Although this article is about students, the principles may well be relevant to any and all of us looking to find happiness by sticking to our New Years Resolutions. This story touches on the use of positive psychology principles to help students adhere to their goals…and hopefully to thus find happiness.

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Down in the dumps? Perhaps you should try the blues.

Although long associated with negativity, the colour can send self confidence soaring, cut stress and boost happiness, a study has found.

It is thought blue’s feel-good factor has roots in our evolution, with ancestors linking the colour of the afternoon and evening sky to the feeling of a day well spent, and the prospect of a good night’s sleep.

But the benefits do not end there - because blue could also make our minds sharper.

Researchers from the University of Sussex exposed volunteers to a range of colours and light.

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What makes you happy? Your favorite movie? An ice cream cone on a hot day? Cuddling with your spouse?

Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) followed over 4,000 people for 20 years and determined that happiness spreads through social networks – when your family, friends and neighbors are happy, so are you.

The same holds true for misery.

Judith Graham of The Chicago Tribune spoke with James Fowler, one of the study’s authors.

A separate study, released in June, 2008, by the University of Michigan, shows that happiness is rising around the world. It also ranks countries from most to least happy (PDF), though that list varies somewhat, depending on the survey.

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In “The Great Eight,” American gold medal Olympian Scott Hamilton reveals the secrets to happiness that helped him through his battle with cancer. In this excerpt, he writes about how each of life’s challenges can be a gift.

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20 Tips for a Positive New Year

From www.jongordon.com

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can know that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is_______________________.

3. Take a morning walk of gratitude. It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

4. Instead of being disappointed about where you are think optimistically about where you are going.

5. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

6. Transform adversity into success by deciding that change is not your enemy but your friend. In the challenge discover the opportunity.

7. Make a difference in the lives of others.

8. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

9. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

10. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

11. Live with the 3 E’s. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

12. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

13. Zoom Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.

14. Instead of complaining focus on solutions. It’s the key to innovation.

15. Read more books than you did in 2008.

16. Learn from mistakes and let them teach you to make positive changes.

17. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

I am thankful for __________.

Today I accomplished____________.

19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

Being able to independently maintain your own sense of well-being allows you to find happiness within - whatever is going on outside of yourself. Studies show that happy people are able to produce a minimum of three times more positive than negative emotions within themselves. Paradoxically, people who generate a high level of inner satisfaction have the best relationships because they always exude an aura of happiness.

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Young unemployed adults need more help to deal with mental health problems, the Prince’s Trust charity has warned.

One in 10 youngsters questioned in a survey disagreed that “life was really worth living”. Those not in work or education were less likely to be happy.

Polling company YouGov questioned 2,004 people aged 16-25 online in October.

Paul Brow, of the Prince’s Trust, said the study showed there were thousands of young people who “desperately” needed support.

He added: “Often young people who feel they have reached rock bottom don’t know where to turn for help.”

Of those questioned, 29% said they are less happy now than they were as a child and one in five said they felt like crying “often” or “always”.

Almost half (47%) said they were regularly stressed. Young people tell us that family is key to their happiness, yet too often we find they don’t have this crucial support

Martina Milburn, Prince’s Trust

The feelings of negativity among those who took part in the survey were higher among those not in work, education or training.

Young people who had left school but did not have a job or a place on a training course were twice as likely to feel that their life had no purpose.

Key to levels of happiness, were relationships with family and friends, although health, money and work were also important.

The Prince’s Trust says it plans to train all its frontline staff to recognise mental health problems in what it calls an increasingly vulnerable generation.

Chief executive Martina Milburn said: “Young people tell us that family is key to their happiness, yet too often we find they don’t have this crucial support.

“At the Prince’s Trust we help vulnerable young people, steering them away from false support systems such as drugs, alcohol and dangerous gangs and providing them with a sense of purpose again.”

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Tibetan monk offers path to escape economic crisis

‘Mind training’ » In SLC, he advises Americans to be less attached to wealth.
By Paul Beebe

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/03/2009 05:04:01 PM MST

One path to recovery from the worst financial crisis gripping the world since the Great Depression was offered by a Tibetan monk in saffron and crimson robes who spoke in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

Khentrul Rinpoche, the abbot of a monastery in eastern Tibet, said the woes causing Americans to doubt themselves are rooted in attempts to make the world conform to their expectations.

America, Rinpoche said, is the “pinnacle country” in the world — rich, sophisticated, the model by which other nations measure their own progress.

Yet many Americans have not learned that impermanence is the underlying order of life, he said. Prosperity is a temporary arrangement that can vanish suddenly. Happiness is found internally and by working for others, not by chasing fame and material wealth for personal gain, the monk said.

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BYU study: Health decline makes happier couples

Associated Press - January 3, 2009 1:25 PM ET

PROVO, Utah (AP) - A Brigham Young University study says that couples who have one member experiencing a decline in health report a happier marriage afterward.

The study is published in November’s Research on Aging medical journal.

BYU researcher Jeremy Yorgason says the reason why happiness goes up was outside the scope of his research, but men under 55 reported an increase in marital interaction when they or their spouse suffered a disability.

However, the change isn’t a big one. On a scale of 1 to 30, most people in a couple in which one member is disabled rated their happiness a single point higher. Women under 55 reported no change in happiness when their husbands became disabled.

All other groups reported they were happier.

More information at: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com

IT is that time again when it is customary to wish everyone a Happy New Year! The operational word is, of course, “Happy”!

But it may not be so for this year, if what have been forecast for 2009 is to be believed. Many pundits have predicted that the worst is in store with unemployment on the rise as more companies fold up. The stock market is predicted to be on the decline with extreme volatility.

Recession and depression have not been completely ruled out. Bailouts, even nationalisations, will continue, and the global confidence in the US currency will stay low.

More will be facing severe hardships for the first time in their lives. The US is essentially bankrupt and running on borrowed money and borrowed time, according to one authoritative opinion.

So what is so “happy” about the new year? Nothing, if the challenges for 2009 are not recognised and acted upon. Some may say it is impossible judging by the number of suicides reported as the result of the 2008 economic downturn.

It will become almost intractable as long as “happiness” is understood only as a function of economics and material wealth creation.

Unless this is decoupled, the wishes for this year are a mere hollow verbalisation — an empty wish!

Fortunately, this is not necessarily the case. Some studies did show that wealthy people are no happier than poor people. At times, the latter are even happier despite not having enough.

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