The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic

Religion, philosophy, and the arts have long considered happiness a subject important to study. 

The sciences, however, have only recently caught up: the scientific study of happiness has exploded over the past three decades.

• Subjective well-being is preferred by social scientists instead of happiness because it's not so vague and subjective. 
• Research shows there is a big genetic component in determining the baseline you always seem to return to after events sway your mood.
• Circumstances could make up between 10- and 40 percent of your subjective well-being. But their effects never last very long.
• The one variable that affects long-term well-being and is under our control: habits.