It’s important to keep your happiness tank full. Having a happy, positive outlook will help you through life’s ups and downs.
There are a few reasons to question the value of this idea. One is that hybrid theories often fail to distinguish between different kinds of well-being.
Hedonists and emotional state theorists might reject a view that suggests happiness requires only a bare majority of positive feelings.
1. Be grateful.
The practice of gratitude is a powerful tool to help us feel more positive. It can be a simple way to start and end your day by taking time to focus on what you appreciate in your life.
This includes the simple things like feeling the sun on your face or the smell of a flower blooming. It also means appreciating your accomplishments and the people who have helped you along the way.
Gratitude is also a gateway emotion that can lead to other virtues such as love, compassion and generosity. It can reduce materialism by shifting the focus towards intangibles that matter most, such as accomplishing goals and fostering healthy relationships. Having gratitude for your own achievements can also give you a sense of inner security that makes it harder to be concerned with the things you don’t have.
2. Focus on the positive.
Many studies show that positive thinking improves your health and wellbeing. It helps you cope with stress and reduces depression symptoms. In addition, it may even reduce the risk of heart disease.
If you are naturally pessimistic or have a tendency to see the glass as half empty, work on shifting your outlook. Use affirmations and find motivation from inspirational quotes. Start your day with positive self-talk and look for the good in every situation, including failures.
Try catching yourself when you think negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. For example, instead of stressing out over a traffic jam, remember that you can use the time to listen to music or a podcast that you enjoy. Make happiness a priority. It is more important than a new job, a healthy diet or a flat stomach.
3. Do something you enjoy.
The happiest people are those who love what they do. This doesn’t mean that they never struggle, but it means that the struggle is easier when their work is something that they genuinely enjoy.
If you don’t love your job, it will be a lot harder to get up in the morning and it may be hard for you to give it your best effort. It is also much harder to stay motivated when you are surrounded by things that you find tedious or uninteresting.
Think about your hobbies and passions and write a list of them. Then step by step, try to move the items in list #2 over to #1 so that you spend more time doing what makes you happy. This will lead to a happier, more fulfilling life.
4. Practice gratitude.
Practicing gratitude helps people focus on what they have, rather than what they lack. When someone feels grateful, they tend to forget about what is missing in their lives, which reduces a sense of yearning and anxiety that can lead to depression.
The practice of gratitude can also help people reduce materialism, as they will learn to appreciate the intangible aspects of life that add up to happiness and fulfillment, such as friendships and romantic relationships, a good job, and healthy physical fitness (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
A person who is practicing gratitude can try to think of at least five things to be thankful for each day, or write them down. This can be anything from a friend who sends funny texts, to the barista who makes your coffee.
5. Practice mindfulness.
Many people feel like their mind is always running, jumping from one thought to the next. They often find themselves getting caught up in negative thinking patterns, like rumination or anger. Mindfulness practice can help to stop the cycle and create a space between thoughts and emotions.
The benefits of mindfulness are plentiful, and research shows that practicing regularly can improve cognitive function and self-regulation. (Moore, Gruber, Derose, & Malinowski, 2012) Mindfulness can be done in any number of ways-some common ones include breathing awareness, guided meditation, and even mindful eating-which involves slowing down as you eat to fully taste and experience the sensations.
While mindfulness originated from Buddhist spiritual meditation practices, it has since been adopted as a secular stress management technique, and research supports its effectiveness in improving work performance.