The 6 Secrets to a Longer and Happier Life, According to Harvard

The 6 Secrets to a Longer and Happier Life, According to Harvard As women in the modern workforce, we feel considerable pressure to craft a perfect life. Were groomed to desire financial security, career success, high-functioning relationships and - most elusive of all - the idea of happiness. Its easy to say I want to be happy, but its trickier to define exactly what that means or how to achieve it.Researchers at Harvard University acknowledge the slippery nature of happiness, and chose to embark on a years-long study to get some answers on what it is and how to achieve it. Specifically, they tracked 800 individuals throughout their lives, making note of the decisions, priorities, and connections that inspired long-term happiness.The Study of Adult Development, led by George Vaillant, monitored three different socioeconomic groups from childhood to old age, gathering eight decades worth of information on what contributed to these individuals happiness. In a summary of the study, Bus iness Insider identified 6 factors that result in a happy and fulfilled life.1. Staying away from alcohol and tobacco will improve your health andoverall happiness.While the Harvard study largely focused on the impact of tobacco and alcohol abuse on male participants, its conclusions are pretty universal drinking and smoking is a cause of stress, depression, and lifestyle dysfunction, not just a symptom. For best results, youll want to steer clear whenever possible.2. Investing in your education will reap rewards.Harvards study compared the health of workers without a college education to those with a diploma and those with a Harvard-specific diploma. While they identified little difference between the Ivy League-educated participants health and that of participants with a less-prestigious college education, they spotted a major distinction between the health of college-educated people and those who didnt pursue higher education. The takeaway? A college education can lead to a healt hier and longer life.3. A happy childhood results in a happy adulthood.While its certainly possible to build a happy adult life after a dysfunctional childhood, those who spent their formative years in loving homes have a happiness advantage. The Harvard researchers concluded that how much someone was loved as a child predicted their adult income better than knowing what social class they were brought up in. Even if you had a less-than-ideal childhood, the study emphasizes that what went right in childhood was much more predictive of future happiness than what went wrong.4. Strong, enduring relationships greatly impact overall happiness.After the studys multi-decade run, the researchers concluded that it was social aptitude - sometimes called emotional intelligence - not intellectual brilliance or parental social class that leads to a well-adapted old age. The ability to maintain social connections and to create new ones predicted success more than any other external factors.5. Part icipants who could handle unpredictable life events were poised for a happy and healthy life.The researchers learned that mature defenses, or deliberate, well-conceived methods of handling the painful thoughts and feelings produced by difficult people have major implications on your overall happiness. While blaming others, being passive-aggressive, living in denial, acting out and retreating into fantasy often feel good in the short term, mature methods of coping like altruism, sublimation, suppression and humor resulted in longer-lasting positive effects.6. Those who give back feel happier and more satisfied.Generativity, or the act of giving back to ones community via service or monetary donations, becomes an important element of a happy life especially as one advances in age. According to the Harvard study, between the ages of 30 and 45, our need for achievement declines and our need for community and affiliation increases. Essentially, the best way to selfishly improve your lif e is to be unselfish and focus on helping those around you.