What Makes a Good Life?
“Good genes are nice but joy is better”
At least that’s what Harvard’s 75 year study on human happiness found.
The study began during the Great Depression and tracked men from a wide range of backgrounds, from sophomores at Harvard to teenagers from the poorest neighborhoods in Boston.
They checked in with the men every two years to do medical tests and interviews and were quite surprised by the findings.
More than your BMI, cholesterol or genetics, the secret to a long and happy life = the quality of your relationships.
Fascinating right?!
In his 2015 (btw does that feel like yesterday to anyone else?) TED talk, “What makes a good life? Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of the study shared three of the most important findings:
Strong social connections are the secret to living happier and healthier. And are a stronger predictor than almost anything else. Conversely, loneliness is even more harmful than once thought, on par with smoking!
Quality > Quantity. CLOSE connections are more important than the number of connections. Even among those with health challenges, good relationships were a protective factor and even decreased their perception of pain.
Good relationships are not only good for your bodies but for your brain as well improving both mood and memory.
If you haven’t yet seen it, I’d highly recommend you do. You can find it (here).
We are all busy! And hustle culture is real, I remember my husband’s boss once telling him that his job was the “most important thing in his life.” And I was actually once praised in my annual review for taking only 2 weeks off for maternity leave. Culturally our priorities are in the wrong place.
Slowing down does not come easily to me (enneagram 3 🙋🏻♀️) but i’m trying.
If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that life is short and unpredictable, and at the end of the day it’s your people that make life so good.