 Goal:
Today’s notes will encompass a listing
of the qualities that lead to “the good life”.
 Evidence: These are the qualities that
seemed to continually pop up in interviews
and studies among people that consistently
rated themselves as “very happy” with life.
 Purpose: Adapting these qualities in our own
life can improve our happiness level.
 Happiness
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is based upon 3 important factors:
Your genetically determined “happiness set
point”
Your life circumstances
Intentional activities you do and attitudes you
adopt
50% - determined from birth; cannot change it.
 10% - based on your circumstances, which
constantly change.

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
This explains why the excitement over new things
never lasts, and bad things don’t make us sad forever.
40% - we can change with things we decide to do
or think about everyday! This is great news!
So 40% of our happiness we have a direct effect
on.
 This eliminates the idea that “I’m just a sad
person” because now we know that we can
change that!
 So, how do we do it?

Answer: by adopting
qualities in our life that
lead to “the good life”.

 “The
Good Life” refers to a number of
qualities that help enrich our lives, make
them worth living, and promote strong
character.
 These are the hallmarks of Positive
Subjective Experiences and our individual
happiness.
A.
B.
C.
Connections with others
Individual qualities
Life regulation qualities
 Involves
interactions with others that
enhance life experiences, including:
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Love and Intimacy – friendships and partnerships
A Satisfying Job – being committed to a vocation
and being valued in it
Altruism – helping and being helped by others
Good Citizenship – activities that have public
benefits and are respected.
Forgiveness – ability to reconcile with those who
have offended you.
 Involves
personal characteristics that are
enduring and meaningful, including:
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Integrity – living up to principles and life dreams
Creativity – being unique or thinking creatively
Play – having a sense of humor and fun
Subjective well-being – Sense that life is and has
been good
Courage – being able to overcome obstacles and
take calculated risks
Humility – an accurate assessment of abilities,
including recognizing mistakes
 Qualities
that involve those that guide dayto-day life, including:
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Planning for the future – pursuing personal ideals
and goals
Individuality – the integration of unique traits
into a unified and distinct personality
Self-control – ability to alter one’s response to
needs and wants
WISDOM – the capstone of “the good life”. The
ability to navigate the issues and pragmatics of
life.
 Now,
read over the information in the notes
that you just took on good life qualities.
Answer:

Choose one of the qualites from each of the three
sections (Connections With Others, Individual Qualities,
and Life Regulation) and write how you can improve that
quality in your life. We will share these in our next class.


Example: While Mr. Callens is a hard worker, he needs to
remember to reserve time for Play.
Choose one of the qualites from each of the three
sections (Connections With Others, Individual Qualities,
and Life Regulation) and write how you already have this
quality and what it contributes to your life. We will
share these in our next class as well.