Happy People share one characteristic in common.

There are many different approaches to happiness, and many varied approaches… but there is one vital ingredient.

It is very hard to find someone who is happy who doesn’t have strong, quality friendships and a satisfying romantic relationship.

(Even imaginary friends help. Children with imaginary friends are more happy than children without friends.)

The fundamental source of an individual’s unhappiness can almost always be found in an inability to establish good friendships.

Making Better Friends

How can you improve the quality of your relationships?

“One of the single best predictors of your happiness is the happiness of your romantic partner” Dr. Mark Holder

According to Dr Mark Holder, there are 3 words that can improve the quality of your relationships.

When you talk with a friend, the use of these 3 words builds deeper bonds.

When you speak with a loved one, these 3 words build stronger connection.

Here are those 3 words…

Tell me more

— Conor Neill (@conorneill) October 24, 2016

“Tell me more…”

When your friend tells you about his new mobile phone and you are about to tell him about your new mobile phone…  instead “tell me more…”

When your friend tells you about the great safari holiday that she has just returned from and you are about to say “I did a safari back in 2001″…  instead “tell me more…”

My friend Florian Mueck hates what he calls “The 1-Uppers”.  I tell a story of running a 10k…  the 1-upper says “I ran a marathon”.  I tell a story of hiking for 4 days… the 1-upper says “I hiked for 6 days”  I tell a story of having a blog post read by 1000 people… the 1-upper says “I had a blog post read by 10,000 people”.

Don’t be a 1-upper.

“Tell me more…”

You can thank me later.

* Check out Dr Mark Holder’s TEDx talk.