A 27-Year Study Says 1 Thing Is Key to Happiness and Longevity in Work and Life

In today’s world, work and life are intertwined beyond separability. We’d love to work longer, more productively, with more passion, and live that way too. Which is why a study published in May 2019 caught my eye.

The study was published by a team of University of Michigan researchers. The team analyzed data from the 27-year-old Health and Retirement Study (a U.S.-based, nationally representative well-being study) and found that one thing led to people living longer.

That one thing is inescapably interwoven with happiness, fulfillment, and maximum productivity at work.

Working and living with a sense of purpose and meaning.

The researchers found that those who had meaning and a sense of purpose (as measured by answers to questions from well-being self-assessments) lived longer lives than those who'd self-reported little to no sense of purpose and meaning.

Other University of Michigan research (2010) clearly shows that working with a sense of purpose and meaning leads to far greater engagement, motivation, productivity, and retention.

Purpose is the profound “Why?” Having it creates a sense of mission to do something worthy. It’s your significant “yet-to-do” in life. Purpose integrates who you are with what you do. It inspires us to renew our commitments and stretch further to manifest it, which is why having a sense of purpose in your work is so powerful.

So the case for working and living with a sense of purpose is crystal clear. But how to enable that?

One word: introspection.

In my book Make It Matter, I shared a set of introspective questions, the answers to which can help you identify your work and life purpose. I’ll share a selection of those questions here. To unlock your purpose, consider each of the following:

1. What are your superpowers?

Don’t be modest. You know what you’re really good at. How can you leverage that strength, like a superhero, to do good for the world? When you choose to use that strength towards a purpose, something bigger than yourself, it elevates to superpower status.

2. What are your values and beliefs?

What do you most strongly believe in--to the extent it helps guide your everyday actions? Staying true to those non-negotiable values is one of the simplest, most direct ways I encourage people to work and live with a sense of purpose.

And when people at work see you unswervingly living your values, even in times of adversity, it’s downright inspiring.

3. What would you do for free?

Pay attention to what you’re doing when you lose track of time. What do you daydream about? Those things you get absorbed in can be signals of something you were meant to do and that if you pursued further would bring profound meaning.

4. What have been your happiest moments?

What were you specifically doing in those moments and what about them brought you such joy? Look for themes. The common threads can provide clues as to what your purpose might be.

5. What have you learned from career misfires and triumphs?

Wrong turns in your career, while also being valuable learning experiences, help you bring the contrasting triumphs into focus. Reflect on what was happening during both misfires that brought pain and victories that brought joy. Who were you in those times? What did you excel or flounder at? Clues to your purpose lie within.

6. What deed needs doing?

What is your cause? What problem needs solving? What does the world need that you're well suited to provide? Note the higher-order, bigger-than-you, nature of each of these questions. Our purpose often feeds something greater than ourselves.

7. What would co-workers miss if you weren't there?

This speaks to those inspiring, magnetic characteristics you have that others are drawn to and well-served by. What would be missed could be telltale signs of what you can perpetuate and accentuate in service of your purpose.

8. What would people say you were meant to do?

What characteristic would others feel compelled to speak about in your absence? What have others said about your talents? Have you ever heard the phrase, “Wow, you could be a ______”? Still more clues on the path to purpose.

So be purposeful about discovering, articulating, and living and working with purpose. Lots of things will be longer (and deeper)--your work, life, happiness, and fulfillment. 

By Scott Mautz is a keynote speaker and the author of Find the Fire and Make It Matter.

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Pain sensing nerves help fight skin infection

A recent discovery revealed that pain-sensing nerves help fight skin infections and prevent its spread, suggesting a new type of immunity. "These pain-sensing nerves can detect pathogens, and for the first time, we've shown that they activate an immune response and also signal protective immunity in sites adjacent to the infection. This demonstrates that the immune and nervous systems work synergistically for host defence. These findings also could have important implications for developing more specific therapies for autoimmune skin diseases like psoriasis," said the senior author of the study.

Until about a decade ago, the pain was thought to have evolved as a way for your body to tell you to stay away from a particular stimulus or to signal a problem with its function, like an injury. More recently, however, researchers have shown that it may play an important role in immunity against some pathogens.

In the study, the first author collaborated with neurobiology professors and pain experts, to develop an optogenetic mouse model where pain-sensing neurons in the skin could be activated by shining blue light.

They first showed that just activating these neurons released a small protein called CGRP, which recruited different types of immune cells to the site. This suggested that neurons detecting skin pathogens on their own kickstart an immune response even before sentry immune cells could.

Then in the same mouse model, they infected the animals with either Candida albicans, a fungus that causes candidiasis, commonly known as thrush, or Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacterium that can turn deadly under certain conditions.

Using optogenetics and chemical nerve blockers, the researchers showed through a series of elegant experiments that when the fungus infected the skin at one location, the nerves not only detected and initiated an immune response to fight the infection but also sent a signal toward the spinal cord.
The researchers called this new nerve-driven protective mechanism "anticipatory immunity."

