23 Science Backed Ways To Boost Happiness In Your Life

The complete guide to boost happiness in your life, according to science.

People often ask me:ย โ€œWhat can I do to boost my happiness?โ€

I tell them that there are tons of things you can do, but then I can only recall aย handful of practices in the moment. Soย I decided to create this complete guide for how to be happy, according to science.

If you useย these 23 practices consistently, you are very likely to increase your personal happiness:

1. Findย out what to do first.

How are you supposed to build the right happiness skills if you donโ€™t know which ones you are struggling with in the first place? This is why itโ€™s helpful toย take a quiz to explore your happiness strengths and weaknesses. Get a better understanding ofย what these skills are all about, and learn how toย improve upon your weaknesses and build your โ€œhappiness strengths.โ€

2. Give yourself aย confidenceย boost.

Self-confidence is a superpower

Why would you bother increasing your happiness if you didnโ€™t think you could be successful at it? You wouldnโ€™t.

Thatโ€™s why itโ€™s so important to build yourย self-efficacyย โ€”ย to prove to yourself that you can increase your happy state.ย The best way to do this is by starting with easier skillsย โ€”ย skills likeย gratitudeย orย prioritizing spending time doing fun things. Get a quick win, and youโ€™ll be more confident that you really can change your life.

Read 30 Morning Affirmations To Boost Your Confidence Daily

3. Fuel your progress by learning how to feel better about yourself.

You wouldnโ€™t practice math to get better at cooking. And you wouldnโ€™t learn another language to lose weight. To be happier, youโ€™ll likely make more progress by focusing on the skills that are most closely linked to happiness.

In my research, the skillย that usually turns out to be most closely linked to happiness is:ย positive self-views.ย Learning how to feel better about yourselfย โ€”ย for example, byย imagining your best possibleย self,ย noting your positive qualities,ย orย identifying your strengthsย โ€”ย can go a long way to increasingย your happiness.

4. Create balance and overcomeย burnout.

How are you supposed to have the energy to be happier if youโ€™re exhausted and miserable from work? It will be really hard. Building new skills,ย skills that will help youย be happier, will take time and energy. So itโ€™s helpful first to create better work-life balance.

5. Build a growth mindset.

A growth mindset refers to theย beliefย that we can change ourselves. When we build a ย growth mindset for happiness, we believe we can change our happiness. This is super important, because if we donโ€™t believe we can increase our happiness, we wonโ€™t even bother to try.

Read 6 Positive Psychology Practices To Boost Happiness and Improve Your Life

6. Make positiveย memories.

Every region in our brains can be strengthened through practice. If our brains are really good at remembering negative things that happen, it can be useful toย strengthen the regions of the brain responsible for remembering positive things.

7. Find those silver linings.

Everything we experience can be a bummer if we choose to see it that way. But whenย youย search for the benefits or silver linings in your life, you may beย surprised to discover a lot of good. Keep practicing toย increase the positive andย decrease the negativeย to cultivate happiness. Also,ย this skill has been linked to a better ability to cope withย stress and be moreย resilient.

8. Take breaks from socialย media.

By choosing to take breaks fromย Facebookย โ€”ย or changing the way we use social media โ€”ย we can boost our happiness.

Read 8 Signs You Have An Unhealthy Attachment To Social Media

9. Spend smarter for more happiness.

How we choose to spend our money impacts what we can do and how we live in ways that impact how happy we are. When we choose a less fancy house or car โ€” things that donโ€™t bring us much happiness โ€”ย we have more money to spend on adventures or on gifts forย friends: things that actually do make us happier.

10. Communicate kindly.

When we areย kind to others, we feel better about ourselves. We canย do nice things for others,ย be empathetic, or we can just treat each other with respect,ย communicating kindly rather than assuming the worst.

11. End your negative patterns of thinking.

Letโ€™s face it: Sometimesย weย are whatโ€™s making us miserable. We just canโ€™t stop thinking about how so-and-so wronged us, or how our life didnโ€™t turn out as we hoped. Negative thought processes โ€”ย likeย worrying,ย ruminating,ย self-judgment, andย fearing rejectionย โ€”ย just keep us miserable and unable to move forward.ย When you find yourself thinking negatively,ย pause and refocus your thoughts. In time, your brain will be able to do this more easily on its own.

