Image Credit: Coursera / Francisco Guerrero
During the start of the pandemic last year, I decided to get a few courses to boost up my resume while in quarantine. I figured that I can be productive even while at home so I gave it a shot. I researched a bunch of online learning platforms to choose from and one of them is Coursera. So, what is Coursera?
Image Credit: Coursera
Coursera is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider founded by Stanford University professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. It is an online learning platform that provides courses, certifications, specializations, guided projects, and degrees in partnership with renowned companies and universities in the world.
Now that you know what Coursera is for, let me discuss with you some of the things I learned from the most popular course on Coursera. That is none other than The Science of Well-Being, also known as The Science of Happiness, offered by Yale University and taught by Psychology Professor Laurie Santos.
The Science of Well-Being tackles what psychology science says about the good life. The course reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind, and the research to back it up. It is made to help students increase their own happiness by putting strategies into practice, and to incorporate healthy practices and wellness into their lives that can ultimately make them happy.
Having said that, here are the 8 things I learned:
1. The things you thought will make you happy wouldn’t make you happy in the long run.
Perfect grades, good job, lots of money, awesome stuff, true love, and perfect body, these are the things that you thought will make you happy. But brace yourselves, these things will only make you happy for a little while but not in the long run.
When you found out that you didn’t flunk that subject and you passed, you were so happy. But when you embark on your journey to the corporate world, you realized grades didn’t really matter in the real world. When you got your first job, you were so ecstatic. But after a while, stress at work got to you and you wanted out and find greener pastures somewhere.
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk are some of the billionaires that are and have divorced with their wives that prove money and awesome stuff don’t mean a happy ending. When you just got married, the first two years have been nothing but euphoric, but after the honeymoon stage, your happiness has become stagnant. And lastly, having the perfect body doesn’t mean that you will get everything that you want out of life and that you’ll be really happy.
So, what will really make you happy in the long run? Read on and find out.
2. You can trick your mind into blocking the thoughts that don’t make you happy.
You heard that right. You can actually trick your mind into not overthinking. It is called the S.T.O.P. Technique. It stands for Stop, Take a Breath, Observe, and Proceed. We really can’t help ourselves once we overthink. We will go on and on that it will eventually make us sad or depress. But you can actually make it stop. When you feel like you’re overthinking too much, just pause and take a deep breath. Observe your surroundings and acknowledge what you are feeling at the moment. And then continue on with what you’re doing.
Disclaimer: There’s no guarantee that it will work with people who are clinically diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I recommend seeing your psychiatrist and drinking your prescribed medicines.
3. Taking care of your body is essential to make you feel better.
Image Credit: Coursera / Francisco Guerrero
Personally, this is one of the reasons why I was able to cope with the pandemic that struck us most with our daily lives. Exercising helped me to focus on achieving my goals and made my mind clearer that proves taking care of your body is essential to make you feel better. Also, having enough sleep which is 7 to 8 hours a day contributed to my well-being and good mental state. Healthy practices, such as exercising and sleeping, will always be a good way to contribute to making you happier.
4. Learning about your strengths and using it more in a different way can help you find your purpose in life.
One reason why people fall into despair is not knowing one’s purpose in life. Don’t get me wrong, but it can sometimes take a lifetime before we realize our true calling in life. But one thing to help you find your “Ikigai” (In Japanese, meaning “a reason for being”.) is to know your strengths. I recommend these free options for you to find your signature strengths and personality:
VIA Institute on Character (www.viainstitute.org) is a non-profit organization made to systematically measure one’s signature strengths. It is a free psychological self-assessment designed to identify a person’s character strengths in less than 15 minutes to help you understand your best qualities.
16 Personalities (www.16personalities.com), however, is a free personality self-assessment based on Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI). It is designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths, and preferences. The questionnaire was developed by Isabel Myers and her mother, Katherine Briggs, based on their work with Carl Jung’s theory of personality types.
Once you find your signature strengths and personality, use it more in a different way to help you find your purpose in life. Find hobbies, career, and side businesses/ hustles that are in line with your strengths and personality to be able to be happy doing something that you love and excel at.
5. Kindness and social connections make you happier.
Being kind and being with your loved ones contribute to your total happiness. Have you ever done something good to someone and you end up feeling happy afterwards? That’s because helping other people or being kind to them make you feel good about yourself. Also, it has a domino effect that will not only affect the one you have been kind to, but to other people they encounter as well.
Additionally, spending time with your loved ones help you cope up with stress, making you less vulnerable to premature death and making you more likely to survive fatal illnesses. Just try it. Do acts of kindness each day and spend time with your loved ones, and rate your happiness before and after.
6. Gratitude and savoring the moments in your life will make you happy.
Image Credit: Coursera / Francisco Guerrero
Learning to live in the moment and writing the things you are grateful for will not only increase your own happiness, but it will also help you keep your mind from wandering that will eventually make you overthink. Being in the moment not only decreases your ability to overthink but it makes you grateful for being alive and experiencing life. Treat every day as if it was your last. List all the things that you are grateful for and you’ll feel your happiness level increase.
7. Meditation increases your mood.
There are a lot of benefits of meditation more than you realize. First, it can help your mind not wander. Meditation also reduces stress and helps control anxiety. It enhances your self-awareness and lengthens your attention span. It increases your patience and tolerance, and it can increase your imagination and creativity as well. It decreases your blood pressure. And lastly, it helps you be in the moment and increases your mood which makes you happier. Meditate for 5 to 10 mins a day and you’ll see your mood increases.
8. Experience will make you happier in the long run. Invest in experience.
Image Credits: Coursera / Francisco Guerrero
Yes, that’s right. Experience, making memories with your loved ones, stories, and positive emotions, these are the things that will make you happy in the long run. Ask people who are above their golden age what they are most happy about in their lives, and you’ll see that these are the things that will make you happy in the long run. So invest in them. Pour most of your time with what matters the most.
These are just some of the things that I learned from studying the most popular course on Coursera, if you want to study The Science of Well-Being by auditing the course for free or by paying for the certificate, click this link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
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