Don't worry, be happy

If you want to attain a greater level of happiness, you have to work at it.

- MARC WILSON

In the past few weeks, I've written about the evil three-legged stool of perfectionism, procrastination and impostor phenomenon beliefs. And about self-injury. All draw from my research at the end of last year.

Now, I'm trying for something a bit brighter. According to analyses of the Gallup World Poll, our own little corner of paradise is the 10th happiest place in the world. On an 11-point scale, from 0 to 10, New Zealand's latest score is a respectable 7.1. Or, in university grades, a "B". For a benchmark, the happiest nation in the world, Finland, gets a 7.8 (a "B+"), so we're not doing too badly.

In fact, we're one of only two countries in the top 10 that aren't in Northern Europe. Unfortunately, happiness has fallen in many of the countries surveyed, compared with the first poll a decade ago.