Building a Life of Wellness: The Science of Fostering Happiness and Health Span

A decline in social relationships and an increase in stress levels have been identified as notable causes for rising mental health issues, which in turn are impacting one’s overall happiness and health. This global mental health pandemic underscores the critical need for research-based strategies and effective health and wellness solutions.

The Building a Life of Wellness: The Science of Fostering Happiness and Health Span program blends the latest research on well-being with evidence-based techniques to cultivate and sustain long-term relationships, which supports health and wellness. During the program, you will acquire the skills to develop strategies to improve supportive relationships, build resilience to navigate life transitions and reduce stress, and analyze the profound impact that social connections have on our overall health, happiness, and longevity.

The program’s cutting-edge curriculum integrates research-based strategies on well-being with proven techniques, helping you enhance your quality of life. Throughout the program, you will gain an understanding of how to enhance well-being and longevity with research-based frameworks and align goals with life actions and values.

The Building a Life of Wellness program will help you:

Analyze evidence-based research on wellness, happiness, and longevity to develop frameworks for overall well-being
Design and implement impactful action plans by incorporating evidence-based techniques proven to enhance personal and others' well-being
Cultivate supportive relationships and successfully navigate major life transitions
Build resilience and coping mechanisms to transform challenges into opportunities for personal growth
Establish well-being metrics and use them to critically evaluate progress and adapt approaches as needed
Examine life stages, personal values, and risk factors to align actions with fulfillment and goal achievement
Articulate the central role relationships play in well-being

Robert Waldinger, Program Director

Full Bio

Module 1: Foundations of Well-Being and Life Stages
- Examine the disconnect between what you think will make you happy and what actually makes you happy
- Discuss the stages of life and the potential challenges at each stage
- Describe important changes currently happening in your life
- Identify questions you have about the next stage in your life
- Describe your personal views about life, what’s important, and how your views have changed over time
- Identify how lessons learned from the past can influence your current or future behavior
Module 2: Cultivating Values and Purpose
- Discuss the similarities and differences between values and purpose
- Evaluate your current and desired use of practices related to values and purpose
- Identify your core values
- Examine how your values are expressed through your daily activities
- Evaluate the congruence between your stated values and how you currently allocate your time
- Evaluate the alignment between your current life trajectory and core values
Module 3: Building and Sustaining Life-Affirming Relationships
- Evaluate the quality of your current relationships to identify areas for improvement and enhance overall relationship satisfaction and well-being
- Classify key people and relationships in your life
- Classify the types of support received from key relationships
- Evaluate the diversity and quality of your personal relationships, noting areas of strength and potential gaps in social support
- Discuss the impact of loneliness and isolation
- Describe the impact of altering your typical social behavior in a routine activity
- Identify actions to take to develop new or strengthen existing relationships
Module 4: Navigating Life Transitions with Resilience
- Identify significant life transitions
- Analyze the impact of significant life transitions
- Identify strategies for managing life transitions
- Describe anticipated challenges or concerns associated with future life transitions
Module 5: Strategies for Responding to Life’s Challenges
- Evaluate your current and ideal responses to life challenges
- Identify specific aspects of a challenging situation, including associated emotions and personal response strategies
- Analyze and manage a challenging situation using the WISER model and alternative tools or strategies
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the WISER model in managing challenges
- Formulate a strategy for addressing a future challenge using the WISER model
- Make connections between responding to challenges and life stages perspective, values and purpose, relationships, and transitions
Module 6: Implementing Happiness Practices
- Create a personal mission statement to guide daily decision-making based on your core values
- Evaluate and refine strategies for nurturing core relationships to enhance overall well-being
- Identify essential activities that contribute to your well-being
- Identify internal and external resources for facing challenges
- Develop a personalized daily well-being plan that integrates core values, core relationships, challenge management, and self-care activities, fostering a sustainable approach to enhancing overall well-being
- Reflect on personal growth and set intentions for future well-being