Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what makes happy people so darn happy. I know it has nothing to do with wealth or possessions, but I wanted to dig a little bit deeper and get down to the key components of what truly makes someone happy. Who wouldn’t want to know the secrets of living a happier life?
When I think of the happiest people I know, there are a few key traits and habits that come to mind about each of them that seem to be pretty consistent across the board. I’ve compiled a list of these habits, as well as different strategies for how to go about achieving them in your own life. I’ve been trying to adopt more of these habits myself and have experienced more overall happiness as an immediate result.
Perhaps some of these might be obvious ways to achieve happiness, but I know that I can lose sight of these myself when life gets busy and I get caught up in the day-to-day craziness. It’s always good to have gentle reminders.
Here are some great habits for happiness, as well as tips for how to help you implement them in your own life!
Habits for happiness:
1. Practice kindness
I found this article discussing the link between kindness and happiness and it states, “A study in 2005 by Hebrew University in Israel noted that there is a link between kindness and a gene that releases dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that makes us feel happy. So, not only does kindness make the person on the receiving end feel good, it makes the person being kind feel good as well.”
How awesome is it that there is scientific proof that being kind to others can increase our own happiness as well! There are so many easy and fun ways to show kindness to those around you.
Some ideas for practicing kindness in your life:
- Volunteer for a cause you are passionate about. If you are having a difficult time finding somewhere nearby to volunteer your time, volunteermatch.org might be a wonderful resource to find a cause that will be a good fit for you.
- Reach out to a friend, co-worker, or even a stranger who looks lonely or seems to be struggling with something.
- Do something as simple as paying for the coffee of the person in line behind you. I had that happen to me once when a stranger picked up my tab, and not only did it completely make my day, but it gave me an opportunity to continue to spread the kindness and pay for the person behind me as well.
2. Set goals and a strategy to achieve them
Have you ever been completely immersed in something and lost all track of time, only to find yourself coming up for air a few hours later and feeling really great about how productive you were? When we are working toward achieving something we are passionate about, it gives us a sense of purpose and meaning. That is a guaranteed way to increase your level of happiness!
Some ideas for how to go about achieving your goals:
- Make a list of your goals and place them somewhere that you will see them throughout the day.
- Sit down and review your goals every night while making your to-do list for the next day, and be sure that you are considering your goals when deciding what tasks need to be accomplished. You can’t achieve your goals if you don’t plan the time to do so!
- Find an accountability partner to help you stay on track.
3. Adopt a positive mindset
Some of the most miserable people I’ve ever known have been ones who I could always count on to see the negative in any given situation. When you have a positive mindset, you are more able to experience the gratitude you have for all that is good in your life. It also allows you to be more optimistic when something doesn’t go as planned.
Having a positive mindset can truly make all the difference in the world when it comes to achieving a high level of happiness.
Some ideas for how to adopt a positive mindset:
- Spend more time with positive people in your life, and less time with the negatives ones. Positivity and negativity are equally contagious, be cautious about which one you become infected with. (tweet that)
- Write down 3 things you are grateful for at the end of each day.
- Stop wasting time beating yourself up over mistakes you’ve made or things you are no longer in control of; dwelling on negative thoughts doesn’t leave much room for the positive ones.
4. Exercise
I think this is something that everyone is aware of when it comes to increasing happiness. We all also know that it’s easier said than done to actually make the time for it! For me, it’s important to make exercise fun. Otherwise I just dread it and it won’t happen on a consistent basis.
Some ideas for making exercise fun:
- If you have kids, get outside and play with them! Throw around a football or frisbee, have races to see who can run from point A to point B the quickest, or see who can swing the highest.
- Go for a walk with a friend. Having a good conversation with a close friend is sure to make the time pass quickly, and you’ll be getting in some socialization and exercise at the same time. The perfect combo!
5. Have a few close relationships
While it is great to have a large network of many friends, it can be very difficult to maintain close relationships with so many people. It it much better to have a few close relationships with quality friends that you can count on, rather than a large group of friends that are merely acquaintances. As I get older and have less time to spend on cultivating friendships, this one has become more and more important to me. I would much rather have a couple of really great friends that I know are there for me when I need them and spend my time being able to grow those particular relationships.
Are there any other habits that you find bring happiness into your life?
I hope this post made you smile and inspired you 🙂 . Please feel free to spread the joy with others and share on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or anywhere else your heart desires!
