10 Things Happy People Do Regularly
Happiness is sometimes thought of as an unreachable state of mind for some people whilst others seem to be naturally happy. So what is the secret?
Positive psychology is a growing field that focuses on mental wellness. Studies have concluded that these 10 key things that are fundamental in keeping happy people… well… happy!
Giving
Helping, caring and sharing with other people is very good for our psychological wellness because not only does it make the other person feel good, but it feels really good to do nice things for other people.
Healthy Relationships
Nurturing and respecting the people you form relationships with ensures that they stay healthy. I am sure you will agree that nothing makes you more miserable than to be arguing with somebody that is close to you.
The way people who are closest to you treat you is a direct reflection of the way you feel about yourself therefore the most important relationship to nurture is the one you have with yourself!
Exercise
The importance of physical exercise is increasingly significant. It has been proven that going for a walk – even for 10 minutes can significantly improve depression symptoms. This is because our minds and bodies are connected with exercise releasing feel-good endorphins.
Appreciation
Take the time to look around and appreciate the world that you live in. It’s about noticing the little things like green lights…. rainbows etc. Ultimately it is about being more mindful and living in the moment.
Keep Learning
There is a fabulous saying that I love, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” To me this means that I am constantly learning new things about the world I live in, about my horses and animals, about living happily and kindly, etc. Some things are pure trivia and some things are so beneficial that they influence me to live my life in a better way. The bottom line here, stay curious! Try new things. Live.
Set Goals - big and small!
Making goals gives your life purpose and direction. They don’t have to be huge world-changing goals, but they need to be world-changing for you. Break larger goals into smaller, bite-sized goals and take the time to acknowledge each and every achievement along the way!
Resilience
The funny thing about life is that we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the good times if we never had bad times to compare it to. For example, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate being healthy if we have never been sick or injured.
The point is that we need to learn how to cope with the bad times, remind ourselves that the bad times are temporary and learn ways to take control and take action to get out of the bad times.
The good news is that resilience is a skill that can be learned. We can learn to embrace and feel into the bad emotions in order to release them and move back to feeling good.
Positive Emotion
Recent studies show that regularly experiencing joy, contentment, gratitude, accomplishment and joy creates an “upward spiral” of positive emotions which has the effect of helping you to cope with life’s ups and downs. In other words, it helps us to have the resources to be able to see any situation from healthy perspectives.
Acceptance
Understanding that none of us are perfect and accepting the body we were born with etc allows us to stop focusing on the negatives and wasting time worrying about things that are out of our control. A great quote is “If you can’t change it, change the way you look at it.”
Too many of us are walking around feeling a negative emotion because of something that happened to us days, weeks or even years ago. Is it time to forgive or learn from or just to let go and move on from such heavy burdens?
Meaning
People who are engaged in their community/club/spiritual group etc experience significantly less anxiety and depression than those who are disengaged.
Being engaged in a way that gives your life meaning is different for everybody. You might find meaning in faith, working towards a cause or by being a parent. You may find meaning in being able to express yourself creatively either in art or music or writing. Or you might find meaning in achieving something from the Guinness Book of Records!!!
Whatever it is that makes you feel good when you do it and gives you a sense of purpose - do that!!!
Take the time to go through each of these happiness keys. Do you have work to do?
If you would like help to be able to incorporate these happiness keys into your life, please do not hesitate to text or phone me on 0407 749 025 or email me here!
