3.3.3 SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS
SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS
1.Warm up
- What does success mean to you?
- Are successful people always happy?
2. Vocabulary Focus
Which five of these are most important for your happiness? Talk with a partner and then in a group.
achieving goals
being fulfilled
earning a high salary
work-life balance
following your passion
not having stress / pressure
enjoying life
being proud of something
a meaningful life
personal satisfaction
3A. Video – Before watching
3B. Discussion
3C. Video – Watching
“What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness” (Robert Waldinger – TED Talk)
As you watch the video, see if you can find what things are important for happiness according to the speaker?
3D. After watching:
Discuss:
- Do you agree with the video?
- Did anything surprise you?
Video Script
What keeps us healthy and happy as we go through life? There was a recent survey of Millennials, and over 80% said that a major life goal for them was to get rich, and another 50% said that another major life goal was to become famous. And we’re constantly told to lean into work, to push harder and achieve more. We’re given the impression that these are the things that we need to go after in order to have a good life.
The Harvard study of adult development may be the longest study of adult life that’s ever been done. The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: good relationships keep us happier and healthier, period.
So, the second big lesson that we learned is that it’s not just the number of friends you have, and it’s not whether or not you’re in a committed relationship, but it’s the quality of your close relationships that matters. And the third big lesson that we learn about relationships on our health is that good relationships don’t just protect our bodies, they protect our brains.
Relationships are messy, and they’re complicated, and the hard work of tending to family and friends, that’s not sexy or glamorous. It’s also lifelong, it never ends.
Just like the millennials in that recent survey, many of our men, when they were starting out as young adults, really believed that fame and wealth and high achievement were what they needed to go after to have a good life. But over and over these 75 years, our study has shown that the people who fared the best were the people who leaned into relationships with family, with friends, with community.
I’d like to close with a quote from Mark Twain: there isn’t time, so brief is life, for bickerings, apologies, heart burnings, callings to account. There is only time for loving, and but an instant, so to speak, for that. The good life is built with good relationships. Thank you.
4A. Grammar Focus – Comparatives
- The more you work, the less time you have for relationships.
- The more money people earn, the happier they expect to be.
What do you notice about these sentences?
Which idea comes first: cause or result?
Structure:
The + comparative…, the + comparative…
- The more you work, the less time you have.
- The harder you try, the better you become.
Notice:
We don’t use will or future forms
both clauses use comparatives
4B. Practice
4C. Debate ideas
5A. Success and failure
Look at the verbs and expressions in bold and put them into the correct category below:
- After years of hard work and patience, Joe finally made it. He’s a millionaire now.
- We’d been organising the trip for months, but in the end our plans fell through.
- Kate’s phone was off all day, but I managed to call her in the evening.
- Do you think his plan will come off in the end?
- If you don’t have a little luck on your side, all your hard work may come to nothing.
- Despite the financial crisis, some banks are continuing to prosper.
- Dave had a wonderful opportunity to impress his new boss, but in the end he failed.
5B. Practice
5C. Discussion
6. Task: “My Ideal Life”
In pairs: Describe your ideal life in 10 years.
Include:
- job
- free time
- family/friends
- lifestyle
7A. Present Continuous (Now and Future)
The present continuous (am/is/are + verb‑ing) is used to describe actions happening at the moment of speaking and also future arrangements.
1. Present use (now / temporary situations)
We use it for actions happening right now or around this time.
She is working on a new project.
I am studying for my exams this week.
They are staying with friends at the moment.
👉 Often used with: now, at the moment, currently, these days
2. Future use (arrangements)
Used for fixed future plans that are already arranged, often with a time or place.
I am meeting my boss tomorrow at 10.
We are flying to Paris next week.
They are having dinner with clients tonight.
👉 This implies the plan is organised (e.g. booked, scheduled).
Key idea
Use it for temporary, in-progress actions → present
Use it for planned, confirmed arrangements → future
7B. Practice
7C. Discussion
What are you working on these days?
What are you doing after class today?
Are you meeting anyone this weekend?
Are you learning anything new at the moment?
Where are you going for your next holiday?
Are you doing anything interesting this week?
7D. 🎲 Speaking Game: “Busy or Free?”
Instructions:
- Student A makes a suggestion.
- Student B replies using the present continuous
Then change roles.
Example:
A: Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?
B: No, I’m washing my hair.
Prompts:
- Do you want to go for coffee after class?
- Shall we study together tomorrow?
- Do you want to go to the beach this weekend?
- Let’s have dinner tonight.
- Do you want to go shopping later?
- Shall we watch a film tomorrow evening?
- Do you want to go for a walk now?
To download the pdf for this topic, click on the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GDDXFb8WTh_JXPp5NxmGvj5FkIASNzCq/view?usp=drive_link