01 Apr Happiness…to whom do you compare yourself?
Check out this snippet from this week's FREE Happiness Institute eNewsletter (to which you can subscribe HERE)…
Did you know that those who enjoy the most happiness rely, when assessing their happiness and success, on their own internal, objective standards. That is, they're clearer about their values and goals and rely less on social comparisons with neighbors or colleagues. What this does is make it significantly LESS likely you'll be affected (and usually affected in a negative way) by external judgements and by factors that are outside your control.
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Following on from the brief research note above, what can we do then to enjoy more happiness? Well, you can begin by trying the following simple but effective strategies…
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If you're going to compare yourself to others, compare yourself to those who're not as well off as you (i.e. not as affluent, have less, don't enjoy the conditions you do and/or not as successful)
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Better still, don't compare yourself with others at all but rather, measure yourself against your own aspirations, goals and values
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To do this (i.e. to achieve the previous point) you first need to be crystal clear about what your goals and values are (too many of us aren't!)
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So set aside some time to really define what does "happiness" and what does "success" really look like for you!
For some people, much of the above may be new and many of the questions may well be unanswered. That's OK; but the sooner you set aside some time to work on this issues the better. And there's no time like the present!