This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The How of Happiness" by Sonja Lyubomirsky. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here.
Is it possible to control how happy you are? Can you override or offset your genetics?
According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, 40% of your happiness is within your control. She identifies the factors that contribute to happiness and explains how to harness the one factor that will yield to your influence.
Keep reading to discover how to control happiness with Lyubomirsky’s strategies.
What Can You Control?
Before you can learn how to control happiness, you must understand what contributes to happiness. According to Lyubomirsky, three main factors influence your overall happiness, to varying degrees:
- Your genetics influence 50% of your long-term happiness.
- Your circumstances influence 10% of your long-term happiness.
- Your thoughts and behaviors influence 40% of your long-term happiness.
(Shortform note: Lyubomirsky bases her argument that genetics contribute to 50% of your happiness on data gathered from 1970-1986. More recent studies suggest that genetics may not be as influential as Lyubomirsky suggests, accounting for approximately 30-40% of your happiness. Further, these more recent studies reveal that the genetic influence on happiness isn’t from a single “happiness” gene, but from a multitude of genetic variants that collectively contribute to your happiness baseline. For example, one study identified 304 genetic variants that each impact happiness.)
Even if your circumstances make you happy, you’ll eventually get used to them and revert to your happiness baseline. However, Lyubomirsky stresses that, while you can’t change your happiness baseline, you can control 40% of the happiness you feel by consciously choosing to think and behave in positive ways.
Lyubomirsky explains that, though genetics play a key role, they don’t have the final say on your happiness. Your genes predispose you to certain emotional outcomes, but the extent of their influence depends on a combination of factors, including your environment, experiences, and behaviors. For example, someone might have a genetic predisposition to depression, but if they grow up in a supportive environment and practice good mental health habits, they might never experience depression.
This means that, even if you’re genetically predisposed to a low-happiness baseline, you can feel just as happy as someone with a high-happiness baseline. You just have to shape your environment and invest more effort into thinking and behaving positively than that person might.Further, while the impact of circumstances on your happiness tends to diminish over time, Lyubomirsky suggests that deliberately adopting positive thoughts and behaviors in day-to-day life inhibits the hedonic adaptation process, prolonging the happiness you derive from good circumstances.
How to Control What You Can
We’ve just explained the factors that impact happiness: Genetics determine your happiness baseline, circumstances influence it temporarily, and positive thoughts and behaviors can offset genetic constraints while also prolonging happiness that stems from circumstances.
Since you can’t alter your genetic code and have only a certain degree of influence over your circumstances (and even then, perfect circumstances bring only fleeting happiness), it follows that the most effective way to boost long-term happiness is to cultivate positive thoughts and behaviors.
———End of Preview———
Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Sonja Lyubomirsky's "The How of Happiness" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full The How of Happiness summary:
- What contributes to long-term happiness and how you can amplify it in your life
- Practical strategies to fuel and nurture happiness
- Why a strategy that makes one person happy may not work for another
