Toxic

Why SILT?

Soil with silt in it promotes water retention and air circulation, so moisture-loving plants and crops tend to thrive in silty soil.

Just like silt provides the grounds for plant growth, learnings provide the grounds for our growth as humans.

Challenge: Learn something new every day.

Thanks for reading!

Until next week, keep growing »

Scott​

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