Page 13 - Tracy Anderson Magazine | Spring 2021 Issue

of doctor’s visits and 85 percent of serious illnesses. This “KNOWING THAT
Stress is believed to be the source of nearly 70 percent
the way we’re thinking, can manifest into real illness that af- WE HAVE SUCH
means that our mind, simply the thoughts we focus on and
antidote to this. However, happiness isn’t an automatic state GREAT CONTROL
fects our bodies and overall health. Happiness is a powerful

and isn’t set in stone, which means we need to take actions OVER OUR
each day to maintain and boost our happiness. While this
sounds easy in theory, it’s difficult in practice. The problem HAPPINESS LEVEL IS
is that we drastically mispredict the things that will actually
make us happy. EMPOWERING.”

Our happiness is influenced by three key factors; under- income does correlate to happiness in lower incomes, after
standing this is the key to unlocking the way we think about you reach an annual income of about $75,000, there’s little
our happiness level. Scientists have found that our happi- to no correlation between income and life satisfaction. In
ness is 50 percent due to our genetics. Only 10 percent is fact, those with a higher need for financial success actually
influenced by our life circumstances, leaving 40 percent of demonstrate increased depression, not increased happi-
our entire happiness due to intentional activity. This is a ness. There’s also a negative correlation between material-
profound finding; it means that the things that happen to us ism and life satisfaction. As for marriage and kids, studies
have little effect on our happiness. What matters more is the show that we experience higher levels of happiness for only
things that we actively choose to do for ourselves. Knowing a short period of time after marriage. However, this returns
that we have such great control over our happiness level is to our baseline level quickly. The same is true for having
empowering. With this knowledge, it’s therefore imperative kids. If we think back to two of the brain traps we described
that our pursuit of happiness is fruitful, and that the things earlier—hedonic adaptation and impact bias—this makes
we choose to do are linked to boosted happiness. a lot of sense. It also explains why a negative life event,
like a painful breakup or an unexpected health emergency,
The real reason why we mispredict what will make us truly doesn’t make us as unhappy as we predict it will.
happy is that we have traps in our brain that trip us up.
While these traps have been evolutionarily advantageous So, what are some ways that we can actually boost our
during our survival and development, they work against happiness? Engage in activities that boost flow. This is
us in efforts to attain happiness. The first trap is hedonic a mental state in which a person performing an activity is
adaptation, which means that our minds adapt to things fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involve-
(both positive and negative) quickly, but we don’t always ment, and enjoyment. Flow can be achieved by engag-
notice. The second is focalism, the tendency for our minds ing in activities that require focus because they demand
to focus on one specific aspect of a situation without taking high challenge and high skill (for example, doing a puzzle
into account the entire picture. The last is impact bias, the or a Tracy Anderson Method workout). Prioritize time
tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of our over money. When we feel time scarcity (feeling rushed
emotional reaction to a good or bad event. This, in combi- or wishing we had more time), this leads to us feeling less
nation with the immune neglect trap, the tendency to forget happy and more prone to anxiety and depression. Howev-
that we have the ability to adapt and overcome situations, er, time affluence (the feeling that we have enough time to
can lead us to mispredict our happiness. Each of these traps pursue leisure activities or activities that are meaningful to
is hardwired into our brains and can work against us, stop- us) is associated with increased happiness. Express grati-
ping us or deluding us from the true path to happiness. tude. This is more than just saying “thank you.” It means
focusing our attention actively on the positive things in
We can investigate how these mental shortcomings play out
our life and savoring them. This action can counteract he-
THE SCIENCE OF in the real world by analyzing what we think will make us donic adaptation and, as a result, shift our perspective to
happy versus what actually does. Many people believe that
feeling the positive impact of the great things we have in
a sizable income, having a drive for financial success, be-
our life once again. Perform random acts of kindness.
ing married, having children, and having a beautiful house,
HAPPINESS Neemias Seara, courtesy pexels.com incredible car, and exquisite clothing, shoes, you name it, While it may seem counterintuitive at first, doing things
for others in fact boosts our own happiness. That’s be-
will make us feel on top of the world. We predict if we had
cause it not only changes our self-perception (encouraging
all these things in life, we would be the happiest we could
us to see ourselves as kind and capable) but might also be
found these beliefs don’t actually hold true in reality. While
A study of what makes us flourish. possibly be. We couldn’t be more wrong. Research has a way we can put our talents or strengths to use, reaffirm-
ing our sense of self. ■

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