SPENDING time with family and friends was one of the things that make central Victorians happy.
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And it has been given the tick of approval by local wellness coach Sarah Rose, who agreed - the key to happiness is "the value of connection".
Ms Rose, who runs the website Inner Me, said this means connecting with others, feeling connected with yourself and discovering your own values.
"Sometimes we disconnect from ourselves in situations where we have to be someone other than who we really are," she said.
If you are faking it and pretending to be someone you are not, connecting with others is not going to bring happiness.
- Sarah Rose
Ms Rose used the example of a journalist having to ask questions that they would not normally ask in a setting away from work.
"Sometimes you ask questions that your wouldn't ask in your personal life," she said.
"It feels really inappropriate and you almost disconnect from yourself to do your job.
"Some people do a lot of that."
Ms Rose said in order to connect with others and to feel happy, people needed to be happy with who they were.
"At those times when we are feeling really in sync with who we are, if we connect from that place, truth and vulnerability, that is essential to happiness.
"If you are faking it and pretending to be someone you are not, connecting with others is not going to bring happiness."
Mother-of-two Brianna Downing said she was happy when she was spending time with her family.
She said her two children always put a smile on her dial.
Ms Rose said people needed to ask themselves the question - does this feel right for me?
"Does this feel easy for me, or does this feel like hard work and I am going against the flow?" she said.
"It is an inner sense of ease.
"It's either you feel like you're cringing on the inside and other times that you have a conversation that is so easy.
"What you are looking for is to be in that place of flow and ease more often."
Visit www.innerme.com.au for more about Sarah Rose.