Hello and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
The show that helps you to learn English and practice your listening through real world topics with clear and easy to listen to English.
I'm so happy that you're here with me today. because we're talking about something everyone wants.
Happiness.
What really makes us happy?
Is it money, success, love?
Is it having things?
Is it self-development or improvement?
Is it speaking really good English?
We're going to look at some of these things and what the science really says about it.
And of course, in the process, we're going to learn a lot of English.
But before we dive in, let's go over today's vocabulary list.
I have it here with me.
So we're going to listen out for these words and phrases during the episode.
And at the end, you'll understand these phrases and words much better.
So let's have a look.
As always, we're going to look at our vocabulary list first and then listen to the main episode.
Our first word is well-being.
Well-being.
And this is a general state of feeling happy and healthy.
For example, mental well-being is just as important as physical health.
Our next word is contentment.
Contentment.
A feeling of quiet happiness or satisfaction.
For example, he lived a simple life full of peace and contentment.
The third word.
So we have five words in total, five words and phrases.
The third word, fulfillment.
Fulfillment.
Feeling satisfied because you're doing something meaningful.
So we have that satisfaction.
For example, many people feel fulfillment through helping others.
The fourth word today is gratitude.
Gratitude and gratitude is a strong feeling of thankfulness.
For example, practicing gratitude can increase your happiness.
The final one, materialism.
Materialism.
And materialism is the belief that owning things brings us happiness.
For example, too much materialism can actually make people less happy.
That focus on things.
Okay, so before we get into the main episode, I want to say that it is so surprising to me that only 30 of people that listen to this podcast are subscribed or following.
So I would ask you, if you enjoy this podcast, if you enjoy learning English, to follow and subscribe.
It's the number one thing that you can do to support this podcast, to support the growth.
And it's the main thing that I will ever ask you to do.
So please follow or subscribe to support the growth of this podcast.
Now we will go to the main episode.
So what really makes us happy?
Let's start with what we often think makes us happy.
Of course there's money, there's fame.
Maybe you would love a nice big fast, fancy car.
These are all stereotypes, i think, of what people think will make them happy, and these things can bring some happiness.
They can bring some pleasure, but usually for a very short amount of time.
Scientists call this hedonic treadmill.
The hedonic treadmill, and it means that we quickly return to our normal level of happiness after something good or bad happens.
So don't worry too much about learning that phrase.
It simply means that we return quickly to our normal level of happiness.
Think about the last time that you bought something expensive.
Maybe a phone, perhaps you got a new iPhone, you got some clothes that you wanted or a car.
And I'm sure it felt amazing at first.
You're probably very excited.
I know myself, I love getting new technology.
I get excited when I get a new phone or a piece of technology.
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I get so excited.
But I also noticed that after I have it, that really good feeling fades away fast.
It disappears.
It doesn't last for very long.
And that is hedonic happiness.
It doesn't last forever.
It is temporary happiness.
And we all know this.
We all know that it won't last.
But let's talk about something deeper, because when we talk about happiness, we can talk about different types of happiness with different meanings.
For example, when we say I'm happy about my new phone, of course it's different than saying I am happy about my life, or I am happy about even my job or my family.
These are much more intense, deep emotions.
So there is something, and this is a complicated phrase.
Don't worry about learning it.
It comes from philosophy and it is eudaimonic happiness.
I hope I read that correctly.
It's in my notes.
Eudaimonic happiness.
And this is happiness that comes from meaning and purpose.
Things like relationships, doing work that matters, helping other people and personal growth.
Think about a time when you have developed yourself in some way and you feel happiness from it.
You feel satisfied, you feel proud, but in a good way.
And it might not feel exciting every day.
It might not be that same rush of emotions that you get when you buy a new phone or a car.
But over time, this feeling will make you feel more fulfilled.
More fulfilled.
That's a weird word to say, fulfilled.
Fulfilled.
Maybe with my accent, that's a bit strange.
But what does the science say about all of this?
Now I was reading online and I can see that research from Harvard University shows that one of the most important factors in long-term happiness is relationships.
Not money, not fame, not how many things that you own, but close, healthy relationships with family, with friends or partners.
That study, which this particular study, followed people for over 80 years a long time and again and again the people who reported the highest level of happiness and well-being were the ones who felt connected to other people.
Wow, that's a really important finding.
And we all know it.
We all love to feel connected.
Another key factor that was found in the study was gratitude.
Gratitude.
You remember this word?
And people who practice gratitude, being thankful, even just writing down three things every day, often report higher levels of happiness.
And why is this?
It's because it trains your brain to notice the good things and not just the bad things.
So we're more focused.
It shifts your mindset.
We're more focused on the good rather than the bad.
Instead of always thinking about what's missing, you start to see what's already there.
And this small change can really lead to big improvements in your mental health and daily mood.
And what about our brains?
For example, we have a lot of chemicals associated with happiness, to the likes of dopamine and oxytocin.
These are chemicals in our brain which play a big part.
Dopamine is connected to pleasure and motivation.
And oxytocin is linked to love, trust and social bonding.
When you spend time with people that you care about, both of these chemicals increase, especially the oxytocin.
So that bonding, that feeling of being a part of something, being a part of these relationships, And likewise with dopamine.
Dopamine is a feel-good chemical.
And one thing I've heard a lot about recently is how technology and social media really messes up our dopamine levels.
When you think about it, if we're watching Instagram reels or TikToks, we get little hits of dopamine, little bursts of dopamine every time.
We see something interesting or funny, and then it goes away.
So it's almost messing up how our brain rewards itself, Whereas usually dopamine was originally.
The original purpose is to help us to do things that are good for us.
For example, when we achieve something that we've been working for for a long time.
