Holding religious or spiritual beliefs is important for ‘thriving’ in life, a study by the University of Portsmouth has found. Dr Daniel Brown, a sport and exercise scientist, assessed all the research on what helps people to flourish to come up with a definitive list for living well.

To thrive a person must be optimistic, spiritual or religious, motivated, proactive, enjoy learning, flexible, adaptable, socially competent and have good self belief. They also must have opportunity, support from family and colleagues, a calm environment, trust and a high degree of autonomy.

"Thriving is a word most people would be glad to hear themselves described as, but which science hasn't really managed to consistently classify and describe until now,” said Dr Brown.

"It appears to come down to an individual experiencing a sense of development, of getting better at something, and succeeding at mastering something.

"In the simplest terms, what underpins it is feeling good about life and yourself and being good at something."