Does any of this sound familiar? Happiness will only knock on my door when I have that perfect job, moved into that four bedroom house, bought those awesome shoes, when my shining knight hauls my gym-toned svelte body onto his horse.  Yes, these things may incur happiness but it will probably be short-lived and waiting to be replaced by the next ‘big thing’.  This process is termed ‘hedonic adaptation’ by psychologists and has probably happened to us all at some point in our lives.  We have all yearned for something like the new, flash plasma TV, the super, expensive mascara, the bigger fridge etc only to find a few days, weeks later we have adapted to it and are already used to it!  It has lost its sparkle.

Over the next few months, I am hoping to dispel some of the myths surrounding positive wellbeing and allow you to focus on authentic happiness.  I will share some exciting findings and strategies used within the field of positive psychology that will hopefully get you to question your own thinking and beliefs and encourage you to unlock your strengths!

The 40 per cent solution
As a psychologist, I am a bit of a geek and love to find out if there is actual scientific evidence to back up claims made about certain things in life. Can science measure happiness?  Is happiness sustainable? What determines happiness?  Positive psychology aims to scientifically and empirically answer these questions.

According to leading research within the field of positive psychology, psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky (The How of Happiness, 2007) says there is a structured architecture that is common to all of us with regards to what determines our personal scope for happiness.  This complex architecture can be explained by the simple ‘pie chart’ and the ’40 per cent solution’.  Lyubomirsky claims that we all have a genetically determined ‘set point’ for happiness.  This ‘set point’ is our baseline for happiness.  It is a continuum, therefore we may have a really high ‘set point’ or a really low ‘set point’ or somewhere in-between.  Our ‘set point’ is stable over time and governs how happy we will be over our life time.  Our ‘set point’ accounts for 50% of the differences between our happiness levels and everyone else’s happiness levels.

Interestingly, only 10% of the variance between your happiness levels and my happiness levels can be explained by differences in our life circumstances.  That is: our health, wealth, beauty, marital status, upbringing, friends etc.  This may be surprising but is extremely empowering when you realise how little these previously ‘huge’ parts of us actually are in terms of our happiness.

Ok, so let’s do the math – 50% is our genetic ‘set point’, 10% is ‘life circumstances’ – so what accounts for the final 40%?  Back to good old basic psychology – our beliefs, thoughts, feelings and behaviour account for the final 40% of the pie.  Hence, the ’40 per cent solution’.  This slice of the pie is called ‘intentional activity’.  This is awesome news as it means we have 40% room for manoeuvre!  40% room for potential to grow and flourish.  40% pure and utter control over our own happiness levels!

Creating happiness
In other words, we don’t find happiness or chase it.  We don’t follow it and we certainly shouldn’t wait on it.  Happiness is something that we create – all on our own from within us!  As German poet, Bertolt Brecht stated; “Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels.”

Designing and building your own happiness
We are all different.  Therefore, our creations of happiness will be different.  What works for me, will not necessarily work for you.  It is important to bear the word ‘work’ in mind. We have to actively work at being happy.   If you think of the amount of effort and ‘work’ we put into the ‘life circumstances’ slice of our pie (the part that accounts for 10% of the variance) – trips to the hairdresser, tweezing, sweating at the gym, huge credit card bills…  We think nothing of it!  However, how often do we stop to put extreme effort and ‘work’ into our emotional wellbeing?  Our ‘intentional activity’ slice of the pie?  English writer, John Mason Good put forward that ‘happiness consists in activity; it is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.’ 

Let’s get moving!  Over the next few months, some of these exercises you will relate to and find natural, valuable and effective.  Some of them may not resonate with you at all.  That is ok.  We all have different strengths.  It is important to identify and realise what your strengths are, as like anything else, we do things better and with more gusto when we enjoy and value them.  Hopefully, over the next few months you will identify yours.