Check out the next happiness trigger I am sharing with you all, “Connection”. Remember, these are little pieces from my next book Happy Women Live Better: 13 Ways to Trigger Your Happiness Every Day (coming October 1st!). I want your feedback and comments! Don’t forget, every week, I’ll give away $50 in gift cards to one reader who posts on the blog – $25 for you, and $25 for someone you want to bless! Congratulations to last week’s winner Tiffany Gaskin!
Did you know happiness is contagious? Having happy people in your network of friends and family make it more likely you’ll be happy. Apparently, birds of a feather indeed flock together. So, just by doing some of the things in this book, you might just influence the happiness of those around you. People with the most social connections – whether a spouse, friends, neighbors, co-workers or relatives – are happier. And every additional happy person in your network positively impacts your own happiness, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School. Using information from the famous Framingham Heart Study, which showed that ills such as smoking and obesity are spread within networks, it was determined that positive outcomes such as happiness also spreads within networks. If one of your close social connections is happy, the likelihood you are happy increases by 15 percent!
Even more surprising, if a friend of one of your social connections is happy, your chances for happiness increase by 10 percent. Each unhappy friend increases your chances for being unhappy by 7 percent. To compare that with the impact of money on your happiness, researchers conclude that a happy friend increases your happiness by the same amount that having an extra $20,000 would increase your happiness.
Of course, sometimes our friends and family members are unhappy for a good reason. They are going through a difficult time, for example. But especially when you consider new friends or a potential mate, choose wisely and carefully. Their happiness habits will affect your own. When you are feeling down, be intentional about getting yourself around your happy girlfriends. They are sure to lift your spirits. Think about the people within your network – from your spouse and children to siblings, parents, other relatives, friends, neighbors and colleagues. Who are the happy people among your social connections?
Do you spend more time with happy people or unhappy people? Leave your comments, I’d love to hear from you!
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