I’m not one who believes you can be happy all the time, but I have learned you can be happy much of the time.
And that’s not something that depends on how your day is going or how others treat you — it depends on what you do on a regular basis.
I make a lot of list — it’s one of my favourite habits — . It is a list of the things I am grateful for. There are a load of things on this list from things about children, grand-children and friends, to things about my job, about nature around me, about my life. I went from feeling a bit frustrated about everything, to feeling much happier. My mindset shifted from the things I didn’t like or didn’t have, to the things I was really happy I had.- And I was in control.
Change 3 habits to make up happier
Since then I’ve experimented with a number of habits and have found a couple things to be true:
- A handful of activities can actually make you happy.
- If you incorporate them into your life on a regular basis (make them into habits), you’ll be happier regularly.
And those might seem to be small realisations, but actually they’re huge.
The Habits That Make You Happy
So what habits make you happy? Try doing these on a daily basis, and see if you get the same results:
- List 3 Good Things about the day. This can create a mental habit of gratitude that you can use other times in your day, when you’re focused on the things you don’t like or have — when you feel this, think about something you do have, that you love. Find a way to be grateful, and you’re happier.
- Help Someone. When we focus on ourselves, and the state of our lives, we are self-centered. Give someone a genuine compliment. This makes them feel happy and you too.
- Exercise. Everyone knows you should exercise, so I’m not going to labour this point. But it really does make you happier, both in the moment of exercise and throughout the rest of the day. Exercise lightly, if you’re not in the habit yet, and just for a few minutes a day to start out. Who doesn’t have a few minutes a day? If you don’t, you need to loosen up your schedule a bit.
There are a number of other habits that also help: sensible eating, drinking tea, doing yoga, sociallising with others.
Set these habits in motion. You’ll notice yourself becoming more present, more grateful, and more focused. The shift that results is nothing short of a miracle.