That dopamine that we get after we exercise or we do something healthy for ourselves.
Whereas when we consume this media, the short media, when we consume fast food, when we consume all, really all of these fast, quick things, it gives us a very quick hit of dopamine.
But it doesn't give us that long term release, that long term improvement in happiness.
Okay.
So we are going to go on now to culture and happiness, because different cultures have different ideas of happiness.
And when I first came across this idea I thought wow, that's really interesting how our own country can shape our ideas and perceptions of what happiness is.
In the US and the UK, for example, people often see happiness as excitement, energy and positive thinking.
But in many other cultures, including particularly Asian cultures, happiness can be seen about peace, balance and harmony.
It's not all about excitement and wow, I feel so happy.
It can be more of a quiet contentment, quiet fulfillment.
And in Nordic countries perhaps, like Finland, Sweden.
I read online that happiness is often linked to trust in society.
So that feeling of safety and support.
And that's why these countries can often rank very highly on the World Happiness Index, because they have very high feelings of safety and social support.
But other cultures may focus a lot more on community and spirituality.
So maybe in some Latin American countries happiness could be deeply connected to family life celebrations and staying connected to our traditions.
And of course, when I say these things, it's generalization.
Different countries, different people and different families have different ways of viewing happiness.
But do let me know in the comments if you think your country's perception of happiness, how you view happiness, is different.
And maybe tell me what happiness means to you.
I'm very curious as to what happiness means to you.
So why are we not happier?
If we know, so if people know in general, what makes us happy?
Why are so many people so unhappy, not happy at all?
Well, modern life is busy and it's very complicated.
And to be honest, life is becoming more and more complicated.
We have all this technology.
We have so much change happening.
And all of a sudden we're born into a world where we hear about everything.
We can hear about news or things that are happening right now on the other side of the world.
We can stress and worry about things that we have no control over.
And there's more and more of this information constantly coming out on the internet, on our phones, on podcasts.
We are hearing it everywhere.
And we are often comparing ourselves to other people, especially with the Internet and social media.
And this can lead to feelings of not being good enough.
And I know that it can happen even with language learning, with English, for example.
You might think, I'm not making as good progress as other people with this language.
You might think that others learn English much faster, but everyone has different ways of learning English and different ways of making progress, different circumstances.
But often we chase things that look good, but don't actually make us feel better in the long run.
You need to just focus on yourself and not other people.
That's the advice I always hear.
Another problem is materialism.
When we focus too much on buying things, or even buying things sometimes to impress other people, we lose sight of what really matters to us.
Of course, we all love this idea of buying a big house with a fancy car and all of the best gadgets and things that we could ever want.
But realistically, these should not be the goals.
They should not be our number one purpose in life.
Because, as we know from what we discussed, once we get these things, the happiness does not last forever.
It only lasts for a short time and then it becomes your normal level again.
This excitement will wear off and we're left looking for the next thing that we can get.
And we often ignore a lot of.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes we are so focused on these material things and other ways of achieving happiness that we often ignore some of the very basic things that can help us to feel happier.
And these you have heard a million times, sleep, exercise, and nature.
These are all things which have been proven, both biologically psychologically, to improve happiness.
They are part of our bodies, part of our human nature, things that we need.
Even going for a 10 minute walk every day outside can improve your mood, or eating healthy.
Taking the time to get enough sleep at night is a huge one.
And often, with this fast paced working world and everything moving all the time, we forget to take breaks, to step back, relax and actually enjoy life.
It's really important, not just for fun, but for your mental health, too.
So there are a few habits, a few things that can really help with improving your happiness level.
The first would be that gratitude that I mentioned earlier.
This word, this new word, gratitude.
So having a gratitude journal or practicing it every day.
And you could start by writing down three things that you're thankful for every morning or every night before you go to sleep.
The next is you can connect with other people regularly.
So talk, get into more deep conversations and learn to understand and connect with other people.
Look, I don't need to tell you to do that, because I know each and every one of us have close people in our lives.
But what this research and the studies show is that the more that we look after and care for these relationships, the happier that we will feel.
These are beneficial, good things for our mental and physical health.
The next thing I would say is spending time outdoors.
Since COVID, since the pandemic all this work from home.
I know most people are back in the office now, but we spend so much time nowadays in front of a computer screen and less time outdoors.
So it is important that we bring ourselves back outside and spend time in nature.
It could be walking, hiking or simply just taking a walk in your town, going to some shops and seeing people getting out.
Really,
It doesn't even have to be nature.
It's important to be out there and to be a member of society.
And of course, focus on the things that are meaningful to you.
You should always remind yourself that happiness is not a destination.
It's a feeling that comes and goes, and that's okay.
The goal isn't to feel great all the time, but to build a life where happiness can visit you more often.
I hope that this was an interesting episode for you, talking about this idea of happiness and what it means to us, and learning some new vocabulary around that.
If you remember, we have learned some new words like well-being contentment fulfillment, gratitude and materialism.
So you can review and go back to the vocabulary section at the start.
But I would recommend that if you pick up or you hear new words in these episodes, it's always great to add them to your Flipkart app or to write them down and to try to make sentences with them.
So try to actually use them and it will help to reinforce your learning.
It will help to review and make those memories stronger in your brain to reinforce.
So thank you so much for listening to today's episode.
As always, if you would like more advanced ad-free episodes as well, so we have bonus episodes, the main podcast episodes without advertisements, and additional series and updates.
Do check out the Patreon.
The link is in the description below.
You're more than welcome to join us over there.
Thank you to all my patrons for your support.
You make this podcast possible.
Thank you so much for listening today.
I hope that you come back and listen to more episodes and continue to join me on this English language journey.
You're very welcome and have a wonderful, fantastic rest of your day.
Goodbye.
