What makes you happy?

When we think about what will make us happy, we are often wrong, so I started googling if there are any scientific study done on this subject.  Indeed there are, and scientists like Daniel Gilbert professor of psychology at Harvard and author of the 2007 bestseller Stumbling on Happiness believe that people have difficulty predicting what they will like and how much they will like it. Gilbert conducted research by asking people how much they will like a future event about which they knew nothing except how much other strangers have enjoyed them. Basically Gilbert concluded that we are very poor at predicting our own happiness, however we can predict better about our own happiness by knowing how much a stranger had enjoyed by doing / buying the same thing. Probably, online marketers have learned from this aspect of human psychology to market goods and services along with stranger's experience (user feedback and recommendation)  about  them.
On the other hand, scientists have also studied, what really makes people happy and specially why are some people happier than others. Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, UC Riverside CA researcher and author of the book The How of Happiness answers this question in her book by examining the traits, behaviors, habits and values of happy people. In fact, she has some advice that can improve happiness in life:

• Cherish everyday's moment - According to Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, people who cherish everyday's moments like "smell the roses" and watch children playing are much more happier than those who ignore these.
• Be optimistic - this is another way of saying, always smile even when you don't fell like smiling. Researchers claim that even people that are not born with "half glass full" attitude can learn and overtime that becomes habit. 
• Have meaningful goals - Whether its work or home, doing things that are significant and enjoyable at the same time will make you happy. Scientists believe that happiness lies at the intersection of pleasure and meaning. We all try to find means for thriving at work and when we find those means we find happiness, don't we?
• Compare yourself with your own achievements -  Dr. Lyubomirsky says comparing ourselves with others are more damaging to our self esteem and happiness than anything else. If at all, you want to compare, then compare with your own achievements over time. 
• Make good friends - Researchers believe that being surrounded by shallow acquaintances is damaging to your happiness, instead make good friends - a close relationship based on understanding and caring.   Happy people maintain deep relationship with friends and share fine human values. 
• Get involved with the life of others - Research indicates that volunteering and contributing to the lives of others makes you more happy. Smaller things like celebrating other's success at work, passing on valuable skills to others and listening to a friend 's problem gives us happiness for sure. 

While I am going in search of my own happiness :-)  you enjoy your day and don't forget to tell us "what makes you happy?"