What Makes Men Happy -vs- What Makes Women Happy

I found the following Top 10 lists in the January 2009 issue of Real Simple magazine. The responses are based on a survey of 2,600 men and women.

It’s fun to think about what makes you happy, compared to what you think would make your partner happy. I found some of the “men” ones interesting…

 

First, the women. My $.02 appear in parentheses…

10 Things That Would Make WOMEN Happier:

#1  A permanently clean home. (I strive for this daily; I’m doing much better than I used to.)

#2  A luxury trip. (I’m grateful that we now take one each year!)

#3  A big house. (I recently got one, and I have to admit, it ranks pretty high.)

#4  Losing 10 pounds. (Or 5… and for longer than just a weekend.)

#5  A great body. (Ehhh… I’ve stopped comparing myself to others these days.)

#6  Time for themselves. (I agree… very important! I’ve always done pretty good with this one.)

#7  A really romantic relationship. (Again, I’m grateful.)

#8  Being smarter. (Naaa… at this point, I am what I am.)

#9  Saying “No” more. (Not an issue for me… no kids, so I’ve always been in control of my own time & activities.)

#10  A luxury car. (I’ll pass. I’m pretty happy with my fun Jeep Wrangler.)

From this list, I think I’d have to rate #4 “losing 10 pounds” as the #1 thing that would make me happier. Which is a big bummer since the only reason I’m not 10 pounds lighter is my own fault, darn it.

And now for the men…

 

10 Things That Would Make MEN Happier:

#1  A big house. (Really? Does this surprise anyone else but me?)

#2  A really romantic relationship. (Who knew this would be so high?)

#3  A luxury trip. (I guess we’re in the same boat on this one.)

#4  Being smarter. (Over-achievers… competitors.)

#5  A luxury car. (I thought this one would be higher.)

#6  A better sex life. (I thought this one would be higher.)

#7  A great body.

#8  A permanently clean home. (I bet this would be higher if they did more of the house cleaning!)

#9  Losing 10 pounds. (Yeah, that’s because guys can lose weight practically overnight!)

#10  Having a personal assistant. (Now that you mention it, I could use one of those too!)
Interesting… right? Guys don’t need time for themselves like women do. Instead, quite to the contrary,  they seek to include others in their life — by way of adding a personal assistant (and house cleaners!).