Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings

Happiness - we all try to find and hold onto it, even though it is elusive as ever. No one is happy all the time, but some people are definitely more satisfied than others. Research shows that happiness has little to do with materialistic things or great success; it comes down to your attitude in life, the quality of your relationships and basic services such as good governance and communal resources. Read on for more tips and tricks that will help you free your "happier me".

To step

1. Be optimistic. In the 1970s, scientists followed people who had won the lottery and found that a year later, those people were no happier than people who had not won. This is known in psychology as "hedonic adaption". This is based on the idea that we all have a basic level of happiness. Whatever happens, good or bad, the effect on our happiness is only temporary, and we tend to return to our base level. Some people have a higher baseline level than others, which is partly hereditary, but it is also strongly influenced by how you think.
   • Add up all the little happy things you experience in a day. For example: there was no traffic jam, you had a nice breakfast, your friend said something funny to make you laugh, you had a nice walk and played with the dog in the park. All these things together form a great happiness.
   • Think of the glass as half full instead of half empty. Did your girlfriend break up? Now you have the chance to meet someone else! You lost your job? Now you can find a better one! Adjust your mindset so that you can discover a core of good in everything that happens.
   • Put yourself in situations where good things can happen. It's easier to be optimistic if you set yourself up for success. Cheating on your partner or stealing a bicycle will rarely end well for all parties involved, although it may be exciting for a short time. Before you start, ask yourself: Am I setting myself up for success or failure?
   • Think about your current situation (no matter how difficult it may be) and consider how much heavier some other people are. Just be happy that you are not in a worse state. Learn to appreciate your life!
2. Follow your feelings. In one study, two groups of people were asked to select a poster and take it home. One group was asked to analyze their trade-offs, weigh the pros and cons, and the other group was asked to follow their feelings. Two weeks later, it turned out that the group that had followed their feelings was happier with their posters than the group that should have analyzed their trade-offs. choice, the options you weigh are probably quite similar, and the difference will only be temporarily affect your happiness.
   • The next time you need to make a decision and you have two or three options left, just take the one that feels right and go for it. Never regret a choice you have made. Just follow these three pillars: choices, opportunities and changes. You have to make a choice to take a chance, otherwise nothing will ever change.
3. Earn enough to pay for your basic services: Food, shelter and clothing. Apparently the magic number is $ 30,000 per year. Everything above does not necessarily make you happier. Do you remember the lottery winners mentioned earlier? Mountains of money did not make them any happier. Once you have enough to meet your basic needs, your happiness is not significantly affected by how much money you make, but by your degree of optimism.
   • You comfort will increase with your salary, but comfort does not make people happy. It makes people bored. That's why it's important to step out of your comfort zone to nurture personal growth.
4. Treat your body as it deserves to be happy. It may sound dull, but your brain isn't the only organ in your body that deserves to be happy. Researchers have found that exercise, a healthy diet and good sleep are crucial factors in becoming and staying happier.
   • People who are physically active are more likely to be enthusiastic and excited. Scientists assume that exercise releases chemicals (endorphins) that boost our mood.
   • Eat good. Eating healthy foods - fruits, vegetables, lean meats and proteins, whole grains, nuts and seeds - give your body and brain the energy they need to be healthy. Some scientists believe that an unhealthy diet, especially when packed with processed carbohydrates, sugars and industrially processed fats, can be responsible for brain shrinkage and certain mental illnesses such as depression and dementia.
   • Get enough sleep. Study after study confirms it: the more you sleep the happier you seem to be. Just an extra hour of sleep per night makes the average person happier than earning $ 45,000 a year, amazingly enough. So when you're an adult, try to sleep at least eight hours a night; the young and the elderly should sleep 9 to 11 hours a night.
5. Be compassionate. Compassion is about doing things for people who need it, or for people who are worse off than you. A brain scan study (which allows scientists to look into people's brains when they are doing or thinking something) revealed that seeing others give to charity makes people just as happy as they do when they receive the money themselves!
   • Think of easy, quick, and effective ways you can make your community a better place by being compassionate:
     
