Have you ever heard about GNH, Gross National Happiness? The concept was popularised in the 70s by the king Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, which is considered one of the happiest countries in the world. It can be regarded as the Buddhist equivalent of GDP, Gross Domestic Product.

In many Western countries, happiness is often associated with the idea of material wealth. A house, a car, a boat or any other larger, showy or more expensive object. However, studies show that despite rising wealth levels, people aren’t happier. Have you ever happened to desire something deeply and not giving it anymore value once you’ve got it? The emotional payoff is often limited in time. As a result, we tend to define a new objective, and so on.

Therefore it would be interesting to see what makes us truly happy (or happier) to avoid harbouring beliefs that theoretically make sense, but in the end make us run in circles.

In the book Happier: Can you learn to be happy? Best-selling author Tal Ben-Shahar – a Positive Psychology pioneer – speaks about the way he felt after winning the Israeli national squash championship at the age of 16 and the beliefs he nurtured to achieve the goal. Among them, the idea that victory was necessary for personal fulfillment and that personal fulfillment was the means to achieve happiness. But, in the end, that is not what happened. Do you know anyone who has been through a similar situation?

Knowing what makes us happier is the first step to approach the goal, but that doesn’t always mean getting results. Quite often we consciously choose to postpone present benefits in favour of future ones.

What about if you could be happier today and tomorrow?

There’s a huge amount of research on this topic thanks to experts who have dedicated their lives to studying the topic and testing theories. We know nowadays that there´s science in happiness. There are no miraculous or universal recipes, because we are all unique and exceptional beings! However, combining introspection with the investigations carried out over the last few years can help us get closer to what makes us happier, regardless of our circumstances and life stories.