I’m fascinated by happiness. Our pursuit of this mysterious state drives most of our decisions and shapes our entire society. And yet, it tends to stay tantalizingly out of reach, much like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

But even though we’ll never achieve perpetual bliss, there are plenty of ways to make the general experience of life more fulfilling. The diverse collection of happiness tests in this article will show you where you stand today and help you plug the biggest happiness leaks in your life.

Test 1: Simple Subjective Happiness Score

We’ll start simple with a classic subjective well-being score. It goes like this:

Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. If the top step is 10 and the bottom step is 0, on which step of the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time?

Are you perched on your chosen step? Good. Next, step up or down depending on how you feel about the future to get another score. Add these two scores up to get your score out of 20 for this test.

Interpretation and action

Check out the interactive map in the link below. It’s compiled from many thousands of answers to the ladder question above. Does your answer fall above or below the average for your country? Why do you think this is? Where do you stand relative to happy countries like the Nordics?

Test 2: Seligman’s Five Pillars

OK, let’s now dive one level deeper with the help of one of the fathers of positive psychology: Martin Seligman. His five pillars of happiness give a great overview of the main requirements for a happy life.

For this test, give yourself a score between 0 and 4 for each pillar. We’re not looking for any objective measures here — only how you feel about your position in each one.

• Positive emotions. Do you have enough good vibes in your life?
• Engagement. Do you regularly lose yourself in a challenging task?
• Relationships. Do others nourish you and you nourish others?
• Meaning. Do you feel inspired by a higher purpose in life?
• Accomplishment. Are you happy with what you’ve done with your life thus far?

Add up your five scores for a total out of 20.

Interpretation and action

Were there substantial differences in how you scored yourself in the different pillars? A genuinely happy life requires strong support from all five, and even one weak pillar can cause your happiness to come tumbling down.

If you gave one of Seligman’s pillars an uncomfortably low rating, take a minute to think of one strategic action you can take today to start building it up. The next tests will help by offering a deeper dive into these pillars of happiness.

Test 3: Diving Into Positive Emotions

We’d all like to feel “happy” more often. But what does that really mean? Positive feelings come in many colors and textures, so it helps to be a little more nuanced.

Here are ten positive emotions as identified by Barbera Fredrickson — a leading expert in the field. Without thinking about it too much, give yourself a score of 0 (rarely), 1 (sometimes), or 2 (often) for how frequently you experience each one:

• Joy
• Gratitude
• Serenity
• Interest
• Hope
• Pride
• Amusement
• Inspiration
• Awe
• Love

Now, add it up for another total out of 20.

Interpretation and action

Western culture can sometimes make us feel guilty about pursuing positive feelings. As we’ll see later, this cultural pressure can be useful if it manages to deter us from trying to alleviate negative feelings via “instant pleasure” activities we know are bad for us.

But rest assured: A proactive pursuit of positive emotion is all good!

The whole idea behind Shawn Achor’s bestseller “The Happiness Advantage” is that a happy brain is good for productivity and success. This means that sacrificing positive feelings in the pursuit of success is actually a terrible strategy—more about that in the next test.

So, if you gave a score of 0 to any of the 10 emotions listed above, make some plans to bring more of it into your life. This will simultaneously make you happier and more productive.

Test 4: Pursuits of Pleasure and Meaning

One of our biggest happiness challenges, particularly in the West, is a culturally engrained trade-off between pleasure in the moment and meaning/accomplishment at some undefined point in the future. Here are two all-too-common examples:

1. The rat racer sacrifices the present for the future via long hours of high-stress work. Rat racers would describe their occupation as a career.
2. The hedonist works mainly as a sacrifice to buy pleasure. Hedonists will often complain about their job.

While these two states are the most common, there are two more possibilities — one very bad and the other very good:

• The nihilist sees no meaning in anything and fails to find any pleasure in life. This is a dangerous state that may require professional help.
• The creator finds sustained positive emotion in the pursuit of their purpose. Creators don’t have jobs or careers. They have callings.

These four options are shown in the figure below, adapted from Tal Ben-Shahar’s work. Go ahead and place yourself somewhere on the figure. Then, read off the number at the ends of the diagonal line closest to your selection to find your score in this test.

