As I explained in my last post I have started an online course in the science of happiness. If you are interested in the course it is available for free at edX.org.
Anyways. I am now done with part one of this course, and I am thinking of what I have learned. And for us in here I think the most interesting thing is that losing weight won't make you happier at all. At least not in the long run. But, what does makes you happier is getting enough sleep, exercise, social interaction and so on. In other words, DietBet will probably make you happier, because you are pushed to exercise more, you have social interactions that help you get things in perspective. You have a place to lash out and get support and so on. And also, losing weight will make you healthier. It will make you feel better in terms of being healthy, so DietBet is a very good place for you. However, the DietBet social connections can't get in the way for the face to face social connections, because the in real life connections are more important for happiness. So remember that, but keep using DietBet. :)
So, what else have I learned? The most common way to pursuit happiness is to pursuit material things, money, relationships, food, getting thinner, trying to get more beautiful and so on. Not one of those things is the the things that really makes you happy. What really makes you happy is the feeling of meaning, the feeling of purpose in life. That probably explains why many people without a job feel less happy. Not just because of they money problems, but they don't feel needed, like they have a purpose in life. In other words, if you don't have a job at this moment, you will probably feel happier if you start working as a volunteer or something.
The next thing I have learned is putting things in perspective. If you do the simple exercise of finding three things everyday that made you happy or happier, and analyse what lead to that, why did it make you happier and so on, you will probably see that you can do a big difference yourself.
The last thing I have learned is that you are the accelarator for your own happiness. It is said that 50% of you happiness level is set by genes, 10% by circuimstances and 40% by "what you do". In other words I can change my happiness level by 40% by doing things differently.
I will over the next weeks focus on what I can do that makes me feel happier, and I think this is the things I will do first;
1. More social connections. Meet up with friends I haven't seen in a while and find something to do with them. Try to have it as goal for 2015 that I find something to do with friends I normally don't see that much at least twice a month. It is not that often, but it makes it more doable.
2. Exercise even more. Push myself out of the bad habits I have gotten lately. I have fallen back to only exercise 1-2 times a week after the fall/winter weather hit. During the summer time I exercised almost every day. I need to find alternatives to exercise at least 3-4 times a week during the winter as well.
3. Taking time to do more things I love, like reading, watching movies, taking pictures, cooking, puzzling and so on. Things that I normally don't take the time to do often enough.