How happy are you?
The title of this article might sound a bit provocative, but knowing how happy you are will certainly help increase your life satisfaction. I would like to introduce some relevant items from "Well-being (Takashi Maeno)."
There is also a link to a web-based diagnostic tool developed by Mr. Maeno, so please give it a try. I will also secretly show you my own diagnostic results.
Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale
First, let's start with the easiest self-diagnosis. By answering the following five questions, you can easily quantify "how happy you are."
Score by rating "strongly disagree" as 1 point
and "strongly agree" as 7 points
---
a. In most ways, my life is close to my ideal.
b. The conditions of my life are excellent.
c. I am satisfied with my life.
d. So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life.
e. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
The results of a survey conducted by Mr. Maeno in 2012 on 1,500 Japanese people showed an average score of 18.9 points. The distribution seems to have been as follows. How did you do?
Seligman's PERMA
Also, the PERMA model is famous as a happiness scale. The more a person satisfies the following five indicators, the happier they feel.
1. Positive Emotion
2. Engagement
3. Relationship
4. Meaning
5. Accomplishment
Mr. Maeno explains that, in addition, it is important to express your true self. Being yourself is taken for granted in the United States, so it was not included in the PERMA model above.
Happiness factors in the workplace
Mr. Maeno has also conducted joint research with Persol on happiness factors in the workplace.
① Self-growth factor: A state where you can expect to gain new learning and improve your abilities by facing unknown phenomena through your work.
② Refresh factor: A state where you can temporarily step away from work to recharge mentally and physically, and your private life is stable.
③ Teamwork factor: A state where you share the purpose of your work and feel connected to colleagues who encourage and help each other.
④ Role recognition factor: A state where you find positive meaning in your work and feel that you are actively fulfilling your own role.
⑤ Other-approval factor: A state where you feel that you and your work are of interest to those around you and are receiving favorable evaluations.
⑥ Other-contribution factor: A state where you feel that you are having a positive impact and are useful to others and society through your work.
⑦ Self-discretion factor: A state where you can express your thoughts and opinions at work and can plan and execute tasks according to your own will and pace.
Web test developed by Mr. Maeno
This is the web test that Mr. Maeno, who has researched happiness in such a wide range of areas, has finally developed. It is "free" and has already been taken by over 120,000 people.
I took it right away. Since I am naturally an optimistic person, I answered "OK" to this and that, but I gave lower scores only to the parts where I felt a bit uneasy before submitting my answers. It took about 10 minutes.
...In my case, it seems I could be happier if I stabilized my emotions a bit more and increased my sense of trust in the workplace. I had never visualized my happiness in this way before, so it was very helpful, and I also felt a sense of relief, thinking, "I'm actually living a pretty good life."
Summary
Ultimately, the question is what we live for, but since we are certainly not "living to be unhappy," we must, fundamentally, be "living to feel happy."
In that context, how can we make that happiness visible and move forward to improve it? This article was created with the hope that it will serve as a useful first step in that process.
For those who might be interested in checking out other articles.