Scientists have debunked myths about happiness: most people make a huge mistake

Is “money not happiness” really? Although we find it in all kinds of things, happiness usually becomes the greatest pursuit in life. Unfortunately, there are still many unfounded myths about her. Scientists warn that if you believe in false beliefs, you can miss the true happiness that was in your heart.

“People often think that when I have everything I want, I will be the happiest. Or maybe happiness is not having everything you want, when there is still something to want, to strive for and to dream about?”, says Dr. Viktorija Starkauskienė, Happiness Economy Ambassador, Vytautas Magnus University Community Welfare Coordinator.

Dreams and goals are the key to happiness

One of the worst myths still believed in today’s society is that happiness is having everything. However, according to V. Starkauskienė, a person usually feels happy not after reaching a goal, but while pursuing it.

“We often hear people say, ‘when I get a higher position, a higher salary, a more flexible work schedule, more fringe benefits, etc., I will feel happy.’ However, after receiving all this, a person feels happy, maybe even more precisely – successful only for a very short time. Because happiness is a journey, a process, and the greatest happiness happens on the way to the goal, not after reaching it,” says V. Starkauskienė.

In order to be happy, according to the expert, one should not be in a hurry to compare oneself with others, because in this case one can quickly experience disappointment and feel inadequate. It is extremely important not to look at the achievements of others, but to focus only on personal progress.

Gratitude is a sign of a happy person

Gratitude is one of the best tools for catching moments of happiness and busting myths. This is also supported by dr. Kerry Howells, award-winning Australian researcher and author of Untangling You: How can I be grateful when I feel so resentful? She says that the ability to express gratitude, whether to oneself or to other people, directly contributes to the feeling of happiness.

“Gratitude is essentially a social emotion, a trait that connects us to others. It helps us recognize what we receive from others and encourages us to give it back directly to the person or in other non-reciprocal ways. Many of my research participants reported that expressing gratitude made them feel calmer. I think it’s because we feel incomplete when we haven’t expressed gratitude where it belongs,” says K. Howells in a special interview dedicated to Lithuania.

According to the scientist, the practice of gratitude should be applied daily. Making a little effort each morning to think about the things you’re grateful for, even if they’re very small, will go a long way toward improving your emotional well-being.

“I believe that gratitude protects us from states that rob us of happiness, such as resentment or jealousy. If we start the morning with a conscious practice of gratitude, it sets the tone for the whole day, as we acknowledge nature’s gifts, even if they may seem small at times,” advises K. Howells.

Practicing gratitude at work

Dr. K. Howells insists that thanks should be given as often as possible. If, for example, at the workplace, gratitude is expressed sincerely and meaningfully, according to the scientist, employees feel recognized, useful, and belong to the community.

In order to improve the emotional well-being of employees and customers, some Lithuanian companies also apply gratitude practices. For example, the digital services company “Bitė Lietuva” organized the initiative “Happy because we are grateful” for several months, during which it encouraged customers to say “thank you” more often.

The initiative “Happy because we are grateful” was born from the desire to encourage gratitude not only here, but also throughout Lithuania. During the initiative, we encourage residents to thank the “Bitė” staff who served them, thus creating good emotions between employees and customers. This practice is even supported by several scientific studies, which claim that thanksgiving releases happy hormones in the human body. In a few months, we received thousands of thanks and thus encouraged employees and customers to give thanks and feel happier”, explains Eglė Staniulionė, head of the “Bites” people’s embassy.

She is seconded by V. Starkauskienė, who says that the practice of gratitude in the organization helps employees feel more valued, promotes internal motivation, increases self-realization and the feeling of happiness: “Expressions of gratitude make employees feel socially valued and believe that their actions are important and influence the lives of others, which encourages them to be helpful, to cooperate and to strive for the benefit of the organization and those around them.”