How to boost my happiness?
These days we are so caught up with life that we forget to prioritize our happiness. Often times, we find ourselves feeling glum and tired which often leads to burnout, which is a huge problem amongst men and women in our society who work too hard and forget to take out time for themselves.
However, once you will soon realize that even with an extremely hectic life, you will have opportunities that will enable personal enrichment, satisfaction; self love and give you a sense of purpose. Follow these steps, and you will feel a difference in how you see things and lice your life.
Happy Outlook
In order to enable a genuinely happy life, you have to change your perspective on things. You could do so in these 10 easy steps!
1. Changing your thoughts
What you think is what you will ultimately feel. Your through process will determine the quality of your life which means it can be sad, happy or content. So if you have happy and optimistic thoughts, you will feel that your body will respond to it by making you feel joy.
The difference in your thinking will give you the push you need to get out of bed and get on with your day, and inevitably move mountains. So if you really want to feel a sense of completeness in your life, it is highly crucial that you train your mind to think differently and more positively. Remember, your brain is controlled by your thinking patterns.
2. Look for the positive
It is very easy to identify the bad in any outcome but it takes strong will power to look for the good. Having a happy outlook is very dependent on you focusing on the positive of any decision, even if it is something that ended up being far from your expectations.
For instance, if you take a step that ended up being something that you did not plan or want, you have to look for the positive in that by telling yourself that you learned something out of it. This is the same with affirmations. If you are about to do something that is normally outside of your comfort zone, you need to create positive affirmations by telling yourself you can do it, and this will have a huge impact on the neurological functioning of your brain.
3. Understand what happiness means to you
Happiness means differently to everyone, so you need to understand what is it that truly makes you happy. This should not be a materialistic thing such as money, as they want for money is simply driven by greed, not happiness. This has to be something that genuinely sparks joy within you, and it can be as small as reading a good book or finding a good song. It should be something that makes you comfortable and content from within.
4. Increase your confidence
By confidence, we mean self-esteem and it will have a huge impact on how you live your life. People who are content with the way they are, tend to be happier. Your self-esteem determined how you talk to people, how you make decisions, and ultimately how you think. Once you establish a sense of security regarding yourself, you will realize how much more content you will be with life.
5. Practice smiling
It is a proven fact that smiling leads to happiness. This is because smiling enables a chemical reaction in the brain which releases certain hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, that increase the feeling of happiness in your and reduce the feeling stress, respectively. This means that you should smile more often, and you can start by smiling at strangers. You will realize how good this will make you feel, and it will probably make the stranger’s day better as well.
6. Decide to be happy
A while ago, we mentioned how your brain is controlled by your thinking patterns. This means that if you train your mind to be happy, it will eventually become permanent. You can decide to be happy with appreciating and enjoying what you currently have. This does not mean you stop striving for goals and ambitions, but you should still be appreciative of what situation you are in now. Keep in mind, that no certain situation is permanent so just enjoy what you have now and you will notice that you will try to look for the good in any bad situation too.
7. Meditate
Make it habit to meditate at least once in the week if you don’t have time to do it daily. It doesn’t have to a super complicated meditating session; you can just breathe some fresh air in and out, and clear your mind of the stressful thoughts going on in your head. You will feel much lighter after it.
8. Imagining yourself in the future
It is important for everyone to strive towards something. You should have some sense of direction so that you can work towards. This does not mean they have to be big and explicit goals such as having a house by the age of 25. You can start small such as working harder for the next exam. You should have a rough idea of what you want your future to look like so that you can work towards it.
9. Learn something new
Even though this requires a lot of commitment and effort, we advise you to do it. Again, you can start small such as learning a new recipe. That sense of accomplishment will give you the boost of happiness you need for the day and it will encourage you to try new things in the future.
10. Treat yourself
We often get so busy and caught up with our own lives that we forget to reward ourselves from time to time. This can be simple as going to a nice restaurant and having a good dinner, and you will feel so much happier for having done that for yourself. Treating yourself will allow you to rejuvenate for the next coming days until you treat yourself again.
Happy Lifestyle
Being happy has a lot to do with the kind of lifestyle you live and the kind of energy you surround yourself with. Here are 10 ways through which you can modify your lifestyle in order to enable happiness.
11. Don’t compare yourself with others
You will always notice yourself comparing your situation to others. This is not only toxic behavior but it is extremely unfair to you. We get sucked into comparing ourselves to others, and it is so easy to do that because of social media nowadays. However, whenever you find yourself doing that you need to take a moment and tell yourself that no one has a perfect life and everyone is on their own journeys, just like yourself.
12. Do everything that makes you feel better
Everyone has something that makes them happy when they do it. This can be exercising, spending time with your family and friends, eating good food and so much more. You should start making time for things that make you genuinely happy, and at one point it will simply be integrated into your lifestyle.
