Happiness gives a huge benefit to people in a world that emphasizes performance. 

On average, happy people are more successful than unhappy people in their professional life and in love. They do better in school, they have more prestigious jobs, they earn higher wages and are statistically more likely to marry and thrive as a couple.

For parents, from an educational point of view, the question is what really works when it comes to raising children in order to make them happy?

First advice: be happy yourself

Your child is feeling all your emotions, so it is scientifically proven that a child living in a sad or unhappy family has a high probability of reproducing the same type of behavior as his parents.

Because laughter is contagious when spending time with friends or family members who are likely to laugh themselves, you will create a very positive atmosphere for your child’s psychological development.

Tip # 2: Teach your children to build relationships

No one denies the importance of learning social relationships, but how many parents actually spend time teaching their children how to bond with others? It does not take much time. You can start by encouraging your children to make small gestures of kindness towards others aimed at creating empathy. This type of action not only strengthens their social skills and makes your children better people, but scientific studies show that in the long run it also makes them happier.

Tip # 3: Prefer effort to perfection

Relentlessly striving for success generates frustration in children. Parents who place too much emphasis on success are more likely to have children with high levels of depression, anxiety and addiction. It is much more constructive to praise the effort rather than the natural capacities. The majority of children praised for their intelligence will go to ease so as not to risk being mistaken and losing their status as bright children. Conversely, more than 90 percent of children encouraged to improve will seek to carry out more difficult actions on a daily basis, they will develop a taste for challenge.

Tip # 4: Teach your kids optimism

Do you want to prevent your child from growing up as a withdrawn adolescent? Teach him from an early age to always look on the bright side. Children who learn to think and interpret the world in an optimistic way are half as likely to be depressed at puberty. Optimism is so closely linked to happiness that the two terms can practically be merged. We see that optimists are more successful at school, at work and in sport. They are healthier and live longer.

Tip # 5: Teach them emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a skill that is not innate. Thinking that your children will naturally understand their own emotions or those of others does not help them to build up. When dealing with anger or frustration a simple method of analysis is to “confront, characterize and understand”. Communicate with the child, help them identify what they are feeling, and let them know that their feelings are understandable but that bad behavior is not.

Dear parents, this list is of course not exhaustive and it is obvious to conclude by telling you that the relevance of this advice can only be valid if it is given with great love.