All things considered, all people want is to be happy. Their pursuits take many forms, but there are some universal truths how to feel happier overall. Without further ado, let us make your life happier this very instant!
1) Exercise more. This might sound like a strange advice, but having regular physical exercise improves one’s mood considerably. And it doesn’t take a lot of it – you can feel the mood changing properties of exercising within 7 minutes of starting! Even better, exercising is a good way of treating depression (only 9% chance of relapse after exercise therapy).
1) Sleep more. Make sure you make sleeping enough your top priority. Studies show that sleeping 1 hour more per night has more effect on personal happiness than earning $100,000 per year. Sleep deprivation will get to you sooner or later. Remember – your body doesn’t care if you’re sleep deprived because you had to work all night or because you played video games. It will make a mess of you.
2) Work closer to home – short commute does wonders. Assuming it takes you more than half an hour to get to your workplace, simply calculate how much time you waste on commuting. Remember – even having a good car or a big house won’t stop the misery of everyday commute.
3) Spend time with your family and friends. When interviewing people on their deathbed, majority of the list not spending more time with their family and friends as their greatest regret. However, it’s not only at the end of the life that family and friends matter – strengthening your social ties will make you happier and feel more secure.
4) Go outside. Human beings are made for movement. In today’s world of technology, we work while sitting, converse while sitting, entertain while sitting. Odds are that you’re reading this while sitting. However, me were standing and moving and running for the most of our history. Go outside, even for 20 minutes. Just breathing outdoor air will help.
5) Smile. Do everything that is in your power to be a positive person. You will literally live longer. Practice smiling. Don’t be negative, snide or gossipy. Be an optimist.
6) Help others. Studies have consistently shown that helping others increases personal happiness may more than buying stuff does. What’s more – helping others leaves a lasting effect on you and society as a whole, unlike 40th pair of shoes that you don’t wear.
7) Be thankful. Being thankful is like an instant happiness pill. There are a lot of ways how to practice this, both religious and secular, but one good way is to write down three things you’re thankful for every day and put them in a jar. When the jar gets filled, read all the notes, and start over.
8) Frame your favorite happiness saying. This one works very well: “Lots of people work too hard for money that doesn’t fill them to buy things that they don’t need in order to impress people they don’t care about.”
9) Don’t nag or complain. Of course, sometimes we really need help. But if you accept things as they come (not crying over spilt milk), you’ll see that very few things in your life are disasters – we make most of disasters in our mind.
Reference: realsimple blog.bufferapp.com
