How to be happy?

Happiness is such a subjective measurement of our well-being that everyone has his/her own way of trying to be happy(or unhappy for that matter). Some people are naturally sunnier than others no matter what life throws at them. Are they genetically blessed? Were they born with a silver spoon in their mouth? Or do they work harder to earn it? This blog tries to shed some light in answering these questions:

In 2005, a team of U.S. researchers developed a comprehensive model of sustainable happiness change that integrated the major lines of the subjective well-being literature. The result was a theory which proposed that up to 50 percent of one’s happiness was rooted in a genetically determined set-point, 10 percent was related to circumstantial factors (nation of residence, demographics, culture, income, etc), and the remaining 40 per cent was determined by intentional activities such as pursuing goals, looking at things optimistically, and being physically active.

...[T]he main conclusions drawn from the three studies were that changing circumstances and engaging in happiness related activities both offer a boost to one’s happiness, but that people habituate to circumstantial changes whereas continuing the activities sustained increases in happiness, subjective well-being, and psychological well-being.

In other words, our data suggest that effort and hard work offer the most promising route to happiness. In contrast, simply altering one’s superficial circumstances (assuming they are already reasonably good) may have little lasting effect on well-being.

I'd not be convinced with one study, after all the percentages here are highly debatable. Yet the conventional wisdom does show us the amazing adaptability of human being that a one-time bump will only have very limited impact on our well-being.