How to be happy in one sentence (with commentary)

My single sentence on how to be happier (subject to revision and improvement!): Sleep, eat, and exercise, and optimistically work closely with others towards specific goals that contribute to the greater good.

This sentence is, of course, an oversimplication. Still, some habits are far likelier to lead to happiness than others, and scholars have in recent years made great progress in identifying these habits. To learn more, I recommend Professor Tal Ben Shahar, author of the bestselling book Happier, who teaches one of the most popular classes at his college. His course and book use research to determine what can lead us to more fulfilling lives. I would also point you to Professor Martin Seligman, one of the pioneers of the positive psychology movement; his book Authentic Happiness is fascinating.

Now for a little more detail on my happiness sentence:

Sleep. When constantly surrounded by friends, this is particularly difficult. I would suggest taking some time just after dinner each night to reflect on your sleep goal. Then plan your evening tasks backwards from that point. Sleep allows learning to solidify and leads to happier and deeper personal connections - something to think about if you frequently miss sleep to study or to hang out with friends! Professor Norbert Schwartz discovered in his recent happiness study that "Making sixty thousand dollars more in annual income has less of an effect on your daily happiness than getting one extra hour of sleep a night."

Eat. Michael Pollan, author of An Omnivore's Dilemma, recommends "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By "Eat food," he means "Don't eat anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." I would add that the "not too much" advice is aimed toward an overly sedentary American population as a whole; as active, competitive and growing high school students, I might even change this completely to "Quite a bit!"

Exercise. Almost all of you are excellent on this point so I will not belabor it. Hooray for the runner's high, and for general fitness.

Optimistically. One’s thoughts have a self reinforcing quality. While it is not possible to turn a tragedy into a joy simply by thinking about it, it is possible to preempt a blah day with a conscious focus on gratitude, forgiveness, curiosity, and energy.

Work closely with others. Spending time with others makes people happier. School makes this not only quite easy, but almost unavoidable! Here is another area in which almost all of you excel.

Towards specific goals. Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi not only has one of the coolest names I've ever come across, he also has written Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. He concludes that great happiness often comes from striving towards challenging but attainable goals.

Contribute to the greater good. Studies have shown that people are happiest in jobs that serve others, and that people who give time, money, or support to others are more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives.

So go forth and sleep, eat, and exercise, and optimistically work closely with others towards specific goals that contribute to the greater good!