Nicky Blackburn
February 3

Yuval Kutz says something toward the end of our interview that resonates so much that I am still thinking about it several hours later.

Kutz is president of the Happiness Studies Academy, an online program founded in Israel using scientific research to educate leaders about how to find and share happiness. 

When I ask him his number one tip for happiness, he laughs and says: “Everyone wants that one easy option, but the truth is, there isn’t really one. There are no tricks or shortcuts to happiness. It’s hard work.

“If you want to be a piano player, reading a book about piano or even practicing piano once is great, but it will not make you an amazing piano player. 

“It’s hard work. You need to practice time and time again. You need to have rituals, reminders, repetitions of the things that you want to improve and want to change. And with those, throughout a long period of time and hard work, you will implement new behaviors that will eventually make you happier.”

Happiness, I now understand succinctly, is a skill. 

We’ve always been pursuing happiness 

Happiness is one of those big buzz concepts that can be hard to put your finger on. It feels like a modern Western idea, right up there with wellness, wellbeing and manifestation. 

I mean, how can you think of happiness when you don’t know if you are going to eat, or even survive the day?  

It turns out, however, that the desire for happiness has been with us pretty much from the start.

“You can find the pursuit of happiness throughout history, in every religion, and in East and West,” says Kutz. “You can find it in the Bible, in the writings of King Solomon, and Lao Tzu, and from ancient history to modern science. It’s really been there all the time. 

“One of the main pillars of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which was published nearly 250 years ago, is the pursuit of happiness.”

But now the study of happiness has become a science. 

“We have been researching happiness for the last 30 years, and the science of happiness is not a model. It is based on rigorous research and new research is going on all the time,” he says.

Yuval Kutz, President of the Happiness Studies Academy in Israel. Photo courtesy of the Happiness Studies Academy
Yuval Kutz, President of the Happiness Studies Academy in Israel. Photo courtesy of the Happiness Studies Academy

In fact, a newly announced global study on happiness will be the biggest ever. 

More than 1,000 scientists from 70 countries will be taking part. Some 30,000 study subjects will be asked to do daily exercises, call loved ones and speak to an AI chatbot. This will be the first time that targeted interventions are used to see what measures improve happiness.

Exactly why is happiness so important to study?

“Happiness has side effects,” says Kutz. “Research shows you will be more productive, more resilient, more efficient, and that you’ll live longer” if you’re happy.

“When companies invest in the happiness of their employees, they make more money and become more profitable as a result. If a school takes care of the happiness of their children and teachers, then grades go up.”

As an example, he cites a student from Japan, who after taking the Happiness Studies Academy’s one-year certificate program, taught the principles to her fellow students and their teachers. Afterwards, grades shot up. 

Happiness summed up

So what is happiness?

“There are many definitions and all of them are correct,” says Kutz. “It’s not that there is one definition that is better than others. Many researchers and universities have created their own model of happiness.”

Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar talks to students about happiness. Photo courtesy of the Happiness Studies Academy
Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar talks to students about happiness. Photo courtesy of the Happiness Studies Academy

At the Happiness Studies Academy, cofounded in 2017 by Kutz and his longtime friend, Tal Ben-Shahar, the professor who inspired thousands of Harvard students with his course on happiness (the most popular course at the Ivy League school ever), the acronym used to define happiness is SPIRE. 

“S” is for spiritual – this can be religion or any other practice that instills a sense of purpose. 

“If someone works as a clerk in a mortgage bank, they can say that they are just filling in paperwork, or they can say that they are helping young couples fulfill their dream of buying a first house. It really depends on the sense of purpose and how you frame your life.”

“P” is for physical, which means taking care of your body through exercise and by eating and sleeping well.  

“I” is for intellectual wellbeing. “It’s harder for the younger generation to understand that reading a book is actually good for you, or going to see a play, or learning something new that really triggers your mind,” says Kutz. 

“I’m talking about deep learning here. Taking a great work and diving into the words and appreciating what is there, rather than getting sucked into the fast pace of the world today – TikTok, etc.”

“R” is for relationships — with family, children, spouse, coworkers and friends, and even with yourself. Kutz says studies show that the top predictor of happiness is relationships, and there is much we can learn to do to improve them.

Last, but not least, “E” is for emotions — how to cultivate pleasurable emotions and deal with the inevitable negative ones. “We will all feel anger, fear, envy and grief at times,” acknowledges Kutz. 

“We all go through hardships and letting those emotions flow through us is important for overall wellbeing. We use the term ‘permission to be human.’ Rejecting these emotions will make them intensify. Accepting these negative emotions will help you cope with them, and help you bounce back better,” Kutz explains. 

“Happiness is important through hard times as well You have to go through the hardship, cry, let it out, talk about it, experience it to its fullest.”

Since October 7, the academy has run some voluntary meetings and Zoom sessions to offer advice on dealing with anxiety to soldiers and families badly affected by the war.

In the past, it has also done the same in Ukraine, and during the Covid pandemic in Israel.

Is Israel really happy?

One of the ironies of all this, of course, is that Israel has gone through so many difficult times. Wars. Conflicts. Attacks. And yet the country consistently scores high on the annual World Happiness Report.

Even in March last year, five months after the Hamas massacres and kidnappings, the results showed Israel in fifth place — down just one notch from the year before. 

The next survey comes out in two months. Kutz predicts that Israel will still score highly despite what he terms “probably the worst year ever” for our nation.

