I teach a course on happiness at Yale: this is how to make the most of your resolutions, The Guardian

Laurie Santos · 8 Jan 2021

Laurie Santos did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Our minds have poor intuitions about what will improve our mood.

Their wordsFirst, our minds have bad intuitions about what we can do to improve our mood.
Our reading
People seek solitude to lift their mood, but connecting with a friend would make them happier.

Their wordsWe avoid social situations, thinking alone time is the cure for our blues, but research shows we’d be happier if we connected with a friend.
Our reading
Changing your circumstances, by losing weight or earning more, does less for happiness than people assume.

Their wordsWe also assume that happiness involves changing our circumstances: losing weight, getting buffer and earning more money. But as someone who teaches an entire course on the science of happiness, I know the research shows most of these popular January goals don’t improve our happiness as much as we assume.
Our reading
People are happier when they are helping others in need than when focused on themselves.

Their wordsFinally, consider switching from a selfish me-me-me mindset to one that’s a bit more focused on others. Study after study shows that people are happier when they’re helping people in need.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.