This year has flown by, and I feel so proud of what I have achieved this year which lead me to the topic of this newsletter …satisfaction. Do you ever give yourself time to reflect on your achievements? I know I never did until I did. It has an amazing effect on your mood when you do it. You are giving your brain a little boost just by reflecting on your own successes. And as usual I found the science behind satisfaction
Based on Diener’s extensive work in this area, he has identified four “ingredients for a happy/satisfied life”:
Psychological wealth is more than money—it is also your attitude, goals, and engagement at work.
Happiness not only feels good, it is also beneficial to relationships, work, and health.
It is helpful to set realistic expectations about happiness. No one is completely happy all the time! I often say to clients that we simply can’t be happy 100% of the time it needs to be more of a 50/50 ratio.
Thinking is an important piece of happiness; boosting our cognition can boost our happiness, if done appropriately (Pursuit of Happiness, n.d.).
That’s helpful in getting a grasp on life satisfaction, but let’s get a little more specific on these ingredients.
Life Satisfaction and its Contributing Factors
The main contributing factors to life satisfaction are not completely understood yet, and the weight they are given by each individual varies; however, research has found that they likely fall into one of four sequential categories:
Life chances
Course of events
Flow of experience
Evaluation of life
I wanted to focus just on the evaluation of life which is an appraisal of the average effect of all of the above interactions. It involves comparing our own life with our idea of a “good life,” and how the good and the bad in our life balances out. So this is where I believe if you actually reflect on your wins (these are your wins…not ones for your family/household) you will feel proud of your achievements. My message to you today is to celebrate 2024 and move into 2025 with ease and grace.
