Simple Ways to Live a Happy Life
Taking Care of Yourself
1. Do What You Love
If your passion is playing
soccer, writing poems, or teaching children how to swim, make time to do it.
You’ll find that when you’re doing what you love, you’re filled with joy. How
much better does that sound than forcing yourself do something you don’t like?
2. Help Others
Sometimes after we’ve achieved
our own personal goals, we still feel empty inside because we haven’t made a
meaningful contribution to someone else’s life. When we volunteer or help
others, it feels good to just be of service to someone else. The impact we make
feels fulfilling and is a big potential source for our own happiness.
3. Be Thankful
When you think of all the
things that you have to be grateful for, you realize how blessed you already
are. Without even realizing it, we take our basic necessities for granted — a
roof over your head and plenty of food to eat. By appreciating the things that
you already have, you’ll begin to feel happier in your life.
4. Share With Others
When we share our thoughts,
our time, and our abilities with others we feel better for it. A life lived
without sharing can become lonely. When you share with others, they’ll feel
great towards you and help you to feel more joy in your own life.
5. Smile More
Practice smiling more and see
how it affects you internally, as well as those around you. You can always
afford to give a smile. Smiling can make you happier — even if you have to
force it, you’ll still feel better.
6. Exercise
When was the last time you
went to the gym or worked out? Exercise reduces stress and releases endorphins,
also known as a “runner’s high.” Playing sports is a fun way to exercise as
well, whether it’s kicking around a soccer ball or shooting hoops.
7. Seek Out a Life Coach
A life coach will help you to
evaluate your life and why you’re not feeling happy in it. Maybe you’re holding
limiting beliefs or you have an emotional block without realizing it. By
speaking to a life coach, you can uncover why you’re actually unhappy and what
you can do to feel better.
8. Find Ways to Manage Stress
Don’t let stress rob you of
your birthright to be happy. You deserve to be happy, and it wouldn’t be right
to let stress get in the way. Practices such as meditation can help you to
manage stress better and feel great.
9. Eat Healthy
It’s much more challenging to
feel truly happy when you’re sick. But when you eat right, you feel better both
physically and mentally. And you’ll avoid that guilty feeling that you just
pigged out on junk food.
10. Spend Time With Your Loved
Ones
There’s no replacement for
spending quality time with your loved ones. We’re social beings, even if you’re
an introvert or a loner. People love spending time with their friends and
family for good conversation, bonding, and some laughs. Life’s too short to
live it completely alone.
11. Dump Negative Thinking
You already know that negative
thinking will bring you down. So how do you stop it? Become more aware of it
and try replacing your negative thoughts with some positive ones. Spend less
time with negative people and more time with positive people.
12. Give More Gifts
You don’t have to give
expensive gifts; sometimes a poem, a quick note, or a thoughtful email will
brighten someone else’s day, and yours. Share what you can give to all the
wonderful people in your life.
13. Forgive and Forget
Holding a grudge will harm you
more than the person you’re holding it against. Ask yourself, “What would it
take for me to let go of the past?” and notice how you feel when you let go of
your anger for a few seconds. Focus instead on a bright future and you’ll feel
better for it.
14. Take a Walk in Nature
Spending time out in nature
can be very refreshing and renewing, especially when you’re living in an
artificial, manmade world. Taking a walk in your local woods or park and
getting some fresh air can allow you to appreciate the beauty of the natural
world.
15. Be Yourself
As Steve Jobs said, “Your time
is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Accept who you are,
just be yourself, and you’ll feel a world of difference.
• Meditation may also be useful for those going through a
tough time. Regular meditation can help relieve pain and stress. It can also
help boost your immune system, encourage a healthy lifestyle, and improve your
overall physical health
Build your self-worth. To stay
positive and maintain your happiness no matter what, it is important to
recognize your value and learn to appreciate yourself. Having self-worth means
that you do not base your value on what other people think of you, the job or
title you have, or any other external factor. If you have self-worth, then you
will see yourself as a valuable person no matter what
• Try making a list of all of the things that you value
about yourself that have nothing to do with your relationships with other people,
jobs, or other external factors. For example, you might include in this list
that you are creative, honest, and compassionate. You might also include things
like your interests or skills, such as knowing how to play the guitar, being an
avid reader, or enjoying fishing.
