foreign [Music] we all want to be happy and to live a good life but how often do we stop and ask ourselves what that really means happiness isn't about everything going perfectly or smiling all the time that's just not realistic it's about feeling good and responding well to whatever life throws at us in recent years there have been some amazing scientific breakthroughs in our understanding of what really contributes to a happy life an act of happiness is all about putting that into practice we're now going to hear from our head of psychology Vanessa King who's
a real expert in the science of well-being and she's going to help us learn more about this and share some of the keys to happier living so at the heart of Happiness really is actually taking action that we know can lead to a happier life whether that's internal action or external action so the clues in the name action for happiness our focus is on those areas that um that we can take action in for ourselves and for others that the science shows really can make a difference so we distill thousands and thousands and thousands of
academic studies into this framework that we call the 10 keys to happier living um which are the areas the research shows are most within our control to influence sort of change and that we can take action in so the acronym for the 10 Keys is great dream G the first key is actually about other people's happiness not our own happiness so it's about giving and doing kind things for others R is also about our connections with others it's about relating and finding ways to foster connections with others e is about exercising and taking care of
our bodies for example getting enough rest eating good food getting daylight awareness is about living life mindfully trying out is about keeping learning new things and having new experiences and yeah fostering our kind of hobbies and Passions D in dream is about Direction and having things to look forward to having goals to look forward to and work towards are is about resilience um and actually all the keys contribute to our resilience but resilience is specifically about um looking at the ways that our thinking can sometimes undermine how happy we feel e is about emotions and
really focusing on on what's right as well as what's wrong I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute acceptance is about how we treat ourselves so being comfortable with who we are knowing our strengths and our weaknesses and treating ourselves in a kind way a meaning is all about being part of something bigger there's a few places that I'd suggest you know really is worthwhile getting getting started on so the Ian dreams is all about emotions and looking for what's good so this is not about positive thinking or just thinking happy thoughts
it's actually about training our brains to notice what's right because the human brain is hardwired to focus on what's wrong our brains evolved when we were hunters and gatherers out in Savannah and life was actually a lot more dangerous so we had to be constantly aware in our environment for risk so we actually Overlook often the good things in life even the small good things like the sun's come out on a rainy day or I can hear the birds singing or I've had a really terrible day and somebody noticed and brought me a cup of
tea you know just those small things that those those experiences have not just a psychological effect but a physiological effect that can really over time um help us to feel happier now you know some of us are introverts some of us are extroverts but whether you know regardless of what sort of personality type we are we actually all need to feel that we have people there that we can turn to people that we can say hello to people that um we can share things with and that we can listen to them and and that takes
a little bit of active kind of practice if you like so coming together with people and over time those sort of that sense of community kind of builds and grow but it's a really really important investment in in not just their own happiness but the happiness of others um and it can be scary sometimes if we're not a naturally social person that can be quite scary so it's really important that you know we can find groups of people you know with spaces where there is that warmth and openness to feeling connected where we're all accepted
regardless of who we are so action for happiness is there for everybody whether you're actually feeling great right now when you you want to kind of maintain that or like many people you're actually struggling um and you're feeling a bit low so action for happiness is for both and these are about taking actions to kind of help us kind of boost how happy you feel help us cope when times are tough and help us maintain that when things are going right now we need different things at different times so what works for you might not
work for me right now but the quiz is we all are taking actions and it's these small actions over time that really can make a difference to how we feel and if we're feeling happier then our communities and our our world starts to become happier and that's important for of us so we can all learn more about happiness it shouldn't be some privilege just for the lucky few whatever our situation there are things we can do to be happier and the science shows that people who are happier tend to have better overall health stronger relationships
and make more of a positive difference in the world as Vanessa reminded us it's also important that you try to tune in to what really makes you happy to support yourself with positive relationships and connections around you and to find ways to take action that really work for you in your own life this stuff's important and it can really make a difference for ourselves and for others too thank you
