Person–Activity Fit

The How of Happiness offers many evidence-based practices and then insists that the reader choose among them. Lyubomirsky's argument is that an activity raises wellbeing only if a person keeps doing it with some effort and conviction, and people keep doing what fits them. The book includes a diagnostic for this: for each activity, the reader rates the reasons they would do it. Doing it because it feels natural, because it is enjoyable or because it matters to you predicts that it will last; doing it out of guilt, or because someone else wants you to, predicts that it will be dropped. Fit has other sides too: whether a practice matches your strengths, your way of life and the source of your unhappiness, so a lonely person might start with relationships and a chronic worrier with practices that interrupt rumination. Once the choice is made, the book's advice is about keeping a practice working: vary it so it does not become routine, time it so it stays fresh, find support from other people, and repeat it until it becomes a habit. The outcome is a short, personal list, not a long programme.