How good are you?
It's not the sort of question you read every day in a news outlet but according to a recent survey, 77 per cent of Americans believe that being a good person is extremely important while only 41 per cent feel they are on the right track.
A new quiz by New York Life Insurance, as part of their Keep Good Going campaign (#keepgoodgoing), reveals four different approaches American take to cultivate goodness and happiness into their day-to-day lives. The categories include: Good Leaders, Good Nesters, Good Workers and Good Strivers.
Good Leaders are an optimistic lot, according to the report. They basically know how to be happy and are role models when it comes to promoting goodness. In terms of their interpersonal relationships, they are good friends to others and are kind and considerate. Twenty-six per cent of those surveyed are Good Leaders. They keep good going in all aspects of their lives--personal, family, work and community. They are financially comfortable and tend to be more involved with politics as well.
Good Nesters, meanwhile, comprise 24 per cent of the respondents. They are more family-oriented, and are more focused on promoting goodness within the home rather than in their communities. Although more financially secure compared to others, they still believe that having more money would not buy them more happiness. They also feel that "what a person has is less important than who a person is." They value integrity and mirror that virtue in the way the live their lives.
Twenty-nine per cent of the participants consider themselves Good Workers and they keep good going by trying to find the right balance between work and family. Although they are the most hardworking among all the four segments, they don't buy the idea that hard work by itself can enable people to attain the American Dream. They are largely positive about where the country is going and believe that Americans still know the things that are important in life.
Parents who are Good Workers put a premium on education as one means to help their children succeed.
Finally, Good Strivers make up 21 per cent of survey respondents. They hold on to the view that life is difficult. For them to be able to perpetuate good, they believe that they still need to be more financially successful. Even if they want to keep good going in all aspects of their lives, they still can't concentrate on doing so because they believe that it is hard in today's challenging world.
Like Good Nesters, Good Strivers place establishing loving relationships with their children as a priority and strive to live with integrity. Yet they don't feel that the good they are giving to others is reciprocated. Good Strivers know that they aren't always positive in their outlook in life. Rather, they feel that the level of skepticism with which they approach life is healthy.
How do you keep good going in your life? You can now discover which of the four segments above you belong to. New York Life has launched an online quiz that enables you to gauge how you approach goodness. After the quiz, independent consultant to New York Life Dr. Christine Carter, PhD gives tips tailored to each Keep Good Going Style so you can keep on perpetuating goodness at home, at work and in your communities. She explained, "Understanding your Keep Good Going style is fun, and it can lead to greater happiness. After you take the quiz you get simple, actionable steps you can take to perpetuate and expand the good in your life."
Written by Nicel Jane Avellana, contributor at r/ally, the mobile collaboration platform that lets you socialize your goals.