What Did 100,000 Uplifting Moments Reveal?

Kelly McGonigal read almost all of 100,000 uplifting moments crowdsourced by Megagon Labs, and the largest category was affection, at 34,200. Affection means a moment of connection with people you are already close to, such as family, close friends, or pets. It does not have to be physical. It is a moment of feeling close to someone you care about.

Achievement came second, only 160 behind. People described running a marathon and getting out of bed. The category means doing something you value, something that mattered, or something hard you are glad you did. It is an action, and getting a promotion is not the example. Enjoying the moment, also called appreciation, took third place with about a third as many: loving a song, enjoying a meal, or noticing a beautiful sunset and feeling happy to be there. Bonding follows, a feeling of closeness with casual friends, coworkers, or strangers. Leisure drew 7,500 logins versus 34,000 for affection, and nature drew 1,800. Affection and bonding together would overwhelm the other categories, because feeling close or connected to someone ranks first.

Work shows up less often in her surveys than one might hope. For a lot of jobs, the primary feeling is stress or pressure. The moments that still lift people are work that matters, laughter with coworkers, surprise, or fixing a problem.