London - No one will ever beat a mid-life crisis by going on a spending spree, trying to regain their lost youth or reading self-help books.
The real solution costs nothing and involves focusing on what gives you pleasure and doing more of it, says an expert.
That can be as simple as switching off your mobile phone, listening to music, going for walks or spending time with friends.
Last week a survey found we are at our most miserable between the ages of 50 and 54 before we perk up again between 65-79.
Professor Paul Dolan, the man behind the study, says his subjects were asked how satisfied they were with their lives rather than how happy they felt.
And now he says the way to beat the blues is to embrace the small pleasures of life.
“Don’t pay attention to how happy things make you,” warned Mr Dolan, who is professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics.
“Instead, find things which make you feel good, then do more of them. A long-term sustainable impact on your life can be achieved, but not by sitting about thinking if only I was slimmer, fitter, richer, then I would be happier. It’s not going to happen, so you’ll still be miserable.”
He added: “When you’re young you have all this false optimism about life; when you’re in mid-life most people haven’t achieved what they would like to; then by the time you’re in your late 50s you start to get over yourself and start doing things you like, caring less about social comparisons.
“It’s all about actually changing what you do to do more of the things we like – listen to music, go outdoors, meet friends and new people. If everybody did that every day we’d be a lot happier.”
He also urged people to reject self-help books – even though his own bestseller, Happiness by Design, might arguably be included in that category.
He told The Observer: “It’s an explosive genre because they explain how you could feel but not how to achieve that. They don’t work – they merely encourage people to go and buy another self-help book.’”
Daily Mail