There always seems to be a strong focus on being happy, with people sometimes spending lots of time trying to determine if that is their actual state.
However, a study in the USA has just found that thinking too much about happiness can be detrimental to your level of happiness.
In other words, the more you think about it, the less you are.
The American Psychological Association study involved 1,800 participants and determined that judging how happy you are could backfire and negatively impact life satisfaction and psychological well-being.
The researchers found having concerns or judgments about one’s level of happiness was associated with lower well-being, due in part to greater negativity and disappointment about positive events.
“Thinking too much about one’s own level of happiness could be related to fears about not measuring up or not being as happy as other people,” – lead researcher Felicia Zerwas, PhD
“There are plenty of societal pressures that encourage the fallacy that people must feel happy all of the time to achieve greater well-being, overall, allowing yourself to experience your emotions, whether they are positive or negative, with an accepting attitude could be a useful tool for pursuing happiness and increasing well-being.”
So, what Felicia is describing there is a great example of internal validation.
Are you not sure exactly what internal validation is? I have written an article about Internal Validation that you can find by clicking this link.
Learning how to internally validate is something I would like to assist you with.
Remember, if you’ve never really received consistent and healthy external validation, the chances are you probably don’t know how to do it for others, which means you might struggle to provide it for yourself.