Interpretation and action

Your mission here is simple: get to the top-right corner. This involves one of two mindset shifts:

• Rat racers need to accept that taking care of their happiness will not only improve their experience of life but also boost their careers.
• Hedonists should redirect their pursuit of pleasure from consumption to creation and discover the joy of adding value to the world.

If you fall in one of these categories, please have a good, long think about this. As a former rat racer, I can happily recommend The Happiness Advantage, Why We Sleep, and Rest.

Test 5: What If You Were Free?

Next, let’s give our imaginations a little workout. Here’s the scenario: Some uber-rich philanthropist offers you a decent lifestyle for the rest of your life. Nothing fancy. Just a 100% guarantee that your basic material needs will be met for the rest of your days.

Now, think through a typical day in this new life. Are you still working the same job? Staying in the same city? What about the people around you? Please give yourself a score between 0 and 20, where zero means that your life is totally different and 20 means you keep everything as it is now.

Interpretation and action

This is a direct test of the meaning in your life. Those who already experience life as meaningful will typically not make drastic lifestyle changes following a financial windfall.

If you scored low on this test, it’s time to think of ways to bring more meaning into your life. You don’t have to save the world. It can be as simple as committing to build up the people close to you by being the best parent/partner/friend you can be, which brings us to the next test.

Test 6: Personal Connection

Healthy relationships are often linked to happiness. But like happiness, relationships are complicated, and we often act against our own best interest. For example, Shawn Achor points out that we often withdraw from relationships exactly when we can most use the support they provide.

Here are your five questions, each worth four points:

• Do you get the emotional support you need from those around you?
• Do you feel you positively influence the lives of people you care for?
• Do your relationships frequently deliver moments of joy?
• Are your relationships free from instants where you break each other down?
• Are you free from feelings of loneliness?

As usual, tally up your score out of 20.

Interpretation and action

The first and most important thing to remember in relationships is that change is up to you and you alone. For example, if you gave a low score for the first point above, telling others they should support you more is not a particularly prudent strategy.

Instead, focus on offering genuine support and spreading good vibes. Also, never break other people down, even if you feel they deserve it. This will only make them defensive and closed to your opinion.

So, focus on maximizing your scores in points 2–4 above. This will already improve your happiness and, as a bonus, points 1 and 5 will soon come along for the ride. And in rare cases where you keep giving and get nothing in return, it might be time to end the relationship and move on.

Test 7: Health and Safety

Another prominent personal development figure, Steven Covey, brings a different perspective with his four human needs: to live, to learn, to love, to leave a legacy. The latter three human needs tie in closely with Seligman’s pillars from Test 2, but the first one is a little different.

Living a full and meaningful life becomes much easier when you can safely and securely experience the world through a perfectly functional body. With this in mind, please look at the four questions below and give yourself a score between 0 and 5 for each one.

• Safety. Do you feel physically safe and secure in your day-to-day life?
• Physical health. Are you generally free from disability and disease?
• Vitality. Do you have all the energy needed to live life to the fullest?
• Mental health. Are you free from chronic stress, anxiety, and depression?

You know the drill: Tally them up for a total out of 20.

Interpretation and action

Happiness comes much more willingly to those who experience life through a fit and healthy body and mind. If you’re looking for motivation to get in shape, this is it. As a bonus, exercise offers a particularly effective path to happiness that can be augmented in various ways.

If you have a chronic condition (or you’re simply getting older), accept what you cannot change and commit to improving everything you can. You’ll earn huge happiness-boosting respect from yourself and others if you rise above your disadvantage and still keep yourself in the best possible shape.

How Balanced is Your Happiness?

OK, the results are in! How do your scores from different tests compare? Happiness is complex and multifaceted, and we need a good balance of lifestyle tweaks to attract it into our complicated modern lives.

Take a minute to calculate the average of all your scores. How does this average compare to the score you gave yourself in Test 1? Would you place yourself on the same step of the ladder if you had to take this test again?

Also, pay close attention to the test where you scored lowest. This should be a good place to start your journey to greater happiness. What can you do today to become a little bit happier in this area of your life?

Remember, happiness leads to success far more readily than success leads to happiness. Take care of your happiness first, and success will follow (together with all the fulfillment it brings).

May you live (reasonably) happily ever after!