He goes back to the SPIRE model to explain why. “Is there a sense of purpose in Israel? Absolutely. It’s very easy to see, even in the past year.”

A display on the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv on December 19, 2023, reads: “Together we will win.” Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90
A display on the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv on December 19, 2023, reads: “Together we will win.” Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90

He points to the slogan that currently adorns buildings across Israel, “Together we will win.” 

“That’s a very strong, united, purposeful community. The soldiers, the mothers, the people of Israel, we stand united.

“We have a common enemy, and I would say that paradoxically that helps our overall wellbeing. We know why we are here, we know what we’re doing, and who we are representing. We know the history behind us,” he says.

“But when you talk about ‘together we will win,’ isn’t that just one sector of the population?” I ask, as a large percentage of the ultra-Orthodox population refuses to serve in the army.

He nods. 

“I’m afraid the dispute, the divide, is not helpful,” he admits. “But having said that, in each group you look at, separately, you will find elements of happiness very strongly. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work on bridging that gap, and hopefully, I’m an optimistic person, we’ll do it.”

The “R” in SPIRE – relationships — is also behind Israel’s high rating on the happiness scale.

“We meet our family for Friday night dinner very often. We go to our friends very often. If I want to meet one of my friends, I don’t need to set an appointment. I can probably call him and say I’m on my way,” says Kutz.

“The DNA of the Israeli community is to help, and it has nothing to do with the past year or the years before. We are the ones that will help someone on the road when they need to change a tire. Other countries will as well, but we will score highly on this level. We take care of each other.

“It’s been there from the moment the country was established. We ran from different places in the world; they didn’t like us so much. We came here with a common goal, and created this amazing magic.”

What can Israel uniquely teach the world about happiness?

“Israel has a lot to teach and a lot to learn,” he says, adding that the academy has students from 98 countries including Iran, Oman and Saudia Arabia, and that everyone learns from each other. 

“But if there was one thing in particular,” he adds, “I would say the relational part. The sense of belonging to a community and the frequent meetings with family and friends. This is something that I wish other cultures would copy.”

What we want most for our kids

Kutz’s own journey into happiness studies began through his friendship with Ben-Shahar. Their children became best friends in kindergarten, and the two families became close too.

The academy today offers online courses leading to a certificate in happiness studies or a fully accredited master’s degree; soon a PhD program will be added as well. 

There’s also the Happier School Program in which educators learn how to teach happiness to children. This runs mostly in the US and Latin America. (A similar course runs in Israel, set up by Ben-Shahar independent of the academy.)

Kutz believes that it’s important for kids to learn about happiness.

“They learn history, math, literature… and that’s important, but if you ask parents what they want for their child, I’m not sure they will say ‘I want my child to be a great mathematician.’ Probably most people will say, ‘I want my child to be happy.’ So why not teach that in school so the child will know what makes him happier?”

Students at the academy come from a wide range of fields, and include CEOs and HR managers, teachers and head teachers. 

Some take the course for personal reasons, others go on to conduct workshops, write books or create new businesses or academic research. The academy has about 1,000 students a year, and around 10,000 graduates worldwide.

Exercise

So now we are back to that original question about the one most important tip for happiness.

Though Kutz has convinced me by now that happiness is about putting in hard work in many fields, he does admit that there is one thing we can all do to help our state of mind. 

“Exercise,” he says.

Exercise is at the heart of happiness. Photo via Shutterstock 
Exercise is at the heart of happiness. Photo via Shutterstock 

“The research about exercise is mind-blowing. Moderate exercise three or four times a week for an hour each time improves your overall feeling throughout the day, and it will help your long-term physical condition as you age. All your statistics of what you’re going to endure through life will improve.”

Reflecting on the difficult period Israelis have been going through, he adds, “It’s a simple thing. If a grieving mother gets up and exercises, it will not make her happy because external circumstances are important here. But it will make her happier and more resilient, under the circumstances.”

An amazing moment

Kutz, who for most of his career was working as a CEO for a large high-tech company, admits he initially felt quite cynical about the happiness field. But when he took the course, in the first cohort of the academy, it changed his perspective.

“It was very intelligent and in-depth. I started reading and understanding Shakespeare, and learning about classical music,” he tells me.

“It started with small interventions and grew. In the course we talk about smiling more, and being more kind. In restaurants I always say ‘thank you,’ I’m polite, but then one day I raised my head, looked the waiter in the eyes and told him I really appreciated the work he’s been doing. It was a different kind of thank you.

“I felt good about it and that did the trick. It was a very small cornerstone in a very big change that has happened throughout the years. My friends, family, connections, relationships– everything went better ever since.”

He tells me that his son took part in a school-based happiness program created by Ben Shahar. 

“We were at the beach in Tel Aviv, and my child is usually very hectic and runs around a lot. But then I found him sitting down on the sand, doing nothing, just watching the waves.

“I asked him what he was doing. And he told me, sit next to me and be quiet, just look at the view. So I sat next to him and we both sat quietly watching the waves, and the sun started to go down. And my son turned to me and said: ‘Dad, isn’t it a beautiful world.’

“It was an exercise he learned in [the course], and he experienced an amazing moment and helped me experience that moment with him. So is it making a difference to my family? Absolutely. Is it helping his overall wellbeing and happiness? Absolutely. This child will probably be more creative, productive and successful as a result.”

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