Jennifer Moss, best-selling author, speaker, and happiness researcher, says that some of the core lessons she’s taught throughout her career were wrong. Now, she’s sharing a new prescription for happiness.
“When I first wrote Unlocking Happiness at Work, it was really centered around individual mindset and psychological fitness, and that we could, through certain efforts of our own, be able to choose happiness,” Moss tells Fortune.
Her 2016 book resonated at the time—before the pandemic and the rise of remote work, when burnout, mental health, and loneliness were not conversations dominating the zeitgeist.
But years of research—and her own dissatisfaction despite using scientifically sound tools to improve her mindset—proved there is much more to the happiness equation. “Quick fixes,” as she calls self-care practices, such as bathing or listening to rain sounds before bed, didn’t do the trick. Relying on self-care alone is shortsighted, Moss says, who released a revised version of the book last month.
“For a female being in front of venture capitalists that continue to refuse you for all these reasons that are just based on bias … you can’t just gratitude your way out of that,” Moss says.
Moss recognizes that the state of the world has dramatically shifted in the last decade. The State of the Nation Project’s annual progress report, released earlier this year, found that voter participation, belief in democracy, and trust in government, police, and educational systems are declining in the U.S.
“We have to dig even deeper, asking questions around happiness,” Moss says.
Individual measures to improve happiness are not moving the needle. Moss points to more collective, community-forward ways to boost happiness. Here’s a new framework:
Advocate in your community
Global issues, economic uncertainty, and politics affect emotional health. When there isn’t much you can control, it can leave you feeling powerless.
However, engaging locally can make a powerful difference, whether advocating for better work policies or taking on an elected or unelected leadership role to serve your neighbors on a mission you care about.
Rely on others and be reliable
Research shows that the strength of our relationships is a core determinant of our happiness throughout our lives. Staying intentionally connected, Moss says, is key. One way to start small is by prioritizing shared meals at work and home. No more “dinner al desko,” Moss says. (Forgoing the sad desk salad and sharing a meal with others has mental health benefits.)
Moss, who was on the council for the World Happiness Report, also points to how having strong connections can improve our trust in others. This year’s happiness report showed that people underestimated how many lost wallets would be returned. The research showed that people are more benevolent than we may think. Further, trusting that people can be good has a powerful impact on our happiness.
Choose happiness for others
The people around us heavily shape our perception of the world. The Workforce Institute at UKG found that your boss plays a bigger role in your mental health than your therapist. One way to improve happiness is to consider how you come across in the spaces you occupy. “Choosing kindness and being altruistic is one of the best ways to improve well-being,” Moss says.
For example, Moss asks us to think about how we speak to our colleagues, and even how our social media activity may influence others in positive or negative ways that we can control.
“When we are so individually focused on attainment, but not doing any of those things to affect our communities or society, it ends up just sort of living in this vacuum,” Moss says. “The more we think about the rest of society and improving happiness for others, the more we get the kickback of happiness in our lives.”
For more on happiness:
- Indonesia is the country where people flourish the most, according to a new global study. Here’s one major reason why
- Happier parents tap into this 1 emotion
- Americans under 30 are so miserable that the U.S. just fell to a historic low ranking in the annual World Happiness Report
- Researchers have followed over 700 people since 1938 to find the keys to happiness. Here’s what they discovered
