Happiness and Isolation: You Can’t be Happy and a Loner

Psychologist Martin Seligman is a researcher in the field of Positive Psychology, and in his research he has found several things that lead to deep and meaningful happiness.

For instance, pursuing personal growth, leads to happiness.

Acting in the service of something greater than one’s self leads to happiness.

However, Seligman also saw that all the “extremely happy people” he studied were also extremely social. This led to the finding that while social relationships do not guarantee high levels of happiness, extreme happiness doesn’t seem to occur without them.

Hence, if you are shy, an introvert, a loner, or just find yourself a bit isolated, becoming more social—even highly social—may be a key necessary ingredient to living your happiest possible life.

Questions of the day: At what time in your life have you been the happiest? How socially engaged were you at that time? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to like the video and subscribe above.

is CEO of Thriveworks.