I always feel more positive when I exercise and eat healthy. I also have more energy which further contributes to my positive attitude!
Absolutely Holly!
Christina I love this post! I think you highlighted some great ideas for improving happiness. I think adopting a positive mindset is probably the easiest and hardest change we can make. I am working on this in my everyday life. One of the things that has helped is starting a gratitude journal. Being mindful of what I am grateful for has improved my happiness. Thanks for this post!
Thank you for sharing your experience with this, Lora! 🙂
Great post, Christina!! I am definitely one of those happy people. My husband is sometimes annoyed by my constant positivity, haha! But life is short!! Even though life is no where near perfect, I just focus on the positive. There will always be reasons to be down, but at the same time there will always be reasons to smile. I choose (daily) to focus on those!
That’s awesome Sarah! Haha I love your optimism 🙂 You are so right, we make a daily choice to focus on the good in our lives!
Focusing on the positive and leading a healthy lifestyle can really make you feel better about your life. Achieving my goals and moving forward in life makes me happy because I hate to feel like I’m stuck or not using my time wisely to do things that I love doing.
Absolutely Chonce! I’m with you on that one, I always feel better when I’m making progress in reaching my dreams.
I’ve been working hard on keeping a positive mindset. I need to use affirmations more and remind myself that life is good (and can always get better)! I also need to exercise more, but what else is new. 😉
That’s great Meredith! I am always working on the exercising one too, a work in progress, I say 🙂
I love being happy and I’m always looking for ways to maintain my happy. Why be the wet blanket when you can be the nice, dry, comfy one? 🙂
Part of my “happy” ritual is coming to this site, Christina. Your ideas are SO good and they always make me even happier! 😀
You bet, Kay! And that is so sweet, I’m very glad to hear that. Thanks for making my morning 🙂
I am in COMPLETE agreement with you! When I started taking exercise seriously, I felt such an improvement in my energy levels and my attitude. Also, keeping close friends and sharing life’s challenges and victories have been an integral part of every transition I’ve made in life. Awesome post!!
Thank you Daisy!!
Practicing gratitude is always helpful for me! And, nice weather! haha
Nice weather always does it for me too 🙂 I wish that was something I had more control of, it’s an instant mood-perker!
Exercise is huge. I need to get back into it but it’s just so easy to get lost in everyday stuff.
It really is, I am always working on fitting more exercise in too!
Exercising is a big one. When you exercise regularly you just feel better about yourself. Additionally I like that you brought up a positive mindset. Sure everyone has been burned from trusting someone too much, but “assuming positive intent” can have a huge impact on how you approach conversations, relationships, and pretty much every area of life.
Absolutely DC! Having a positive frame of mind can work wonders in how you approach different situations.
Loved this! Before I even started reading, I thought “eat well, and exercise”! It´s incredible how much better I feel after a week of eating well vs a week of eating junk food. Everything is different. So why is the cookie aisle still so darn tempting?! Hahaha!
So true Chela! Ugh I’m with you, I am a HUGE sweets fan. One of my goals this month was to significantly cut down, and I’ve been failing miserably.
This last year I have been working on being positive and distancing myself from negativity. It’s so easy for that negativity to creep back in but life is so much happier without it!
Agreed Jayleen! I feel so much better about life in general when I attempt to distance myself from drama and negativity. I don’t need it!
In today’s busy life, how happy really is everyone? I can definitely relate to this good read, thank you. Never enough happy news each day!
Aw thank you Linda! 🙂
I can truly relate to this great article, so true! Not enough happy news each date anyway.
I am one of those happy people, but even though I’m normally cheery and smily, I know I can be harsh at times. When I notice the nasty things I say, I start to hate myself. Lol Noone actually wants to be the jerk.. it just happens.
But I know my happiness comes around cause I pretty much love every animal imaginable, babies, and silly old people. They all instantly perk up my mood for being so damn cute:]
And since so many things make me genuinely happy, I always have something to turn my mood around with.
My boyfriend has dog memes and ridiculous youtube videos stored in his phone for my cranky days ?
I think everything is important here. It should be a complex lifestyle – with exercising, positive mindset and goals. It may not be guaranteed conditions of unconditional happiness but it will certainly make you healthier and more peaceful.
I want to share an inspiring article: https://www.purposefairy.com/71285/25-life-changing-lessons-to-learn-from-buddha/ Happiness does not depend on certain conditions, it depends on your thinking and perception of the world. In this context, the Buddhist ideas seem to be so true.