13. Re-evaluate your goals
Sometimes, people get stuck in this rut of a lifestyle and they often lose sight of their goals and ambitions. We are human beings, it is normal to forget about what we originally got onto this journey for, which is why it is important to remind yourself why you are here in the first place. When you re-evaluate your goals, you will have a sense of purpose again which will give you the boost of motivation and optimism you need.
14. Spend money smarter
People usually tend to spend their money without giving it much thought. However, it is important that you understand the meaning of spending smartly. You should make it a point of spending money on experiences more than material things. Once you get that experience, you will find yourself much more satisfied with your spending.
15. Spend less time on social media
We are so deeply addicted to social media, that we cannot simply imagine our lives without our phones. However, each time you check your phone to check your social media applications, you will be drained of energy more and more. You can try reducing your reliance on social media gradually, and soon enough you won't be spending any time on it at all.
16. Get plenty of sleep
People who feel dull and drowsy all the time, tend to suffer from lack of sleep. It is highly imperative that you get at least 7-8 hours of a good night’s sleep so that you wake up feeling fresh the next day. It is also advised that you get up two hours before you leave for work so you can properly wake up yourself up. It will have drastic effects on how your whole day goes.
17. Plan your week
Every weekend you should make it a habit to plan out what you need to get done for the week. This organized planning will make sure that you get everything you need to get done and it will give you a strong sense of fulfillment.
18. Get into nature
Living such busy and hectic lives, we tend to lose our connection to nature. It is important that you make it a habit to get fresh air frequently, and take a stroll in a park on a good day. We are constantly surrounded by the fast-paced life of the city, and our ears ring with the honking of cars which makes it even more necessary that we regain our connection to nature. It is a proven fact, that just 15-20 minutes of surrounding yourself with nature everyday will have profound effects on your happiness.
19. Exercise
Incorporating a workout routine can sound very hard for most of us. But in order to have a healthy and happy lifestyle, it is important that you start exercising. You don’t have to get into a hard core workout routine right away. You can start by working out 10 minutes every day in your room after you wake up.
20. Improve your diet
In order to have a healthy lifestyle, what you put into your body matters a lot. We often don’t have time to cook proper meals anymore, which is why we resort to take out. It is okay to order out occasionally, but if you are doing it everyday it becomes a problem. You need to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet and you will find that it will have a huge impact on how you feel.
Happy Socializing
The people we surround ourselves with play a huge role in our happiness. Here are 10 ways you can determine your happiness with the people around you.
21. Focus on positive relationships
It has been proven that the more kind, compassionate and empathetic people you surround yourself with, the happier you will find yourself to be. Sometimes, we find ourselves in relationships that aren’t good for our well being and it okay to detach yourself from such relationships.
22. Stay close to your family
Having strong ties with your family will give you that safe space to fall back on whenever you need it. This is why it is important that you keep close to your family and include them in everything in your life because they will always have your back. They have been there from the beginning, and they are the few people that will stay there till the end with you.
23. Interact with people who share your interests
In a social gathering, try talking to people about what your interests are and you will be surprised to see how many similarities you share with the stranger. It is a very comforting feeling knowing that there are people who are like you.
24. Find happiness in the work you do
People spend years working a job that they despise, which is no way to live life. As the saying goes, if you find a job you love you will never work a day in your life. Having to wake up for a job like that will genuinely uplift and motivate you, and this will also affect your performance at work.
25. Try to forgive
We usually hold on to certain grudges that hold us back from how we live our lives and interact with people. Find the courage and the strength in you to forgive and move on to better things in your life. You will feel so much lighter after you do so.
26. Be kind to others
The world can be a cruel place, which is why we need to offer as much kindness as we can. Small gestures of kindness will have a two-way impact; not only will they probably make someone’s day but you will realize how much better you will feel about yourself knowing that you made a small difference in someone’s life by simply being kind.
27. Be proactive about your relationships
It can be difficult to sometimes take lead in a relationship, but you should learn how to do so. If you find yourself being hurt by your friend or partner, you should let them know and not keep it bottled in. By always playing a passive role in relationships, you will miss out on several opportunities to make it better. Keep in mind that a relationship is a two-way street.
28. Practice gratitude
Being grateful is probably the key to being happy. You should develop a habit of reminding yourself what you are grateful every night before you sleep, so that you wake up with the sense of gratitude. Everything you have right now is a blessing, and you should internalize how lucky you are.
29. Spend more time in deep discussions
It is quite rare to have a meaningful conversation these days, but you should make the extra effort to have them more frequently if you really want to strengthen your ties in the relationship. Ask them questions that will really tell you the kind of person they are, and you will find out things that you never could have imagined about them which will bring you closer.
30. Let your friends talk to you
It is normal to be scared of being let down, which is why we sometimes build these huge walls around us that don’t show the real us. However, if you find people you genuinely trust, it is okay to let those walls come down for them so they can help you and understand you better.
Hopefully, you made it through the whole article and you took notes of some tips that you will be incorporating in your life to live happily. Remember, it is the small things that actually end up making a huge difference.