FIVE WAYS TO BECOME HAPPIER
HOW TO BOOST YOUR MOOD AND YOUR LIFE
M anoj Singh pulls a rickshaw in Kolkata, India. His passengers drink too much and like to bully him. At night, he goes home to the slums to a tiny shack made with plastic tarps. Water drips through the roof during monsoon season.
He often has only a few bowls of rice to feed his family, but Singh says, “I feel very, very happy.”
Singh’s story opens Happy, a new documentary that screens in Calgary next week to kick off the Hey Happy, Meet Super Groovy program.
The movie follows people from 14 countries around the world. Many of them, like Singh, earn little, work hard but laugh amply, and with gusto. Their stories are interspersed with commentary from leading experts on happiness.
All say the same thing: that each one of us holds the power to our happiness.
“That’s what really struck me making this film — that happiness is within our control,” says director Roko Belic, on the phone from Burbank, Calif.
Researchers from fields as varied as psychology and economics have turned their attention to happiness over the past decade, and their efforts have led to a broad formula for happiness. We now know that about 50 per cent of our happi
ness is determined by genetics, what’s called our happiness set point. A further 10 per cent is driven by circumstance, things like health and money.
That leaves about 40 per cent, which is coloured by the actions we take. Put another way, almost half of our happiness is completely up to us.
“That realization changed my life,” says Belic, an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker for Genghis Blues.
After finishing the film, he moved into a mobile home park in Malibu to be closer to friends and to surf. He started surfing regularly and, last year, he and his girlfriend had a baby.
“Life is awesome. And all this is related to making this film.”
The formula for happiness is not the same for everyone, but everyone can make changes to become happier, Belic says.
He gave a rundown on the happiness skills that he learned from making the film.
EXERCISE
Dopamine levels in the brain are strongly linked to feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. Exercise stimulates dopamine release and raises the number of dopamine receptors, bringing on the postexercise high.
The effects of exercise go beyond the short-term buzz. Dopamine is part of a system of transmitters and receptors that deteriorates as we age. Physical exercise helps
keep that system sharp.
We benefit from all kinds of exercise, Belic says. “It’s not about whether you can or can’t do something. It’s the spirit of it.”
EXPERIENCE FLOW
The feeling of being “in the zone” is called “flow” by happiness researchers, and it’s good for the brain. Flow usually happens when we’re engrossed in an activity where we can shut out everything else. For some people, flow happens when playing sports or playing an instrument. It comes in many different forms: Jamal, a short-order cook featured in the film, gets in the zone by flipping omelettes.
In other words, “happy people do the things that make them happy,” Belic says.
BE SURROUNDED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
The people who support us and laugh with us improve our happiness, research shows. Support comes from family or friends, co-workers, neighbours — anyone who can provide an intensity of depth and camaraderie that wards off loneliness. “It really is about relationships.”
As one of the islanders of Okinawa says in the film, they live by a philosophy called Ichariba Chode: “When you meet, you are already brother and sister.”
Human beings feel happier
when they are a part of something bigger than themselves. That doesn’t mean you have to set out to change the world, Belic says. “Do something that keeps you involved with other people, something that affects more than just you.”
Simply by being happy, happy people improve their communities. Happy people do better at work, are more productive, less likely to commit crimes and more likely to help a stranger in need.
FOCUS ON INTRINSIC GOALS
People who prioritize extrinsic goals — such as money and fame — are less likely to be happy than people who prioritize intrinsic goals, like passion and co-operation.
Having said that, money does play a small role. Research shows that people need to earn enough to meet their basic needs. Basic needs are defined differently around the world. In North America, studies suggest the happiness cut-off is about $50,000. Beyond that mark, money appears to have no bearing on happiness.