Ten Great Ideas: Happy
| Why don't we teach about how to be happy in life? | "Hackschooling makes me happy". A kid who has been homeschooled talks of his experience. YouTube | |
| Success at School vs. Success in Life | link | "[Schools] suggest that the most important things are already known; that what is is all that could be." From thebookoflife.org |
| It's time to teach our kids happiness, says psychologist | Report in the Irish Independent, 09/10/2014 | |
| Why we need to teach Happiness | Link | The strongest predictor of a satisfying adult life was the child’s emotional health. Next came social behaviour, and least important was academic achievement. From blogs.lse.ac.uk |
| World Happiness Report 2015 | Link | The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness. |
| World Happiness Index | Countries of the world, coloured by happiness. From @Amazing_Maps | |
| The Science of Happiness | ||
| What is 'success'? | Link |
We often think of being a success primarily in status and financial terms. But is this correct? |
| The 5 Happiest Countries And What Makes Them So Happy | Link | From spring.org.uk |
The surprising science of happiness |
YouTube. Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned. |
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| The surprising science of happiness Via Nancy Etcoff on TED-Ed |
YouTube. Cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff looks at happiness -- the ways we try to achieve and increase it, the way it's untethered to our real circumstances, and its surprising effect on our bodies. | |
The surprising science of happiness |
YouTube. Via TED. 12 mins We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk from TEDxBloomington, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity. |
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| The secret to happiness: Flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: |
YouTube. Via TED. 20 mins |
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| My philosophy for a happy life: Sam Berns at TEDx | YouTube. 13 mins. Sam was diagnosed with Progeria, a rare, rapid aging disease, at the age of 2. | |
Want to be happy? Stay in the moment. |
YouTube. 10 mins. Matt Killingsworth on TED | |
| Here Are 7 Things That Will Make You Happier in 7 Seconds | Link | From time.com |
| 10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy | So why don't we base our lifestyles around these ideas? Includes a nice poster summarising the ideas. From yesmagazine.org |
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| Happiness: 8 Awesome New Facts You Should Know | Link | Compiled by spring.org |
| The habits of happiness | Link | Buddhist monk, photographer and author Matthieu Ricard has devoted his life to these questions, and his answer is influenced by his faith as well as by his scientific turn of mind. YouTube. Via TED. 20 mins |
| Three things you think will make you happier at work (but won't) | Link | When we get what we want we’re still miserable – so what common mistakes do we all make in our search for career contentment? From theguardian.com. Spoiler alert: More money, more holidays, promotion will not (necessarily) increase happiness. |
| Gratitude | ||
Begin class every day by practicing gratitude for one minute |
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| Happiness - An Experiment in Gratitude | YouTube. 7 mins. Researchers make volunteers phone up somebody out to the blue to say thanks. Would make an interesting class activity also. | |
| Three recent studies supporting the use of gratitude in improving mood | Includes instructions to start with a 2 minute exercise – start now! Compiled by spring.org.uk | |
| "Gratitude isn’t merely about reward. It involves morality, connecting with others, and taking their perspective." |
Link | Blogppost from Nov 2015 on recent research in this area. From inside-the-brain.com |
| Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | Link | Close your eyes and listen. YouTube. 10 mins. |
| Practicing Gratitude Can Increase Happiness by 25% | Compiled by spring.org | |
| 10 Ways Gratitude Can Change Your Life & 4 Step Gratitude Plan | Link | From spring.org.uk |
“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy. |
Link | Blogpost from Pragmatic Education; this school has embedded practicing into their daily school lives. |
| A grateful heart is a healty heart | Link | From psypost.org |
| And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.” And I said, “What on earth could that be, Joe?” |
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.” Kurt Vonnegut on the Secret of Happiness: An Homage to Joseph Heller’s Wisdom. From brainpickings.org |
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| Why You Should Treasure The Mundane Moments in Life | Includes a reference for another potentially very interesting classroom activity. From spring.org.uk | |
| Wonder and Awe | ||
| Being in Awe Can Expand Time and Enhance Well-Being | From psychologicalscience.org. |
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| Why the sense of wonder has such a wonderfully protective effert on mind and body. | “Awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, suggesting antithetical behavioral responses to those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others in their environment.” From spring.org.uk |
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| Happiness in work | ||
| How to find happiness through work | Three M's: Mastery, Meaning and Membership. Blog from Harvord Business Review | |
| Or if you're an introvert, find a job that forces you to act as an extrovert | Like teaching. Always maintained we were actors on a stage. From spring.org.uk |
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| Why beauty does not lead to happiness | Link | Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don't judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16 years old. |
| Volunteering brings happiness | ||
| Why do some people go out of their way to help others? | Link | YouTube. 3 mins. Try not to cry. |
| Money and Happiness | ||
| 47 segundos de sabiduría de José "Pepe" Mujica | Link | From the President of Uruguay. YouTube. 1 min |
| Michael Norton: How to buy happiness | YouTube. Via TED. 11 mins Norton shares fascinating research on how money can, indeed buy happiness -- when you don't spend it on yourself. Listen for surprising data on the many ways pro-social spending can benefit you, your work, and (of course) other people. |
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| Would winning the lottery make you happier? | Link | YouTube. Via TED-Ed. 4 mins |
| For Happiness, Does Money Beat Respect? | You know the answer. From PsyBlog | |
| Income vs happiness in the USA | Graph courtesy of twitter. Money does not equal happiness | |
The Economic Case Against Winning a $500 Million Lottery (Seriously)
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So you didn't win the lottery? That's fantastic news, says behavioral economics. From theatlantic.com | |
| Bummer: Winning the Lottery Isn't Necessarily a Ticket to Happiness | Link | From nbcnews.com |
| Why So Many Smart People Aren’t Happy | Link | From theatlantic.com |
| The Easterlin Paradox | Link | From wikipedia. Worth reading. The Easterlin Paradox is a key concept in happiness economics. |
| Why Quitting Facebook For One Week increases happiness | Link | Intersting reading. From spring.org.uk |
| The secret to a happy life - courtesy of Tolstoy | We can learn a lot about the art of living from Tolstoy's War and Peace. But we can also learn from the life of the master novelist himself. |
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