"50% of happiness is genetically determined"...Half of my (possibility for) happiness is reliant on genes? (Is that a misreading?) I don't know what that means or implies. (It sounds a lot.)
Start a new exercise program Be kind to others Foster intimate relationships Count your blessings See things in a positive light Set yourself meaningful goals Work in a challenging job Add variety to your life Develop your personality
(My emphasis.)
At the end we get:
1. Measure well-being. To know what is important and to be able to influence it, societies have to measure well-being, happiness and their components. 2. Reduce unemployment. Unemployment has a major negative effect on well-being both for those directly affected and for all other citizens. 3. Foster happiness-boosting use of time. People tend to work too much because they overestimate the impact of income on happiness. Taxing income improves work-life balances, although it is unlikely that the optimal tax rate lies above those in continental Europe. 4. Strengthen civil society and active citizenship, participation and engagement. Foster interaction among friends and family; contain geographic relocation, which hurts social interaction with friends and neighbours. 5. Limit materialistic advertisement. Research shows that people who watch a lot of TV feel poorer. Comparison with the pretty, successful and happy but artificial individuals in commercials makes one's own weaknesses visible - especially for children and teenagers. Sweden has banned advertisements targeted at children below 12 years of age. 6. Focus the health sector on complete health. The WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". This includes a stronger focus on mental illness and on longevity.
Could anyone from Sweden report back on number 5? Have studies been undertaken?
(I wonder if Sweden has seen a drop in the sale of certain types of toys and food products? I'm thinking of plastic toys, sweets, and fizzy pop.)
Great find, Jerome. Thanks. Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
Table 15 shows how much individuals value certain activities and how much time they spend on them: socialising after work, for example, has a net average value of 4.12 (on a scale of 0 to 6) and people spend more than one hour daily on it. Commuting to work and working itself rank at the bottom of this list.
