The United Nations - 2015 International Day of Happiness transcript

first I'd like to start by thanking the United Nations for creating a day devoted purely to celebrating happiness and the DPI for allowing this briefing to be entirely devoted to that topic it's such an honor to be up here with this distinguished panel of experts because the work they and others like them have been doing for the past two decades is the only reason that live happy currently exists when we were contemplating launching a publication devoted to happiness we were astounded by the wealth of scientifically based information available in academic and scientific circles related to happiness that was not available to the general consumer in fact consumers had limited awareness this information even existed much less that it could improve their quality of life and we're confident that people if exposed to this information would take direct action to benefit themselves and the world around them since the launch of live happy in October 2013 one of our primary goals has been to gather the happiness sign and studies and deliver that information to consumers in a way that they can access and apply it hopefully helping them get closer to obtaining the one thing that virtually every individual on this planet desires at least in some level at some level which is happiness for many years happiness has been held up as the Ultimate Prize in life but we didn't really have a road map to reach it the work being done by researchers and scientists is providing that road map and it is changing the global perception of not only What happiness means means but how each and every person can achieve it one of the most Illuminating facts is in the research of son Luber maski in a study entitled pursuing happiness the architecture of sustainable change they identif she and her co-researchers identified that only 50% of our happiness is dependent on a genetic set point 10% is based on our circumstances and in astounding 40% of what can lead to sustained happiness is based on what we do what actions we individually take in other words we can choose to be happy through the actions and choices that we make another of our primary editorial concerns that live happy is making sure that we are talking and writing about happiness in a way that reflects the whole life experience and not just that momentary feeling fleeting feeling of Glee that we sometimes get that plays a role but it's not the only role the type of Happiness we're talking about is best defined by the concept of Perma which Hector introduced earlier and which was first introduced to a wide consumer Audience by Dr Martin Seligman in his bestselling book flourish Perma as a reminder is an anacronym for the five elements that com that comprise authentic sustained happiness and well-being it stands for positive emotion engagement positive relationships meaning and achievement each of these elements contribute to our happiness and by better understanding what creates them we can learn how to influence our own personal happiness and ultimately that of those around us at live happy we are discovering that happiness or the lack thereof directly impacts almost every aspect of Our Lives including some that are not so obvious research shows it affects the relationships we have both personal and professional it affects our health our longevity our income and the way we do business significantly happiness has even been found to affect the environment and the planet in our latest issue of live happy which I hope each and every one of you got in your gift bag we looked at how positivity can save the planet what we found was an overwhelming amount of evidence that people who are more environmentally friendly tend to be happier a study presented by Dr Miriam tatel of Empire State University at the American Psychological Association conference last year showed a strong link between happiness and pro- environmental Behavior it's that same correlation that led Dr Katherine O'Brien to cultivate the concept of sustainable happiness which combines the principles of positive psychology with the pro-environmental thinking they are just two of many experts who believe that happiness could be the key to developing A Greener more eco-friendly mindset on a global level what's interesting is that while people who are happier tend to naturally live a more environmentally friendly life it's also been proven that once people seek out a more sustainable lifestyle they actually become happier so this is one of those chicken in the egg situations to which the answer is actually less important than the outcome are people happier because they're taking care of the planet or are they watching out for the environment because they're happy either way we all win just as fascinating as the ecological implications of Happiness are the economic ones and as alluded to earlier they're not necessarily what one would expect while a certain level of income certainly uh contributes to well-being and happiness it isn't the only or even the primary indicator much research and study has been dedicated to the correlation between between wealth and happiness and to make it extremely simple the old adage is proven true money cannot buy happiness in fact Studies have shown us that the wealthiest countries are not necessarily the happiest recent numbers indicate that Americans spend approximately 10 billion dollar every year in the pursuit of happiness yet the United States does not even crack the top 10 in a single survey that ranks happiness among nations following the lead of the kingdom of Bhutan and its creation of the gross happiness index countries are learning that measuring their worth can be very different than measuring their wealth a change in mindset can be seen at the governmental level it led Dubai to recently declare that its Chief initiative is to create a happier country they have launched the happy Dubai movement to raise the country standing from number 14 to being the to being in the top 10 happiest countries in the world but they aren't alone there are numerous other national leaders in countries like Germany South Korea and Britain who are promoting wellbeing as a priority interestingly even as well-being is sometimes replacing wealth as the primary motivator for both individuals and governments research shows that the pursuit of happiness can actually have some unexpected monetary benefits in gallup's 2013 state of the American workplace report they discovered that happy people who are engaged at work and feel good about what they're doing like most of us in this room are more productive and less likely to be sick both of which directly affect a company's bottom line in fact their studies show that happy employees cost their companies about 37% Less in health care employees are also 41% less likely to miss work and 81% likely to seek other employment and it isn't just the company that benefits the workers the individuals get a payoff as well well researchers Ed deer and his son Robert found that happy workers earn 30% more income and are also more likely to make better decisions and suggest innovations that help the company Thrive and Shan akre the author of The Happiness Advantage is citing research that says that people who are ha happier employers are 40% more likely to get a promotion than their less happy cohort as the interest in happiness has grown so is our view of what it inenta and how we can influence it both for ourselves and for others we are viewing happiness through a cultural lens and realizing that it is both Global and extremely personal and while we still have much to learn about happiness and where it can take us the one thing we know with certainty is that a commitment to happiness from each and every one of us will make a difference on a worldwide level at live happy we continue to be encouraged by the enthusiasm of our readers and the response to our message we are proud to be an outlet for the diverse and compelling re search in the field of happiness and well-being and we are honored to be able to create and deliver that Vital Information to the community of people who are interested in creating a happier World earlier I mentioned the power of choice in creating happiness tomorrow as part of the celebration I'm asking you to choose to share happiness live happy is placing happiness walls in 40 cities across North America and many more individuals are building happy walls in schools and in their workplaces and other community areas and what what those what we're doing at those walls is encouraging people to post how they are sharing happiness the science shows us that even small actions like smiling saying good morning saying thank you opening a door writing a a letter of gratitude improve the happiness not only of the recipient but also of The Giver or the person who's taking these actions we are also leading a social happy access conversation in partnership with other Global organizations where people around the world are declaring online how they're spreading happiness I'm asking you to help make the world a happier place by visiting happy acts.org and sharing how you will make a difference for happiness thank you very much