Changing Your Happiness Set Point

March 26, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

There is a great deal of talk about the happiness set point these days. The present level of acceptability for this theory is that your happiness is made up of 50% genetics, a set point, 10% circumstances and 40% intentional activity. Many people are stating other 50%, (the 10% circumstances and the 40% intentional activity) can be changed. I have some information for you. I think there is good reason that your 50% genetic happiness set point can be changed as well.

One of the key books on this theory is Happiness, What Studies on Twins Show Us About Nature, Nurture, and the Happiness Set Point, by Dr. David Lykken. This book was published in 1999 and was a comprehensive work on the study of happiness for both fraternal and identical twins who were separated at birth. Dr. Lukken passed away a few years ago.

I will quote a paragraph from Dr. Lukken's book from page 60. "If your happiness set point is below average, that means that your genetic steersman is guiding you into situations that detract from your well-being and is tempting you to behave in ways that are counterproductive. If you let your genetic steersman have his way, then you will end up where he wants to go. But it is your life and, within wide limits, you can choose your own destinations instead of having them all chosen for you."

Dr. Lukken believed that the way to change our happiness set point was to work with the "thieves of happiness," as he called them. Dr. Lukken's three groups of happiness thieves are Depression, Fear and Shyness and Anger and Resentment. Dr. Lukken felt we could take effective action against these happiness-robbing factors.

It certainly seems that science is proving that we do inherit a certain predisposition to being happy. You can do a great deal about your happiness, regardless of your set point. The real truth is that people are not talking about the amount of happiness control we can develop. It's not about what you inherit that matters. This is not the sort of gene that determines how tall you will be or what color eyes you have.

Imagine that you have an inner thermostat in your mind that you can control. You begin to experience the fact that no matter how hot or cold it gets around you, you can control your inner response. The real set point for your happiness is what you set your inner thermostat to within yourself. If you become a little hot or cold, so to speak, you don't have to try to change your surroundings, just adjust or reset your inner happiness thermostat. As you start using your brain to make the best choices, you will deal with your own personality. Your reactions to people and events can change for the better. You can create all the happiness you want by taking charge of your mind.

I would like to introduce you to Bob Nozik, M.D who wrote the book, Happy 4 Life: Here’s How to Do It. Bob has been happy for over 20 years. I am privileged to know and love Dr. Nozik. He has been running the Diablo Valley Happiness Club in Lafayette, California for a number of years. Here is what Dr. Nozik has said during our discussions on this topic. "So, if set point theory is correct, and I believe it is, then we (at least I) must live with that truth. Here, it's not a real problem, because genetics are only part of the story. One is not, in fact, doomed to a life of unhappiness, because of having a low set point. There are things we can do to raise it. After all, I was born with a relatively low set point, I estimate it at about a D+ to a C-, and I've become pretty darn happy despite that."

I recommend reading Dr. Nozik's book, which is on my best 20-happiness book list on my website, because Bob can show you the ways that will lead you to happiness. You will learn about the deep abiding happiness, which he calls: lasting happiness that you can count on even through tough times.

The reason for my writing this article is that I would not want to see people believe that they must live out the rest of their lives being unhappy, because of what they have inherited from their parents. If we feed lack and limitation into the human mind, it will respond with a limited belief in how we can live. If we expect the best for ourselves and do the work to find it, we will live different lives than those who believe in things that are not good for them.

In the wonderful new book, Thanks! How the new science of gratitude can make you happier, by Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., on page 35 he says, "Counting one's blessing may directly counteract the effects of hedonic adaptation, the process by which our happiness level returns, again and again, to its set-point, by preventing people from taking the good things in their lives for granted. If we consciously remind ourselves of our blessings, it should become harder to take them for granted and adapt to them. And the very act of viewing good things as gifts is itself likely to be beneficial for mood."

We must learn that we are more powerful than any science experiment. Many things can be proven by science. We have to remember that what we think, will do more to determine our well being. This is also true of our health. We can believe that we can only be as healthy as our family genes permit or we can do the things that enhance our health and optimize our longevity. This is not just a matter of doing things to be healthy, but a large part of how we think and how we act, which will determine, to a large extent, how we feel. Talking about optimizing our longevity, don't forget that it is science that has established the fact that being happy adds ten years to your life. I find this scientific fact to be a very useful and I incorporate it into my belief system.

Happiness can become a habit and we all know how powerful habits can be. Furthermore, there is research that suggests that happiness produces more happiness. It is not only in your power to create the most happiness in your life, but it is in your power to make it a habit that you will benefit from for the rest of your happy life.

Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.