• Leave out items that have to do with external factors,
such as how much money you make, things other people have praised you for, or
items you own.
Be at ease with yourself. No
matter what, you are a unique person with much to offer the world. Everyone has
flaws, but by accentuating the positive aspects of your personality, you can
begin to eliminate negative thoughts about yourself.
• A good starting point for being at ease with yourself is
to not try to please everyone. Many people think that they have to “fake” their
way through life because others won’t like them if they don’t seem successful.
But playing that kind of role can leave you deeply unhappy. Focus on being the
best version of yourself that you can be while surrounding yourself with people
who care about your well-being.
• Surround yourself with people who care about you. Remember
that if people try to pressure you into doing something that you don’t want to
do, they don’t have your best interests at heart. Developing a close-knit and
caring social circle is a great way to be at ease with who you are.
Maintain a sense of variety in
your life. If you rely on short-term events or material goods as sources of
pleasure, you may feel depressed over the long term. That is because you’ll get
used to each short-term pleasure and your mind will need more and more
stimulation over time to stay happy. Inject a sense of variety and spontaneity
into your day-to-day life so you can avoid feeling like you’re stuck in a rut.
• Try surprising your spouse or partner with a weekend
getaway, or expand your skillset so that you can take on new tasks at work
Appreciate the little things
in life. Any time something good happens to you, remember to savor the moment
as much as possible. Never take anything positive for granted. Be grateful for
little moments of joy in your daily life
• Try stopping for 10-15 seconds to think about a happy
event. Remember to focus on why the event makes you happy and what kinds of
pleasure you derive from it. Making this activity part of your daily routine
can help you cultivate a positive attitude, which will have positive effects on
your health in the long term.
Avoid focusing too much on
negative situations. Many people ruminate too much
on their mistakes or other bad situations while forgetting good things that
they have done or that have happened to them. This is understandable because
the human brain is hardwired to look for threats. But excessive negative
thinking can be bad for your health.
• When you have negative thoughts, try stopping to write
them down. Doing so can help you put the thoughts in better perspective. For
instance, thinking that you constantly forget to do something may look silly
once you’ve committed it to paper. By subjecting negative thoughts to analysis
rather than dwelling on them, you’ll find it easier to develop a positive
outlook.
Give as much of your time and
money to others as possible. Helping other people regularly can improve your
mood. Whether it’s spending quality time with friends who are going through a
rough patch, volunteering at a charity event, or donating money to charity,
helping people will also help you feel good about yourself
Be grateful for what you have.
Don’t take anything for granted. Show gratitude as much as possible, whether to
your spouse, partner, parents, children, or friends. Make sure they know how
happy you are to know them. If they know you appreciate them, they will
appreciate you even more, which can only improve your self-esteem and mood
Don’t panic. A
little bit of stress may help you focus during a crisis. A lot of stress,
however, may prove counterproductive. That’s because your brain may shut itself
off to only a few possible solutions.
• When faced with a problem that seems unsolvable, don’t
react by doing the first thing that comes to mind. Think carefully and
logically about the problem before taking any action. And control your
breathing by taking slow, deep breaths. Breathing too quickly can lead to
heightened anxiety, which can only worsen the problem.
• Contrary to popular belief, “taking out your stress” by
punching a pillow or doing something similarly violent will not help reduce
your stress. Reacting to stress violently will only heighten it over the long
run, since your brain will condition itself to believe that violence is an
acceptable means of dealing with stress.
Talk to people you trust. By
sharing your feelings with parents, friends, or your spouse or partner, you
won’t have to go it alone. Other people can help you cope better than you can
on your own. Additionally, they may come up with solutions that you didn’t
think of
Keep your eye on the big picture.
Stressful events may seem daunting or permanently life-altering in the moment.
But by stepping back and asking yourself questions like “What are the potential
long-term consequences of this?” you can put the event in proper perspective
and come up with a lasting solution.
