Happiness

For twenty years I’ve been spotting future trends and sharing them with readers, radio listeners, and audiences of all types.

Identifying what makes one happy has become a big topic. No wonder, with the increase in life expectancy, people want to know what constitutes personal contentment. They want to know if they have enough of it, and if they don’t they want to know if they can be happier.

I’m happy (no play on words intended to report that ‘yes’, happiness can be identified and it can be increased if we are in short supply of it.

Like most studies on nature vs. nurture, about 50% of our happiness is determined genetically and about 50% by our conditions and personal decisions. Our biochemical makeup in the front of our brains determines a lot of our contentment levels. But, so does our attitude. If you want to pick up your happiness, at a minimum consider picking up your attitude.

New research also suggests there are qualities or characteristics that contribute to contentment. They are, as best I can simply communicate them:

1. Having sufficient money. Fall below a certain amount and discontentment builds fast.
2. Having status that money brings. This seems rather shallow, but ignore it at your own peril. It’s one thing to have money; it’s another to have some degree of status that shows you have “made it” in life. Studies show we all need both to feel content.
3. Engaging in work. Retiring to an island to do nothing but relax is an illusion. Studies show that millionaires who work are more content than millionaires who do not.
4. Maintaining Good Health. Illness saps contentment. Having a body that allows you to perform a normal schedule of activities cannot be overlooked. This is probably what drives us from an evolutionary standpoint to keep our calories down, exercise routinely, take vitamins, eat vegetables, fruits, healthy foods, and drink lots of water.
5. Establishing Relationships. Research shows that people who concentrate on having good relationships live longer and are happier. Dedicating time to worthwhile relationships with a spouse, partner, family, friends or pets is essential to happiness.

Who would every have thought ‘Getting Happier’ would become a Trend. If you are reflecting on your present state of happiness and feeling you fall short of your desired level of personal happiness, then consider the following:

- Work on your attitude. Come to grips with negative feelings. Face them (tough as they may be), resolve, them, and get on with life. Facing negative attitudes and moving on in life produces greater personal contentment.

- Take control of your life by making goals. A lot is accomplished by deciding what you are going to achieve. Research shows that attitudes improve and financial security increases when goals are created and completed. Create short and long term goals. Then create action items to work toward attaining your goals. Planning your life is important.

- Save and invest. Studies show the average American will change jobs four or five times within their lifetime. Naturally that creates ups and downs in one’s personal cash flow. Get in the habit of having money set aside so you don’t feel overwhelmed when change comes. Work to have three months of cash on hand.

- Work hard at what you like. People who work at something they like usually make more money than those who don’t. In addition, they are also more likely to be recognized for making an accomplishment among their peers. They key is to strive to make a living out of what you like doing.

- Impose your will on your body. Move your body on a daily basis. Walk, swim, bike, exercise . . . whatever meets your capabilities and interests. Eat green and eat lean. Exercising and eating healthier will keep you happier and has longer term happiness benefits.

Try implementing these recommendations little by little. Happiness is not to the swift but to those who plug away at it.

Last, I have observed “Getting Happier” is not just available to those who live in rich countries, like America. Slowly, the possibility of achieving greater personal contentment is becoming available to people all over the world. The reason for this is that the world is gradually becoming more prosperous, and with growing prosperity the fundamental building block for greater happiness is created. Hopefully, that makes us all just a little bit happier.

The Biology Economy

Here comes the Biology Economy. It is going to create millions of new jobs, billions of new products, and hundreds of thousands of new companies. Its mission is to improve the health, and extend the life of all humans.

Three Phases

The Biology Economy will come in three phases.

Phase one will be the Age of Spare Parts – this is a time when your joints, organs, ligaments, muscles, etc. will be replaced on a regularly schedule basis. We’ll be the first generation to unite the robot with the human.

Phase two will see the perfection of Gene Profiling. Here, scientists will go to the very center of what makes you up – your genes –and take a picture of them. If they see that one of your genes is faulty, they’ll customize a medicine or solution specifically targeted to repair it. As is the case with most diseases, such as cancer and heart trouble, which are genetic in origin, early gene profiling will become the most universal right that individuals will demand to participate in.

Phase three will be the pleasant time of Wellness. Staying well will take on a whole new meaning. As we come to understand that we become what we eat and drink, food and beverage will leap forward in nutritional benefit, enabling us to control the outcome of our own health.

Plan to Make it Part of Your Future

I believe that planning for the future is just about the greatest skill humans possess. Think about it. Humans have the ability to think about something that does not yet exist, and then make it come true, by planning for it. Nothing in the universe that we know of, can do that but humans.

So, if you want the Biology Economy to be a big part of your future, plan to make it so. Here are two suggestions.

A. Engage your Imagination. Dreaming about a better life for yourself is a big part of planning. For example, let’s say you are thirty years old and you start imagining yourself as a 100 year old person who is just as active as you are today. Why not? If the Biology Economy delivers on its promise, there is no reason why this could not happen to you. Also, the fastest growing segment of the population is the over 100 age group. So, go ahead, ‘imagine big’ about you and the Biology Economy. I am convinced that one of the biggest disappoints of our lives will be that most of us did not imagine ‘big enough about ourselves.

B. Write it down. There comes a time when you need to take a position. It is one thing to ‘imagine big’, but another to take a position about what you have imagined. Writing down, in an affirmative manner what you have envisioned about yourself is a powerful way to not only focus your thinking, but drive your behavior. For example, if you were to take the vision of “…seeing yourself as an active 100 year old person…”, and commit that to writing by saying, “I am going to live to be a very active 100 year old person”, all of the sudden you will begin to focus your attention on things that will contribute to that. All the resources necessary are all around you, but you do not see them until you focus your thinking. After that, you will begin to see things that you had not seen before. In turn, your behavior changes because you start to engage and use those resources.

In Conclusion

Good health and a long life are goals worth pursuing. The new Biology Economy will put that really within the reach of all of us.

Personal control will be the watchwords of this new era. Whether it is scheduling the regular replacement of body parts, probing deeply to repair genetic blueprints, or targeting food and drink intake for maximizing nutritional benefit, we will take control of the destiny of our bodies.

Knowing this it is imperative that we exercise the greatest of all gifts bestowed upon us: The Ability to Plan Our Future. “Planning doth make it so.”