How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
Assess your overall happiness and take steps to improve it.
To measure life satisfaction, ask yourself:
🤔 How satisfied or dissatisfied am I with my life as a whole these days?
This question is used around the world to understand how happy people are with their lives. It measures life satisfaction, how happy you are with your life overall, not moment-to-moment feelings. It’s used in surveys such as the OECD Better Life Index, the Gallup World Poll, and the World Values Survey. Research shows that people’s self-assessments are reliable and can predict outcomes such as health and longevity.
To answer the question, follow these steps. It’s not about giving the “right” answer. Being honest and thoughtful makes your response meaningful. Avoid overthinking and focus on your overall impression.
👉 Reflect on your life as a whole, not just today. The question is often preceded by the phrase “All things considered.” Think about the different areas of your life, including work, relationships, physical and emotional health, finances, and personal growth.
👉 Choose a number from 0 to 10 that best reflects your current evaluation of your life as a whole. Zero means complete dissatisfaction and ten means complete satisfaction.
Answering this question is like reviewing a movie. You are not judging individual scenes, but giving a rating to the story as a whole.
If you are satisfied with your score, that’s great, carry on as you are. If not, identify the area of your life that could benefit most from improvement. Focus on making changes in that area and track your progress over time. You might write down your score, keep a short diary, or set a goal in that area. Pay attention to what seems to make a real difference, and remember that ups and downs are normal. When you feel satisfied with your progress, move on to another area that could use attention. Revisit the question periodically to see if your overall score changes and continue reflecting on what matters most to you.
Use your score as a guide. Answer the question and take the first step to improve your life.
Further reflection
Answer these questions to see how happy you really are and find ways to improve it.
👉 Which areas of life leave you frustrated or unhappy?
👉 What drains your energy or joy?
👉 Which part of your life most needs attention?
👉 Which daily habits help or hurt your happiness?
👉 What is one simple thing you can try tomorrow?
👉 What would bring your score closer to a 10?
