Happiness fact 8: a happy friend increases our probability of being happy by 9%

The British Medical Journal published a paper describing a study of 4,739 people followed from 1983 to 2003 as part of the famous Framingham Heart Study.
These individuals were embedded in a larger network of 12,067 people; they had an average of 11 connections to others in the social network (including to friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors); and their happiness was assessed every few years using a standard measure.
We found that each additional happy friend increases a person's probability of being happy by about 9%.

Source: Nicholas A. Christakis, James Fowler , UK, 2008

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 7: 78% found flextime had positive effect on work life balance

According to the Cranfield School of Management in the UK, 78% of surveyed employees reported that flextime provides higher job satisfaction and more productivity.
78% indicated it had a positive effect on their work-life balance.
50% reported reduced work-related stress.

Source: Cranfield School of Management, UK, 2000

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 6: 69% of employees report work as a significant source of stress

According to the American Psychology Association, the percentage of employees who report that work is a significant source of stress is 69%.
They also reported that 41% say that they typically feel tense or stressed out during the work day.

Source: American Psychology Association, 2000

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 5: ages 20-24 are sad for 3.4 days/month. 65-74 only 2.3 days

A 2005 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed ages 20-24 are sad for 3.4 days per month.
Those aged between 65-74 are sad only 2.3 days per month

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, 2005

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 4: less than 6 friends at 45 predicted poorer well-being at 50

Researchers collected data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS).
This longitudinal study followed a group of people born in the same week in 1958, starting at age 7.
The researchers examined participant surveys collected at age 42, 45 and 50 that included questions about their psychological health and the number of friends and relatives they met up with once a month or more.

Forty percent of men and roughly a third of women said they had more than six friends whom they saw regularly.
Those people were significantly happier than their peers.
Moreover, maintaining relationships is key: "Having fewer than five friends at age 45 predicted significantly poorer psychological well-being at age 50," the researchers write.

Source: British National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal study, UK, 2010

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 3: only 8% of us achieve our annual resolution

According to Dan Diamond in an article published by Forbes.com on 1/01/2013, just 8% of people achieve their New Year's resolutions. You want to life a good life, you are ready to start shaping your life to achieve your goals.
If you are able to stick to them for the whole 12 months ahead of us, this section is probably not for you, just skip to the next one. You likely have your own secret, and you know how to make it work.
If not, read the next 3 paragraphs.
1. Looking for more happiness in your life, start with a short questionnaire to evaluate your Authentic Happiness score. With 15 questions, it will give you a first indication of how well you lead your life, shape your habits and design a lifestyle to maximize happiness. For each of your sub-optimal areas, you will get customized recommendations to find out more about these specific areas and if required, take a more thorough test.
2. What comes next is to define what makes a good annual resolution:
a. Distinguish between what is important -and less important-, versus urgent -and less urgent. This is the essence of the Eisenhower method (see the "Manage you time" learning module in www.Authentic-Happiness.com)
b. Use words to visualize your objectives: the Vision Board is a very effective tool to sort out your thoughts (find out more with the "Develop Your Life Vision" or "Get Active" learning modules).
c. Make sure that your resolutions are meaningful connected to your personal vision and objectives. Check out the "Life Meaningfully" learning module.
3. Finally, now that you are done with developing your annual resolutions, how do you make sure that you will stay on track? A sure way to stay involved is to use mobile technology. Some examples:
a. Mobile application such as fitbit counts your daily steps to keep you in check. Competing with yourself month after month will help you stay fit & healthy.
b. Another example is the "Way of Life" app: by investing less than a minute daily to track, identify and change your habits with Way of Life's unique red/green colour system, you will get daily help to reshape your "good" habits and forget the "bad" ones.
c. Other applications like Lift makes you feel as if you have a personal coach in your phone: 24×7 and for 365 days. This will give you free guidance, motivation, and tracking for 100,000 different goals.
d. Do you want to discover more apps to track your resolutions, visit www.Authentic-Happiness.com, "Track Your Progress" page.

In summary: To give long life to your resolutions, make sure that they will fully contribute to shaping a better life and that they are meaningfully connected to your goals and vision. Finally, search for the right apps, test them and select the ones that will help you stay on track for "the whole nine yards".

Source: Dan Diamond, Forbes, 2013

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report: free, no registration, instant feedback.

Happiness fact 2: satisfied people gain 10 years in longevity


Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life


Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report:
free, no registration, instant feedback.


Achieving happiness may be more important to your health than you think.
In a 2008 review of studies on happiness and longevity, Dutch sociologist Ruut Veenhoven found that happiness appears to protect against illness.
In 19 research projects involving populations chosen independently of their health status, ratings of mood, happiness, and life satisfaction at the beginning of a study had a large and positive impact on the chance a person was alive at the end of the follow-up period.
The most satisfied people gained an extra 7.5 to 10 years of life



Source: Veenhoven, harvard.edu, 2008



► Check your Happiness Score,
Get your Life Satisfaction report:
Free, no registration, instant feedback.

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life

[category Health_and_Fitness]
[tags Health, Longevity, Mood]
[status publish]

Happiness fact 1: 57*F / 13*C is the optimal temperature for happiness


Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life



Check your Happiness Score, get your Life Satisfaction report:
free, no registration, instant feedback.

Make sure the temperature is right.

Research has shown a clear link between warm weather and happy moods.

But a 2011 study showed that happiness tends to peak not at the sorts of temperatures you might find on a beach in summertime, but rather at a less balmy 57.02 degrees fahrenheit.




Source: Jacqueline Howard, Huffington Post, 1/21/14



► Check your Happiness Score,
Get your Life Satisfaction report:
Free, no registration, instant feedback.

Authentic-Happiness.com, the #1 free global platform to shape your life

[category Health_and_Fitness]
[tags Wellness, Health, Temperature]
[status publish]

Do you want to receive a free PDF life satisfaction report (15 pages, customized)?https://t.co/dDbuEYBmYX https://t.co/PL6znpQNGh


Do you want to receive a free PDF life satisfaction report (15 pages, customized)?https://t.co/dDbuEYBmYX https://t.co/PL6znpQNGh (from Authentic-Happiness.com)

9 users sharing their experience with Authentic-Happiness.com





User feedback on the Authentic Happiness score and platform have been tremendous! This is a wonderful reward for the team and contributors to this endeavor:







 Useful tools, thanks! John

 Enjoying it so far. Did find a typo in the header of this slide…. mediation instead of meditation. Heather

► I am interested in this test and offering it to my team at the office. Ebru
► Hi Authentic Happiness, firstly, thank you for creating such a great site, and pooling some fantastic resources for professionals and the public. Josh
► I have been an active user of Authentic-Happiness.com and find it very useful to make my life happier. You have done a wonderful work creating and running website on this very important topicLaxmikant 
 Pretty awesome! Julio
► Hello Clara, just want to congratulate youre for youre excelent iniciative with the happiness project!! Santiago
 Thank you – I found this helpful and will recommend it to many of my clients.  Joan 
 I love your happiness quiz and I look forward to what you have to share on LinkedIN. Dina

BIG THANK to all of you.

Enjoy your weekend,
Clara N.

Your Authentic Happiness score. Free, no registration required.