Psychologist Outlines 5 Habits for Lasting Happiness, Including 120 Minutes a Week in Nature
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Jun 10
Psychologist Outlines 5 Habits for Lasting Happiness, Including 120 Minutes a Week in Nature
3 articles · Updated · Forbes · Jun 10
Summary
Five habits — strong relationships, protecting time, seeking challenge, giving to others and spending 120 minutes a week in nature — are presented as the most durable drivers of well-being.
80 years of Harvard adult-development research and a 2015 meta-analysis underpin the first habit, linking relationship quality to happiness, health and longevity while equating isolation risks to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
2017 PNAS findings and later behavioral research support treating time as a core well-being resource, showing people who buy back time rather than more possessions report higher life satisfaction.
2022 and 2023 studies add that psychologically rich experiences and prosocial spending improve well-being across cultures, broadening happiness beyond comfort or self-focused consumption.
Nearly 20,000 people in a 2019 nature study showed better health and psychological well-being at a 120-minute weekly threshold, reinforcing the article’s broader claim that happiness is built through life structure, not fleeting mood.