How do we teach happiness skills?
When creating, selling, or pitching a happiness product, think about which skills are being taught. Does the product or service teach you just one skill (e.g., just mindfulness or just thinking positively)? While there is no doubt that approaches that focus on just one skill increases happiness, approaches that focus on more than one skill appear to be more effective at increasing happiness. In fact, research suggests that the more skills that someone learns, the greater their expected increase in happiness. So in general, the more happiness skills, the better.
CREATING A HAPPINESS LESSON PLAN
Because the most effective ways to increase happiness include learning multiple skills, suddenly it becomes important to consider the order that these skills will be taught in. You wouldn’t expect people to learn calculous before they learned addition, and the same is true of happiness skills.
Each skill should build on the previous one. For example, one study showed that people who felt more positive emotion before beginning to improve their happiness showed greater improvements at the end. So kick-starting positive emotions right at the start may be an effective technique for creating a more efective product.
It also seems that beginning with simpler tasks helps people build up the confidence they need to succeed. When we discover that something isn’t so hard after all, we are likely to make better progress. Check out my Happiness Program for more info.
Also consider whether you want to create a product or a service. Individual sessions appear to have the greatest impact on happiness. However, given the internet is both effective and inexpensive; the best way to reach the largest number of people would likely be to use an online approach.
Finally, it's useful to explore the timeline you plan to implement. Amazingly, interventions as short as a few days still lead to changes in well-being. However, the longer the program or product is used, the more effective it tends to be. And, the people who continue to use their happiness skills maintain the most happiness in the long-term.
HAPPINESS SKILLS THAT LAST
How many times have you taken a course or read a book only to forget everything you learned just a few short week later? Happiness skills need to be practiced to keep being effective.
One way to do this is to encourage people to practice easier skills. For example, one study showed that thinking about positive emotions was at least as effective (if not more effective) than writing or talking about positive emotions. Encouraging people to do something easy can increase the likelyhood that they'll practice the skills in their daily lives.
Another way to help people develop skills that last is to increase their motivation to use the skills. In general, people who are more motivated gain more benefit from happiness programs. Some ways that have been shown to be effective at increasing motivation include starting the person off with a description of the benefits that have been shown in past studies. Another way to improve the impact of learning happiness skills is to point out inconsistencies between values, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, research shows that even though people say they believe strengthening relationships is the most important way to build happiness, they choose to build skills that are more personally oriented rather than relationship oriented. By helping people better understand their own values and beliefs, they can better achieve their happiness goals.
CREATING A HAPPINESS LESSON PLAN
Because the most effective ways to increase happiness include learning multiple skills, suddenly it becomes important to consider the order that these skills will be taught in. You wouldn’t expect people to learn calculous before they learned addition, and the same is true of happiness skills.
Each skill should build on the previous one. For example, one study showed that people who felt more positive emotion before beginning to improve their happiness showed greater improvements at the end. So kick-starting positive emotions right at the start may be an effective technique for creating a more efective product.
It also seems that beginning with simpler tasks helps people build up the confidence they need to succeed. When we discover that something isn’t so hard after all, we are likely to make better progress. Check out my Happiness Program for more info.
Also consider whether you want to create a product or a service. Individual sessions appear to have the greatest impact on happiness. However, given the internet is both effective and inexpensive; the best way to reach the largest number of people would likely be to use an online approach.
Finally, it's useful to explore the timeline you plan to implement. Amazingly, interventions as short as a few days still lead to changes in well-being. However, the longer the program or product is used, the more effective it tends to be. And, the people who continue to use their happiness skills maintain the most happiness in the long-term.
HAPPINESS SKILLS THAT LAST
How many times have you taken a course or read a book only to forget everything you learned just a few short week later? Happiness skills need to be practiced to keep being effective.
One way to do this is to encourage people to practice easier skills. For example, one study showed that thinking about positive emotions was at least as effective (if not more effective) than writing or talking about positive emotions. Encouraging people to do something easy can increase the likelyhood that they'll practice the skills in their daily lives.
Another way to help people develop skills that last is to increase their motivation to use the skills. In general, people who are more motivated gain more benefit from happiness programs. Some ways that have been shown to be effective at increasing motivation include starting the person off with a description of the benefits that have been shown in past studies. Another way to improve the impact of learning happiness skills is to point out inconsistencies between values, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, research shows that even though people say they believe strengthening relationships is the most important way to build happiness, they choose to build skills that are more personally oriented rather than relationship oriented. By helping people better understand their own values and beliefs, they can better achieve their happiness goals.
* The Berkeley Well-Being Institute is not affiliated with UC Berkeley.
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