Day 139
For centuries, philosophy and spirituality have been used to try to define happiness. More recently, there has been a will to quantify happiness, with researchers trying to include a more scientific approach to the definition.
In 2003, British life coach Pete Cohen and psychologist Carol Rothwell were commissioned by Thompson, the holiday company, to develop an equation that allows people to measure how happy they are and understand the factors that contribute to it. Their research, based on interviews with 1000 participants, lead to a scientific equation, revealing that a person's happiness is determined by three key factors:
Personal characteristics (including outlook on life, adaptability and resilience)
Existence Needs (including health, financial stability and community / friendships)
Higher Order Needs (including self esteem, expectations, ambitions, sense of humour)
P + (5 x E) + (3 x H) = Happiness
The value of each letter is based on self-assessment rankings from 1 to 10. If you think you are very outgoing, flexible and open to change and you believe you bounce back from setbacks very quickly, then P is likely to be a high number.
If your basic life’s needs in relation to personal health, financial stability, safety, relationships, freedom of choice and sense of community are met, then E is a high number.
If you have a strong support system, you immerse yourself in what you do and you engage in activities that give you a sense of purpose, then H is high.
A high end total means a higher level of happiness.
Now, you might be tempted to take out your calculator, but it is probably not that necessary. You probably already know how happy you are. And, that mathematical formula certainly does not take into account all of the aspects involved in someone's happiness. However, it could serve as yet another tool to figure out what is missing in your life for you to maximize your well- being.
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