What Is The Real Secret To Having A Happy Life?

Seriously, you can literally spend hours reading through famous quotes and still be none the wiser. The Buddha says living in the present is the most important thing, but The Duke says it's preparing for tomorrow. John Wayne wins that round though, because, well, he's John Wayne.

But, if we’re scoring this on macho points alone, we’ll have to yield to Conan the Barbarian. When asked what's best in life he replied, "to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women."

A fun way to kill time at the office on a Monday morning, to be sure, but I'm not convinced it's the key to lasting happiness. In this life we seek meaning, the answers to "life, the universe and everything."

According to Google the meaning of life is a link to Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia it's a Monty Python movie. And according to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy the answer is "42". Only problem is we're just too dumb to know the question. 

So, how to solve this existential quandary? Simple; rather than asking the internet, which was just regurgitating random phrases and threatening my productivity, we decided we would instead ask you, the British public. 

What Makes You Happy?

To find out we conducted a poll of 2,198 adults aged 18 or older from right across the UK. We ensured an equal amount of male and female participants and strived to find as varied a group as possible to eliminate bias.

The first part of the survey was quite simple; we provided a list of ten different life goals and asked our participants to score them from one to ten, whereby ten is the least important, and one is the most important goal in life.

When we collated the data we got the following results: 

1.      Good health

2.      Financial security

3.      An annual holiday abroad

4.      Finding love

5.      Becoming a parent

6.      A busy and active social life

7.      More free time

8.      A fulfilling job/career

9.      Owning own home

10.  Savings in the bank

What Would You Give Up For £1 Million?

Now this is where it gets really interesting. We next asked "what would you give up for a year in return for £1 million?" Our participants were then given a list of five things to choose from. The results were as follows:

• I would give up the use of my mobile phone for a year - 76%
• I would stop drinking alcohol for a year - 62%
• I would stop watching TV for a year - 37%
• I would stop seeing friends/family members for a year - 28%
• I would give up sex for a year - 23%

Of course we can only speculate as to how those choices would pan out in practice. How do you think you would fare? (We'd love to hear your opinion on Facebook!)

Strange that people picked not using their mobile first, ahead of alcohol and TV. I think in this day and age that may actually prove the hardest sacrifice of all, especially for younger people.

The fact that we have 23% of people willing to give up sex for a year might also seem strange, but it should be noted that, of those who said they'd give it up, the majority, a whole 57%, were not in a relationship. So they're likely only giving up something they're not getting that much of anyway. 

The Results Are In – The Most Important Things In Life Are…

Being in good health, being financially secure and having a holiday at least once a year to get away from it all. These, according to the British public, are the three most important elements to having a happy life.

If you can't afford to get away on a holiday this year don't forget there are plenty of amazing places you can visit right here in the Britain. If you have your heart set on guaranteed sun to go with your fun, however, then a weekend flutter on the lottery could be the solution you're looking for. It only costs £2 per bet with a massive £72 million to be won.