What keeps us happy throughout our life? Some of us have to reflect on the answer to that question. Happiness is the state of mind based on our overall satisfaction; it is usually affected by all the circumstances surrounding us. Many factors influence our well-being and we must understand them to improve the quality of our life. 

Is It Possible To Measure The Happiness Rate of People?

The answer was found some time ago, in 1972, by the new king of Bhutan, a small Himalayan country. He discovered a method of measuring the happiness level and created a questionnaire for the Bhutanese population. 

What began with a series of questions, later gained the name of the Gross National Happiness initiative and it addresses the aspects of citizens’ life. The United Nations Development Program supported the initiative, which later on caught the eye of the rest of the world. Therefore, wealth was no longer seen as the main aspect for measuring the progress of a country.

Satisfaction and Well-Being Are Worth As Much As Money For The Success of a Society

Instead of measuring the Gross Income of the country and focusing mainly on its economic development, it emphasizes the factors that make our lives worthwhile. The overall production of a country and economic development is not enough to measure if people are living a happy life.

So, the Gross National Happiness Initiative is a tool that helps us understand what is lacking to live a better life. The survey was designed to make policymakers understand that the main objective of a country should not be only economic growth, but the integration of psychological, spiritual, and cultural aspects in people’s life. 

What is The Gross National Happiness Survey?

The GNH is used by multiple countries around the world and it helps in designing policies that later on help the citizens achieve a better quality of life. In case you didn’t know, Bhutan is the first country in the world to come up with a happiness definition by creating nine domains and 33 indicators that were used in the survey. 

The following indicators are aimed to determine the overall satisfaction and happiness level of people:

• Living standards – evaluates individual and family income, the level of financial security, including debt and the quality of housing
• Education – focuses on your participation in formal and informal education, skills and competencies, environment education, and your involvement in children’s education
• Health – questions based on criteria related to your self-rated health, sleep, nutrition, overall well-being, disability, and patterns of risk behavior
• Ecological Diversity – assesses your perception towards the quality of water, soil, forest, and biodiversity, including your access to green areas
• Community Vitality – examines the sense of belonging to a community, the vitality of relationships, the practice of giving, and your level of confidence
• Time Use – as it is one of the main aspects of our life, the test evaluates your time management, including time spent with your loved ones, at work, in traffic jams, or in educational activities
• Psychological Well-Being – an analysis of your self-esteem, spiritual activities, stress, sense of competence, positive and negative emotions
• Good Governance – measures your involvement in community decisions and it determines how you view the government, media, electoral system, and the police in terms of their values
• Cultural Diversity and Resilience – determines if there is any discrimination due to race, gender, or religion and evaluates the core values, local traditions, and your participation in cultural events

By including all of the most important aspects of people’s lives, the survey has a great success rate in helping citizens develop better life habits and achieve a better work-life balance.

How is The Survey Used By Countries All Around the World?

Even though the survey was mainly used in Bhutan, it, later on, spread around the globe and more countries started using the GNH index to measure the happiness rate. Let’s take a look at other outcomes!

• Susan Andrews managed to implement a version of the GNH at a community level, through the organization Future Vision Ecological Park in Brazil.
• The Seattle City Council in the USA also used a version of the index to determine the well-being and happiness level of the Seattle population. Some other cities from the USA: Winsconsin, Creston, Eau Clair, and British Columbia are using the survey.
• In Victoria, Canada, a short version of the test is used by the local government and governmental agencies to measure the happiness rate of its population.
• There are some changes in the Philippines as well, as the senator and UN Global Champion for Resilience Loren Legarda passed along some policies to introduce the Gross National Happiness in the country and created forums to support the initiative.

The Happiness Journey Test in Our Coaching Sessions

Our new 6-weeks course, named the Happiness Journey, focuses a lot on the main aspects of your life and the steps you need to take to achieve a positive outcome. 

The life coaching sessions are aimed to help you through all the types of self-development and create healthy habits that later on will benefit your happiness level. The course is designed to start specifically and end with a test that measures how happy you are.

The main purpose of it is to give you some insight into the main factors that influence your mental and physical health and think about some improvements you can make. We will use a shorter version of the test in our coaching sessions, which consists of 32 questions based on the GNH index. It provides you a tool to learn how well you are doing in these nine aspects of your life that affect your happiness.

As our Happiness Journey coaching program starts and ends with this test, you will be able to see for yourself how much these areas of your life influence your overall satisfaction. It will also allow you to see the changes you went through during the coaching sessions.

Are you ready to discover the pathway to a better life? It’s never too late to start a program that benefits you. Find out more about how our programs work here!

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Happiness explained: is it possible to measure it?

From living standards to cultural diversity – it’s time to learn how nine factors influence the quality of your life. Our program starts with the Happiness Journey test –  a tool that measures your happiness level and helps you achieve your goals. 

Join our coaching program now!