To celebrate the International Day of Happiness, The Happiness Challenge podcast is dedicating March to the World Happiness Report.

In this episode, Klaudia explores the 2025 report’s key findings on connection and kindness. Discover why everyday kindness is more common than we think, how sharing meals boosts happiness and simple ways to feel more connected.

Get involved:

⬇️ Download: 26 Science‑Backed Micro‑Habits You Can Try Next (Sleep, Movement, Mindfulness, Connection, Purpose — all under 60 seconds) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

📘 Get the E‑book on habit formation: Build One Life‑Changing Habit in 10 Days (10 minutes/day + printable tools + reflection prompts) https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/store

🎟️ Join live: How to build wellbeing habits that stick webinar https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/webinars

📨 Subscribe to Klaudia's Substack newsletter for further insights and updates: https://thehappinesschallenge.substack.com/

📚 Grab a copy of The Alphabet of Happiness from Amazon, Guardian Bookshops, Blackwells, Waterstones, and more. https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/book

Hello happiness seekers. Welcome back to the Happiness Challenge where we exploring science backed habits for a happier life.

I'm Claudia, I'm work psychologist, Chief Happiness Officer and the author of the Alphabet of Happiness. And I am especially excited this month because March 20th is coming up and that means my birthday is coming up.

But also, and most importantly, the official International Day of Happiness is on its way. This day was set up by the United nations to remind us how important happiness is, not just for us individuals, but for society as a whole.

I still cannot believe it, but it is happening. And I cannot wait to bring back some fresh insights and stories from this amazing conference and share with all of you.

It blends insights from over 140 countries with lots of experts, analysis from top researchers across various fields.

It's published annually by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research center in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The mission of the report is to really spread the knowledge needed to foster greater happiness. And the reports are absolutely epic.

They vary in depth, over 250 pages every time, but they are so important and so insightful. And when we think about what makes life meaningful, what comes to mind?

It's showing that caring and sharing aren't just nice extras, they are absolutely essential for our well being. And the report is showing us lots of data to support that.

So the first thing that might surprise you, that is stress in the report is that kindness is way more common than we think.

So the report very clearly shows that most of us underestimate how likely people are to do something nice like return a lost wallet, like lend Us their phone to make an emergency phone call like help us to get some somewhere or lend us money for a ticket. The world is actually a lot more generous than we assume.

And I really think now this is my personal opinion rather than something that has been researched in the report. I think the reason for that is mainstream news. Because when we watch mainstream news we actually just see everything that humans are failing at.

So I really think that in order to know that the world is a kind place, we do need to look out for positive stories and share them. Reading publications, my favorite like fix the news is so important for us to understand that yes world is a kind place.

And this is really important because the second thing that the report found is that happiness isn't just about how kind people actually are. It's how kind we believe they are. So this is a really big aspect about our mindset. It is all about our perception.

So on one hand we underestimating how kind we think people are. On the second side, if we don't believe people are kind, we are less happy.

So again, the best thing to really concentrate here on is do spot the random acts of kindness around you. Do read about stories and factual information with people changing the world in a positive way. Do engage in those random acts of kindness.

Change the society for good. Challenge people who think the world is kind place. So here is my actually favorite part of the report.

There is an entire chapter dedicated to sharing meals with other people. I mean hey, what a topic. Who doesn't love good food and good company, right? But what is the big deal about eating together?

Well, the report found that sharing meals isn't just about food, but actually is one of the strongest ways to boost our happiness when we sit down with others without digital devices. I'm going to repeat this. Without digital devices.

Not eating in front of telly, not staring at our phones when being with others, not reading news on our tablet when eating with others.

So sitting down, sharing the meal without digital devices, whether it's friends, family, colleagues, it's not only filling our stomachs, it's actually building connections that seriously impact our well being. And here is something cool as well. The data is very clear that people who regularly share meals with others tend to feel more satisfied with life.

They experience more positive emotions and they even feel less stressed and less lonely. You may think, yeah, right, experience that. Fantastic.

And get this, sharing meals is actually a better predictor of happiness than how much money you make. And that is huge. Right? That is huge.

Now what's also very interesting is that the report also pointed out that some places are better at this than others like Latin America are leading the way in meal sharing. They are a pro at that. But UK is much farther down the list. Much, much, much farther down the list.

People tend to eat on their own, people tend to eat with digital devices around them. So really, maybe it's time for us to catch up.

UK now sharing meals together is also very important because report highlights one really big issue that is rising. That is we cannot ignore the fact that loneliness is on the rise, especially for young adults.

So this idea of coming together, sharing meals is so important and especially if we role model it as an older generation, we can truly impact younger generation to do it more often and have it as habits.

Now the hopeful news when it comes to loneliness, especially in younger, in younger adults is also that is the fact that many of us actually underestimate the support that is actually there. So if you are feeling isolated, if you are feeling at times lonely, reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in a while. Join a group activity.

Maybe it's sending a message of appreciation to someone. Maybe it's making time to eat with someone. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. Or maybe it is reaching out to someone you haven't spoken to in a while.

Now notice how these moments make you feel and also pay attention how the people you connect with respond. If you're trying out one of these ideas to celebrate the International Day of Happiness.

Hey, cook something nice and actually talk with your loved ones about International Day of Happiness. Share some insights about that day. Please let me know how it goes. I really would love to hear your stories and absolutely stay tuned.

I'll be back soon with fresh insights from from Costa Rica. Until next time, keep connecting. Bye.