"The advantage of involving the nervous system is that it can communicate information across space in a span of milliseconds, compared to hours or days for the immune cells to do the same function. It's the difference between sending Paul Revere to warn of the British advance and sending a telegram to do the same," said the first author of the study.

He said that while it remains to be seen how the findings translate to humans, they have interesting implications for autoimmune diseases of barrier tissues like the skin or gut.

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Laugh your way to improved short-term memory

A new study has revealed that laughter can improve short-term memory and makes the brain work better in older adults.

The research conducted by Loma Linda University in Southern California made 20 normal, healthy, older adults watched a funny video distraction-free for 20 minutes and found that those who got to laugh the 20 minutes away with the funny video scored better on short-term memory tests, ABC News reported.

The research also found that people who laughed had decreased level of the stress hormone cortisol, which is an enemy of memory.

Dr. Gurinder S. Bains said that the learning ability and delayed recall become more challenging as people age and laughing with friends or even watching 20 minutes of humor on TV helps to cope with daily stressors.

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The secret to happiness

It's not destiny that decides you'll be a sour face. Happy people work towards being that. Here's how to do it

If you're happy and you know it...goes an old children's ditty. But are you? The pursuit of happiness isn't easy — materialistic goodies do not guarantee a good life; close relationships, work satisfaction and working towards greater good do.

Studies have shown that the tendency to be happy is an inherited trait. Not everyone has a sunny disposition, but experts say we can all learn to bring more joy into our lives.

Sophie Keller, author of the How Happy series, says the secret to happiness is knowing you are already happy. "We're human 'beings', not human 'doings' or 'havings', so happiness needs to be a 'being state," she says.

Here's a simple break-up offered by writer Sonja Lyubomirsky in The How of Happiness: 50 per cent of our happiness levels are genetically determined, 10 per cent are affected by circumstances while the remaining 40 per cent is subject to self-control.

So how do you get happy? Here's a don't-do list to set you on the path to happiness.

Don't look outwards: Seeking external sources of happiness can sabotage your peace. San Francisco-based sustainable happiness expert Dr Aymee Coget suggests, "Focus on controlling your emotional state by choosing happiness and adopting positive psychology principles, build your resilience, follow your heart and meditate into the greatest states of bliss."

Don't hold a grudge: American writer Rita Mae Brown said it right when she wrote, "One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory." Forgiveness doesn't come easy, but is key; anger, antagonism and resentment are detrimental to your self. Dr Vandana Tara, a Delhi-based clinical psychologist, says, "In all probability, the person concerned will go on with life while you nurture ill-will. This bitterness could leave you physically and mentally ill."

Don't mistreat yourself: Happy people know the importance of looking after themselves — they eat healthy, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Exercise keeps you fit, lets you relax, boosts brain power and improves your body image. Sound sleep lets you focus and increases productivity. Sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, but are good at recalling glum moments.

Don't neglect family and pals: Studies have consistently proven that spending time with close ones impacts our happiness quotient. Harvard happiness expert and author of Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert sums up: "We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends." Also, make time only for those who matter; superficial relationships sap mirth.

Don't compare: Keeping up with the Joneses doesn't help the happiness cause. Constant comparisons with people who are smarter, more attractive or successful leads to resentment. "Comparing is a battle, a fight. If you were to look back on your life, you don't want to think you've wasted your time on it," Keller says. Tara says the way out is to compete with yourself. "Easier said than done, but every individual is unique. Another person's weakness might be your asset."

Don't be self-centred: Doing good makes us feel good. Research indicates that helping others ups our sense of self-esteem, setting us on the path to real and rewarding happiness. University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman, in Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being, says, scientists "have found that doing a kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well being of any exercise we have tested". When the recipient of your gesture expresses joy, it acts as a reward, says Dr Samir Parikh, director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Healthcare. Tutoring your house help's kids or volunteering at a care centre yields the same result: A happy you.

Don't fail to live in the moment: "It is our nature to dwell on past events, especially negatives. We need six positives for our brain to overcome what happened in the past. Training our mind to live in the moment — a sink-or-swim skill — is the way to happiness," Coget says. Learn from past mistakes, but live in the present.

Don't be ungrateful: Being grateful increases satisfaction. Think of three good things that happened to you in a day or keep a journal of what you are grateful for.
The Journal of Happiness study revealed that writing letters of gratitude increased happiness and life satisfaction while decreasing depressive symptoms. "We all don't have things that we want, so it's easy to be negative. Soon, this emotion seeps into our subconscious and takes over our minds," Keller says.

Don't be afraid: Fears of what may or may not happen will persist, but happy people take the first step towards turning their dreams into reality. "Whatever you've dreamed of, get started. Don't wait for that one fateful day when everything will fall into place," Desai says.

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