Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Sunday, April 28, 2024 81° Today's Paper


Live Well

Column: Lucky we live Hawaii, the happiest state of all

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

People take in an orange sunset at Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu.

The Aloha State topped the recently released Gallup’s National Health and Well-Being Index. Hawaii residents had the highest scores when it came to their health, relationships, careers, finances and communities. More than 115,000 American adults in every state ranked their satisfaction of these five parts of their life.

>> Career: Liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals

>> Social: Having supportive relationships and love in your life

>> Financial: Managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security

>> Community: Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community

>> Physical: Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

On a scale of 0 to 5 with 5 being awesome, how would you rank your satisfaction in each of these areas?

You might find there is room for improvement. You might also find that there some small shifts that you can make that might have bigger impact than you think across multiple categories.

Your career happiness might improve if you spent a little less money, and that would also enhance you financial well-being. If you took a stroll down the street, it might strengthen your connection with your neighborhood and improve your physical health, too. You might even meet a few new neighbors, which would bolster your social happiness.

There are a lot of little things that you can do to keep those pillars of happiness strong.


Alice Inoue is the founder of Happiness U. Visit YourHappinessU.com.


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