To Live Happier, Make A Plan

Can exerting control over your life make you happier and healthier?

Two key researchers into midlife development say "yes." People who say they plan for the future report higher life satisfaction than those who say they "live for today."

The reason seems to be that planning provides a sense of control over one's life. And believing that you can direct your life -- rather than have it directed for you by fate or luck -- is tightly tied to satisfaction and happiness.

Margie Lachman (Brandeis) and Kimberly Prenda Firth (George Washington University) report that we now know that "sense of control (and) social support are among the most important psychosocial predictors of morbidity, mortality, and psychological well-being in later adulthood."

Feeling in control affects physical and mental health. People who feel in control of their lives have less stress (which is associated with heart disease, Alzheimer's, and numerous other serious problems), fewer illnesses, and healthier behavior -- perhaps because they believe that what they do makes a difference. We've written about other research that shows that good health is the leading predictor of happiness for older people.

On the mental health side, people who believe they are in control of their lives also tend to have "positive psychological states" such as high self esteem. They also suffer less from depression.

People who feel in control may even be better equipped to deal with the uncontrollable -- such as the death of a spouse, or job loss -- because they are biased toward taking action and making things better.

People who felt they had less control over their lives were more likely to think that they were better off in the past, or would be worse off in the future.

Where does planning come in? The relationship between planning for the future and feeling in control is straightforward. People who plan ahead felt more in control, and that control was associated with increased life satisfaction.

Elderly adults planned less -- but for those who did, the benefit was even greater than for younger people. We can posit that elderly people who look forward to the future are likely to have a positive attitude and other attributes that increase their happiness.

A key point unanswered by the study is how a person acquires a sense of control: through lessons learned in the course of their adult life, via conscious behavior, from parents and early experiences, via inherited traits, or a combination of all.

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A pdf of the research is here.