Five Ways to Well-Being

photo from Meghana Kulkarni via Wikimedia Commons

So the other day I was watching Nic Marks' 2010 TED Conference presentation, The Happy Planet Index. This index is something he developed that's meant to measure human well-being and environmental impact and he discusses how people in the financially wealthiest countries may not necessarily also be the happiest. It's all fairly interesting and I'll provide a link up at the end of this memo, but what really got me about the whole talk was the Five Ways to Well-Being.

The five ways were identified during a research project nef (the new economics foundation) worked on for the UK government. All five are supposed to be evidence-based and easy to incorporate into your daily life. And they are....

1. Connect
2. Be Active
3. Take Notice
4. Keep Learning
5. Give

They're fleshed out some more on nef's website, but they're all pretty straight forward. And taking stock, I really do feel better when I'm doing any of the five things - whether it's working out, catching up with a friend, appreciating the warmth of the sun, working with a charity, or doing some research of my own. But when you're aware that these things make you feel good, you can strive to include more of them in your life and theoretically, be a happier person. And when you're feeling happy, you tend to have less health problems.

Feel free to learn more (it's #4):
The official list w/ pretty presentation: http://www.neweconomics.org/projects/five-ways-well-being
Nic Marks' presenter profile w/ link to video of his presentation in the upper right: http://www.ted.com/speakers/nic_marks.html

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