You Have the Key to Happiness. Are You Using It?
The key to happiness. It’s one of those questions humanity has been pondering for ages, ever since our ancestors slithered out of the ocean a couple of million years ago. And yet, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer as to what it is. But is this question really that hard? We don’t think so.
Killerspin exists to help you connect with the people you love and who need your love. We create table tennis experiences that connect you to your family, friends, customers and colleagues because we believe that the most important thing in life is the people around us. And we have a 75-year-long study by the Harvard Medical School to prove it.
What makes a happy life
During the Harvard Grant study, which started in 1938, the researchers followed 268 Harvard undergraduate men over the course of decades (many of them are now in their 90s), collecting data on various aspects of their lives in order to determine which factors contribute to a happy and fulfilled life. The methodology and the results of the study were described in three books written by Professor George Valiant, who was responsible for directing the research for more than 30 years. So let’s dive in.
Connection is key
According to Valiant, the study’s most important conclusion is that – the only thing that matters in life is connection. “The warmth of relationships throughout the life have the greatest impact on life satisfaction.” Simple as that. Whether it’s your family, friends or your significant other, your long term happiness depends on having people in your life that genuinely care about your happiness – and are showing it. Same applies to your career satisfaction, feeling connected to what you do is the most important thing of all. On the other hand, financial factors and professional influence can have a huge impact on your happiness in the moment, but in a context of a full life, they are just a tiny part of the picture.
It’s a two-way street
Relationships are like your garden. If you don’t water it frequently, the seeds you’ve planted are not going to grow, and your existing flowers are going to wilt. If you care about someone, show it. We are social beings and our happiness depends on other people, but we can make other people happy too.
For example, the Grant study showed that the warmth of childhood relationship with fathers correlates with:
- Lower rates of adult anxiety.
- Greater enjoyment of vacations.
- Increased “life satisfaction”
Maybe it’s time give back a little. Remember the one who thought you your first skills. And if you really need an occasion, Father’s day is just around the corner. Go and make someone happy.