How to Lead a Meaningful Life in Three Easy Lessons

Have you ever wondered what the key ingredients of a meaningful life are? An 80 year old Harvard study on aging holds the secret.

During the Great Depression, Harvard researchers began tracking the health and happiness of 238 college sophomores. They hoped that the study would uncover the long-term ingredients for a happy life. What they uncovered is far greater.

Today, only 19 of the original 268 participants are still alive-all in their 90’s. But, over the course of their lives, participants agreed to a barrage of poking and prodding. Every two years participants were asked detailed questions about their marriage, job satisfaction and social life. That included their victories and their defeats, both personal and professional. Every aspect of their lives on full display.

Researchers studied their mental health and also focused on what brought them happiness or sadness, over time.

Every five years they participate in a medical examination. The results are carefully monitored and cataloged.

Over time the study was expanded It now includes the offspring of the original 268. There are now over 1,300 participants. While some of the original participants went on to become Doctors, Lawyers and high profile executives, many others became alcoholics, drug addicts and complete derelicts. (Note: The original cohort included President John F. Kennedy, Jr.)

What makes this study so profound is it’s staying power. See, measuring happiness over a lifetime is challenging because people often can’t recall what happened many years ago. Or, if they do recall what happened or how they felt, it’s often colored by the effect of time. It’s now the longest running study on American happiness.

The original study was divided into two cohorts. The first sample was comprised entirely of male, Harvard college sophomores. The second cohort was comprised of young men from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods.

So, what did the researchers learn about health and happiness? Before we dive into the results let’s talk about today’s Gen-Z kids, those born between 1997-2012. They are the most likely cohort to be college sophomores today-or the same age as the original kids in the study. What do today’s kids think will lead to a lifetime of happiness?

A recent study found that 23% of Gen-Z kids want to be famous. That result is eight points higher than the millennials and fifteen points higher than Gen X crowd. Apparently our youngest generational cohort did not watch the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial. The Z’sters also disclosed that making money and having a successful career were two of their highest life goals. Even more important than building friendships, starting a family, or engaging in hobbies.

So how do those responses compare to the actual results of the Harvard study? They don’t. The Harvard findings on happiness do not suggest “being famous” is an ingredient of a happy life. They don’t include “working hard” or even “making a lot of money”. It’s seems these things had very little to do with the overall happiness of either group in the study. So, what are the key ingredients of happiness?

After 80 years of study, happiness can be boiled down to these four key ingredients

1. Happy is Healthy

While each participant’s health played an important role in their happiness, there was a more important finding. Personal relationships-and the happiness of those relationships-had an enormous impact on a participant’s health. While taking care of your body is important, taking care of your relationships was equally important for long term health (and happiness). Yes, what seems to keep people healthy and happy over the long-haul is relationships. It is more important than IQ, wealth or being famous. That finding held for both the Harvard men and the inner city Boston men.

Researchers also found that the quality of those relationships matter. Those in an unhappy marriage could be as lonely as those who weren’t married. It turns out that marriages marred by constant conflict were determined to be as bad for your long term health as getting divorced. Yes, it is possible to be lonely in a marriage.

The key point: find a good partner and invest in wisely in that relationship. It will do more to extend your life than anything else.

2. Healthy is Happy

As you know, aging is a continuous process. “You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s. Taking good care of yourself early in life you can put yourself on a better course for aging and happiness, says Robert Waldinger. Who was one of the Director’s of the study. “The best advice I can give is ‘take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,’ because you might.”

The key point: You only get one body make sure you treat it with proper nutrition, exercise and regular medical and dental checkups.

3. Booze, Food and Lung Darts

In his book, Aging Well, George Vaillant points to five important factors that dramatically impacted the Harvard cohort. They are as follows:

• frequent participation in physical activity,

• not smoking,

• maintaining a healthy weight,

• having a stable marriage and

• limiting the use of alcohol.

The final factor is to have a mechanism to properly deal with life’s ups and downs. The Boston cohort had the same findings.

The key point: steer clear of Cancer sticks and booze. If you drink, make sure it’s in moderation. Try to get some exercise, preferably with your Partner. And, don’t sweat the small stuff.

So, that’s it. Just a few key lessons on how to lead a happy and meaningful life from a study that’s been collecting data for over 80 years. Want to learn more about this groundbreaking study? Pick up a copy of Aging Well on Amazon and find out what other ingredients are critical for a happy and meaningful life.

Follow Wit & Wisdom on Spotify, Apple iTunes, iHeart Radio and all other major podcast platforms so that you get notified each time a new episode is available. If you already follow our show, please invite a friend to follow the show too.