Subjective wellbeing describes how you, as an individual, think about your own state of happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction. This state of wellbeing goes far deeper than merely being happy – it encompasses your health, career, emotional and spiritual development, family life, relationships with friends, income and more. There are three major things that may contribute to subjective wellbeing are:
- Lacking negative emotions and moods.
- Having pleasant emotions and moods.
- Experiencing satisfaction.
But there’s no single key for achieving high subjective wellbeing because it’s… subjective. Rather, you should view it as something that involves many different ingredients, which change as you go through life. You may be able to increase your likelihood of having high subjective wellbeing by doing the following things:
Define Your Core Values
When you live in accordance with your personal ideals, you feel good about yourself. You can rest easy at the end of each day, because you know you didn’t compromise on the things that you know are right.
Create Job Satisfaction
All of us have a different idea of what it takes to make us happy. One person might define happiness as having a secure job earning a lot of money. Others might be more satisfied in a role that allows them to telecommute and work flexible hours, even if they earn less. Because you spend so much time at work, it’s important to have job satisfaction, however you define it. Do you want work that’s challenging? Do you want more variety? Take time to identify what gives you the most pleasure in your work, and think about what you could do to bring more enjoyment to what you do.
Work With Purpose
Similarly, many people think that it’s important that their work helps other people. It’s obvious how some jobs make a positive difference to other people. Where this is less obvious, however, you can find meaning by helping someone else, in some way, every day. This doesn’t have to be a big thing: you could lend a listening ear to a co-worker who’s having a bad time or help a colleague who’s behind on work. These may be small acts, but they can make a big difference to someone else’s life. They will also have a powerful effect on your own sense of wellbeing.
Live a Healthy Life
Your health is another important contributor to subjective wellbeing. People who are physically healthy have more energy during the day; they’re also happier, and better able to deal with stress and other challenges. Find ways to exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and stay hydrated during the day by drinking water.
Build Positive Relationships
Having close, trusting relationships is a factor in high subjective wellbeing that transcends age, gender, and culture. Make sure that you’re spending enough time developing good relationships. This might include leaving work at a set time one evening a week to spend time with your family or resolving to keep in touch with old friends.
Think Positively
Your attitude plays a major role in how you feel about your life. Our thoughts have a major impact on our life: they influence the choices we make and the actions we take (or don’t take). This is why it’s so important to develop the habit of positive thinking.
Key Points
“Subjective wellbeing” is a term that refers to the way that you think about your own state of happiness and fulfillment. People who experience a high level of subjective wellbeing in their life are happier, more creative and more productive. They have better relationships, and they’re often healthier and more successful than people who aren’t satisfied with their life. You can achieve high subjective wellbeing in your life by concentrating on the following areas:
Defining your core values.
Creating job satisfaction.
Working with purpose.
Living a healthy life.
Establishing positive relationships.
Thinking positively.