Happiness Index

In order to have a holistic view towards life, I have designed a simple Happiness Index. The concept is to break down key parameters of your life into 6 categories. Out of these 6, select one category which is the most troubling. Break down this 6th category into 4 more sub-categories. Once you do that, provide a % of how happy you are with each category/sub-category. Each category/sub-category gets a % out of 100%. For example, if you are very happy with your financial stability, give it 100%. Once you complete this exercise, the tool will give you an overall happiness index for you.

In this example, this person's overall Happiness Index is 87%. Below are the advantages of this tool.

It gives a holistic view of how you perceive your life.
Whenever you feel sad about any particular dimension, you can look at this tool and it will provide a view of all the other dimensions of your life that are excellent. It gives you the needed drive to look at the brighter side of your life.
This approach helps you narrow down areas where you have gaps. Please note that having a gap does not mean you have to make it 100%. It could also be a conscious decision of yours on where to prioritize your efforts and energy. In the above example, this person made a decision of not prioritizing his career growth and rather focus on spending time supporting family and this is perfectly fine!

You can do this exercise with your immediately family members and look at common areas where you can work collectively to improve the happiness index of the entire family!

Happiness Index

In this example, this person's overall Happiness Index is 87%. Below are the advantages of this tool.

It gives a holistic view of how you perceive your life.

Whenever you feel sad about any particular dimension, you can look at this tool and it will provide a view of all the other dimensions of your life that are excellent. It gives you the needed drive to look at the brighter side of your life.

You can do this exercise with your immediately family members and look at common areas where you can work collectively to improve the happiness index of the entire family!