How to Be Happy – Live the Good Life

Want to Be Happy? You Just Need to Live The Good Life!

Are we happier today than people were 100 years ago? We should be – we have many advantages that our ancestors didn’t have. We have the “good life” according to advertisements – a car (or two), clothes, exotic holidays …. all “things” we’re told we need to have.

Why are we told this?

By making us dissatisfied with what we currently have, we’ll keep buying more.

And that’s a problem, for 2 reasons.

1. Once our basic needs are satisfied (food, shelter, security), we are happy. After that, getting more “stuff” does not make us happier – in fact, studies repeatedly show that the more things we have, the less happy we are. That’s not good – we want a happy life.
2. And it’s bad for the planet too – producing all this “stuff” is killing natural resources and polluting the Earth, as well as causing the climate crisis.

So, if buying “stuff” doesn’t make us happy (after an initial excitement), what does?

What DOES Make Us Happy?

Well, here are the results of what the “good life” means to people.

A global survey in 2020 asked people to list 10 activities or things that meant the “good life” to them.

There was no list to choose from (so they weren’t influenced), they simply wrote what they thought.

And here’s what’s really interesting about all of this. An amazing 94.8% of the activities and things people said were important to them, are low carbon. (And you’ll notice that there’s no “shopping” or “stuff” in that list!).

In the chart above, you’ll see they’ve grouped similar items for clarity. So, for example, people wrote that these things make them happy:- Lying on the grass; big skies; observing beauty and wide views; walking barefoot; sitting in sunshine; walking the dog; having pets; view from
home; flowers inside home; camping; wild swimming; wildlife; chickens, smell of wet soil. And all of those things were grouped under the heading “Nature”. (You can see the details of the chart above in the report on page 8) 

Why Am I Telling You This?

Good question! The way we live right now, is not making us happy.

We need the planet – our only home – to survive and thrive too.

And the wonderful thing is that when we do what makes us happy, we protect the environment too. (That’s what I call a REAL win-win!).

You see, a LOT of people think that life an eco-friendly life, you have to give up things, and it’s not fun. But in fact, the opposite is true!

So, How Can We Be Happy?

Right now, we’re consuming so much that we’re wrecking the planet.

To avoid violent storms, drought, flooding, heatwaves, and food and water shortages happening often due to climate change, we need to reduce our carbon footprint.

But where to start?

Well, I like the concept of reducing “a ton a year”.

Your carbon footprint is measured in tons / tonnes per person per year. Reducing your carbon footprint means you will (a) be happier and (b) slow climate change.

The best advice is to not try to change a whole pile of things at once. Implement one thing, make it a habit, then move onto another.

The video below gives some great ideas on things to do. It’s UK-based but the concepts are the same wherever you live.

Remember that the big wins are reducing your flights, and replacing a petrol / gas or diesel car with an electric model if you drive most days.

And underneath the video you’ll find a quick reference of carbon emissions per person by country, if you’re interested.

Your Average Carbon Footprint Depends on Where You Live

Your carbon footprint depends on where you live.

For example, the carbon footprint per capita (per person) of many Middle Eastern countries is very high, over 20 tonnes / tons per year. But the carbon footprint per capita in India is less than 2 tons.

You can look up the average footprint for your specific country here at Worldometer, but here are some useful stats

Average CO2 emissions per person per year, in tons (rounded)

• Qatar 37
• Kuwait 26
• Canada 19
• USA 18
• Luxembourg 18
• Australia 15
• Russia 11
• Japan 10
• Netherlands 10
• Ireland 8
• Norway 8
• China 7
• South Africa 7
• UK 6
• Spain 5
• France 5
• Sweden 5
• Greenland 0.03

My thanks to Patricia for alerting me to this fascinating report!

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Warm regards,

P.S.  Don’t forget to see what you can do to help slow climate change – click here (it’s free)