The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness
- Downloads：2133
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-01-02 10:51:50
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Robert Waldinger
- ISBN：198216669X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
What makes for a happy life， a fulfilling life？ A good life？ According to the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development， the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted， the answer to these questions may be closer than you realize。
What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful？ The simple but surprising answer is: relationships。 The stronger our relationships， the more likely we are to live happy， satisfying， and overall healthier lives。 In fact， the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life。
The invaluable insights in this book emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard Study as they were followed year after year for their entire adult lives， and this wisdom is bolstered by research findings from this and many other studies。 Relationships in all their forms—friendships， romantic partnerships， families， coworkers， tennis partners， book club members， Bible study groups—all contribute to a happier， healthier life。 And as The Good Life shows us， it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you have， and never too late to build new ones。
Dr。 Waldinger’s TED Talk about the Harvard Study， “What Makes a Good Life，” has been viewed more than 42 million times and is one of the ten most-watched TED talks ever。 The Good Life has been praised by bestselling authors Jay Shetty （“Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz lead us on an empowering quest towards our greatest need: meaningful human connection”）， Angela Duckworth （“In a crowded field of life advice and even life advice based on scientific research， Schulz and Waldinger stand apart”）， and happiness expert Laurie Santos （“Waldinger and Schulz are world experts on the counterintuitive things that make life meaningful”）。
With warmth， wisdom， and compelling life stories， The Good Life shows us how we can make our lives happier and more meaningful through our connections to others。
What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful？ The simple but surprising answer is: relationships。 The stronger our relationships， the more likely we are to live happy， satisfying， and overall healthier lives。 In fact， the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life。
The invaluable insights in this book emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard Study as they were followed year after year for their entire adult lives， and this wisdom is bolstered by research findings from this and many other studies。 Relationships in all their forms—friendships， romantic partnerships， families， coworkers， tennis partners， book club members， Bible study groups—all contribute to a happier， healthier life。 And as The Good Life shows us， it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you have， and never too late to build new ones。
Dr。 Waldinger’s TED Talk about the Harvard Study， “What Makes a Good Life，” has been viewed more than 42 million times and is one of the ten most-watched TED talks ever。 The Good Life has been praised by bestselling authors Jay Shetty （“Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz lead us on an empowering quest towards our greatest need: meaningful human connection”）， Angela Duckworth （“In a crowded field of life advice and even life advice based on scientific research， Schulz and Waldinger stand apart”）， and happiness expert Laurie Santos （“Waldinger and Schulz are world experts on the counterintuitive things that make life meaningful”）。
With warmth， wisdom， and compelling life stories， The Good Life shows us how we can make our lives happier and more meaningful through our connections to others。
Reviews
Patty Hagar
，
The “World’s Longest Study on Happiness” revealed nothing surprising。 Happy humans need connection。 It’s an interesting collection of examples and quotes; more academic than inspiring。
Angie Boyter
，
Good life is good friends， good family， good relationshipsEveryone wants to know what makes a happy and fulfilling life， but how do you find out？ As The Good Life says， “We are always comparing our insides to other people’s outsides”。 Harvard has been taking on this challenge in a study that began more than 80 years ago and has followed participants and their descendants ever since。 The present-day directors of the Harvard study provide the results， which found that good relationships of all sor Good life is good friends， good family， good relationshipsEveryone wants to know what makes a happy and fulfilling life， but how do you find out？ As The Good Life says， “We are always comparing our insides to other people’s outsides”。 Harvard has been taking on this challenge in a study that began more than 80 years ago and has followed participants and their descendants ever since。 The present-day directors of the Harvard study provide the results， which found that good relationships of all sorts are the key。The idea of a study to learn what makes people happy is very intriguing， I wanted to know how they designed such a study and what kinds of statistics they used。 I was a bit disappointed that there was not more information of this sort， although there were some interesting tidbits， such as the fact that one of the participants was President John F Kennedy， Jr。， who was a student at Harvard when the study began。 I also would have liked to see more information on other factors that contribute to happiness。The Good Life has general discussions of relationships， with information from many other studies and sources like Aristotle， Lewis Carroll， the US Department of Health and Human Services and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman。 There are separate chapters on intimate relationships， family relationships， relationships at work， and other relationships like your book group or the guy at your local drugstore。 My feeling as I finished the book was that there was interesting information about how important it was to have relationships but not really enough detail to be a practical guide。 Over the next few days， though， I had to change my mind。 My neighbor was telling me she had begun home-schooling her daughter because of bullying at school， and I brought up and we discussed how important it is to give her other sources of relationships。 I also returned an Amazon purchase at a local dropoff location and noted the employee looked rather bored。 I asked him how the refunds work， and we engaged in a short conversation about it。 He was much perkier when I left。 My neighbor and the store employee felt better， and so did I 。 This book made me both more aware of the importance of relationships and more likely to actively cultivate them。 I think the authors accomplished their goal。 I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher。 。。。more
Candy
，