     • Teach, volunteer, or show your commitment to a church community.Countless children are looking for someone who can teach them things and act as a role model.
     • Give a micro loan. A micro loan is when you give someone (often in the Third World) a small amount to start a business. Many micro loans have a repayment of more than 95%.
     • Provide food, clothing, or shelter to anyone who needs it. It's so basic that we often don't think about it, yet so easy to do.
6. Have meaningful conversations. A study by a psychologist at the University of Arizona found that spending less time talking and more on deep, meaningful conversations can increase happiness. It will make you happier.
7. Find happiness in the work you are doing now: Many people expect that the right job or career will dramatically increase their happiness. But research shows that your degree of optimism and the quality of your relationships are far more important than the satisfaction you get from your job.
   • If you have a positive attitude, you can make the most of any job; and if you have good relationships, you don't have to rely on your job for meaning. You will find meaning in interacting with the people you love. You will see your job as a mainstay rather than relying on it as a sense-giver.
   • This doesn't mean you shouldn't try to find a job that makes you happier; many people feel that the right career is an important determinant of their overall happiness. It just means that you have to understand that the chances of your job making you happy are very slim when compared to your attitude to life and your relationships.
8. Laugh: Science suggests that smiling, whether you're happy or not, improves your mood. So always smile when you can! Laughter is like a closed circle: laughter reinforces happiness, just as happiness causes laughter. People who can laugh through painful situations experience less pain than people who keep their faces neutral.
9. Forgive: In a study of college students, forgiving attitudes contributed to better cardiovascular health. You could say that forgiveness literally heals the heart. Although it is unknown how it directly affects the heart, the research suggests that it likely decreases the perception of stress.
10. Make friends. In a 2010 study published by Harvard researchers in Amercian Sociological Review Regular churchgoers reported having more life satisfaction than those who did not. The most important factor in this was the quality of the friendships that had developed in the church. Churchgoers who did not have close friends were no happier than those who never went to church. When the researchers compared people who had the same number of friends, the people who were close friends from the church were more satisfied with their lives.
    • The difference is the formation of friendship based on a mutual interest or belief. So if church isn't your thing, consider looking for something else you're passionate about and find friends with similar interests.
    • When you interact with people who share the same interests, you feel happier because you experience feelings of appreciation and well-being. This is because during these interactions, endorphins and dopamine - neurotransmitters responsible for happiness and relaxation - are released in the body. In other words, your body is designed to feel happier when you engage in social interactions.

Tips

• Assume that what happened happened. Don't regret past mistakes. Learn from it and get on with your life.
• Dance or sing. If you're concerned, take a deep breath and focus on the positive.
• Stay in touch with your family and a small group of close friends. Create love and support.
• Don't be afraid to admit you're down and need a boost. And if a person is negatively affecting you and pulling you down, don't be afraid to banish such a person from your life.
• If you consciously try to be happy and happy, but you can't do it at some point, then do something crazy. Stupid, weird, crazy actions can seem useless, but can improve your mood just because you're glad you did it. Most essential is recognizing that happiness is a state of mind, not something that can be objectively defined. You can change your state of mind in many ways, including with the following suggestions:
  • Play your favorite music and dance to it. Talk to yourself in the mirror.
  • Try out a new dish.
  • Put all the stuff in your room differently, in a strange way.
  • Write a funny or inspiring statement on your mirror / wall / cabinet.
  • Shout as loud as you can (warn your family first!) And jump up and down; jump around the room.
  • If it's a hot day, put on your swimming clothes, go outside and stand under the garden hose.
• Think about something that makes you laugh or smile, even if it's been a while. It still has the same effect.

Warnings

• Happy people are not always happy. Everyone has times when they feel sad, frustrated, guilty, angry, and so on. Happy people are just a bit more resilient and are better at maintaining a state of ubiquitous happiness. We may feel negative at times in our lives, but try to bounce back and live in the moment, and be content with everything you do.
• If you are constantly unhappy or depressed, see your doctor.