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!).
