The complete guide to boost happiness in your life, according to science.
People often ask me:ย โWhat 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 donโt know which ones you are struggling with in the first place? This is why itโs 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 โhappiness strengths.โ
2. Give yourself aย confidenceย boost.
Why would you bother increasing your happiness if you didnโt think you could be successful at it? You wouldnโt.
Thatโs why itโs so important to build yourย self-efficacyย โย to prove to yourself that you can increase your happy state.ย The best way to do this is by starting with easier skillsย โย skills likeย gratitudeย orย prioritizing spending time doing fun things. Get a quick win, and youโll 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 wouldnโt practice math to get better at cooking. And you wouldnโt learn another language to lose weight. To be happier, youโll 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 โย for example, byย imagining your best possibleย self,ย noting your positive qualities,ย orย identifying your strengthsย โย 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 youโre 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 itโs 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 donโt believe we can increase our happiness, we wonโt 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 โย or changing the way we use social media โย 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 donโt bring us much happiness โย 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.
Letโs face it: Sometimesย weย are whatโs making us miserable. We just canโt stop thinking about how so-and-so wronged us, or how our life didnโt turn out as we hoped. Negative thought processes โย likeย worrying,ย ruminating,ย self-judgment, andย fearing rejectionย โย 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 donโt even know what you feel or why you feel it? To become happier, try toย gain clarity on your emotions;ย find out what youโre 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 youโve known all along what would make you happy, but youโre 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 youโll 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 โย even happiness โย your brain acts as if itโs real. We canย use imagination to help create happinessย out of thin air andย enjoy our experiences more.
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 โย 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, youโll have an easier time finding it. So explore happiness โย what it means,ย what it looks like, and what it feels like โย to more easily create it.
18. Go after life.
How are you supposed to change your life by doing the same things youโve always done? Itโs pretty tough. Instead, push yourself to overcomeย fear andย approach lifeย with enthusiasm.ย Try โdoing the oppositeโย 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, weโre 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.
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 โhedonic 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 weโre 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, donโt let yourself get away with being unhappy.
In sum, you can be happier. Itโs just a matter ofย building the right โhappiness 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 โHappinessโ. 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
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