12. Find clarity.

How are you supposed to move your life forward when you donโ€™t even know what you feel or why you feel it? To become happier, try toย gain clarity on your emotions;ย find out what youโ€™re feeling and what caused those feelings.

Read 11 Morning Rituals That Can Change Your Life

13. Live your values.

When you start toย explore yourself and your values, you may discover that youโ€™ve known all along what would make you happy, but youโ€™re just not doing it. To be happier,ย get clear on your values, so that you canย live your life autonomously, according to your own principlesย andย values.

14. Payย attentionย to the good.

Sure, sometimes life is hard. But byย paying attention to the good, you can rise above it and be more resilient. When you find the good,ย savor the moment, and bring it with you to maintain happiness even during hard times. Orย tryย thinking about a time in the future when youโ€™ll feel better.

15. Use your imagination to create the life you seek.

Did you know that your brain has aย difficult time differentiatingย between things that happen in your imagination and things that happen in real life? So when you imagine something โ€”ย even happiness โ€”ย your brain acts as if itโ€™s real. We canย use imagination to help create happinessย out of thin air andย enjoy our experiences more.

Be mindful of your SELF-talk. It's a conversation with the universe.

16. Stay mindful.

Sometimes we want to escape. The world seems dark and scary, but byย practicing mindfulnessย we experience more fully both the positive and the negative โ€”ย we are more fully engaged in our lives.

Read 5 Ways How Staying Mindful Can Boost Your Health

17. Explore what happiness means to you.

We all define happiness in different ways. When youย know what happiness means to you, youโ€™ll have an easier time finding it. So explore happiness โ€”ย what it means,ย what it looks like, and what it feels like โ€”ย to more easily create it.

18. Go after life.

How are you supposed to change your life by doing the same things youโ€™ve always done? Itโ€™s pretty tough. Instead, push yourself to overcomeย fear andย approach lifeย with enthusiasm.ย Try โ€œdoing the oppositeโ€ย to see how it feels and to make your brain more flexible.

Read Which Door Do You Think Leads to Happiness?

19. Speak up and be yourself.

When we let people walk all over us, weโ€™re unhappy. But when weย advocate for our own needs assertivelyย andย express ourselves, we feel more in control of our lives.ย Learning how to express yourselfย can help you overcome interpersonal challenges, which can make youย unhappy.

20. Find your purpose.

We all want to feel like we made some sort of positive impact in this world, but sometimes we are uncertain of the type of impact we want to make. Explore exactlyย what gives you a sense of purposeย and how you want to pursue thisย purposeย to give your life a greater sense of meaning.

21. Build meaningful connections.

You deserve connections that donโ€™t require you to distance your self, from yourself.

Did you knowย we enjoy just about everything more when we do it with others? This is why one of the best things you can do for your happiness is toย build meaningful relationshipsย and social connections. To strengthen theseย relationships, practice kindness andย gratitude towards the people you care about.

22. Get off theย hedonic treadmill.

The โ€œhedonic treadmillโ€ refers to theย tendency for us to return to our original happiness levelย over time. Toย boost your baseline-level happiness, you can try changing your physiology throughย nutritionย and exercise. To maintain your happiness, you have toย get out of your comfort zoneย andย keep adding varietyย to yourย happiness plan.

23. Hold yourself accountable.

We are more likely to do the things we say weโ€™re going to do if weย schedule time in our calendars to do them. We can also more easily stay on track if weย get accountability from others. So if you really want to be happier, donโ€™t let yourself get away with being unhappy.

In sum, you can be happier. Itโ€™s just a matter ofย building the right โ€œhappiness skills.โ€

If you need help putting this all together, check out my Happiness Programย atย berkeleywellbeing.com.

The most desired goal of every human being is โ€˜Happinessโ€™. It can come in different shades for different individuals. Identify the path towards the journey of a Happy Life.

Check outย Berkeleywellbeing.comย to learn how to find happiness, balance, and connection in our technology-obsessed world.


Written by Dr. Tchiki Davis
Originally appeared on Psychology Today
Republished with permission
23 Science Backed Ways To Boost Happiness In Your Life
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