Happiness is something that people seek to find, yet what defines happiness can vary from one person to the next. When most people talk about the true meaning of happiness, they might be talking about how they feel in the present moment or referring to a more general sense of life overall.
Cultivate Strong Relationships
Having positive and supportive connections with people you care about can provide a buffer against stress, improve your health, and help you become a happier person.
- Consider deepening your existing relationships and explore ways to make new friends to deepen your relationship.
Get Regular Exercise
Physical activity is good for both your body and mind
- Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise may play a role in warding off symptoms of depression, but evidence also suggests that it may also help make people happier
- Even a little bit of exercise produces a happiness boost
History of Happiness
Happiness has long been recognized as a critical part of health and well-being.
Thinking of Happiness as an Endpoint
Happiness isn’t a goal that you can simply reach and be done with. It is a constant pursuit that requires continual nurturing and sustenance.
- Focus on building and cultivating the sort of life and relationships that bring fulfillment and satisfaction to your life instead of focusing on “happiness”.
Types of Happiness
Hedonia: Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. It is most often associated with doing what feels good, self-care, fulfilling desires, experiencing enjoyment, and feeling a sense of satisfaction.
- Eudaimonia: This type of happiness comes from seeking virtue and meaning. Important components of eudaimonic well-being include feeling that your life has meaning, value, and purpose. It can be associated more with fulfilling responsibilities, investing in long-term goals, concern for the welfare of other people, and living up to personal ideals.
- Some types of happiness that may fall under these three main categories include: Joy: A brief, brief feeling that is felt in the present moment
- Excitement: A happy feeling that involves looking forward to something with positive anticipation
- Gratitude: A positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative
- Pride: A feeling of satisfaction in something that you have accomplished
- Optimism: This is a way of looking at life with a positive, upbeat outlook
- Contentment: A sense of contentment
Enjoy the Moment
Don’t get so focused on accumulating things that you lose track of enjoying the moment. Focus on practicing gratitude for the things you have and enjoying the process as you go.
Impact of Happiness
Why is happiness so important?
- Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in many different areas of life including mental well-being, physical health, and overall longevity.
- Positive emotions increase satisfaction with life
- Build stronger coping skills and emotional resources
- Increase resilience
- Being happy may make help you get sick less often, leading to increased immunity.
Happiness
An emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment
- Subjective well-being: focuses on an individual’s overall personal feelings about their life in the present
- The balance of emotions: everyone experiences both positive and negative emotions, feelings, and moods
- Life satisfaction: relates to how satisfied you feel with different areas of your life
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to pursue increasingly complex needs.
Signs of Happiness
Key signs of happiness include: feeling like you are living the life you wanted, going with the flow, enjoying relationships, feeling that the conditions of your life are good, feeling satisfied with your life, being open to new ideas and experiences, practicing self-care and treating yourself with kindness and compassion, experiencing gratitude, and wanting to share your happiness and joy with others.
Show Gratitude
One study found that people who had written about gratitude had increased positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improved life satisfaction.
- Setting aside a few minutes each night to write down or think about things in your life that you are grateful for can help boost your mood.
Find a Sense of Purpose
Research has found that people who feel like they have a purpose have better well-being and feel more fulfilled.
- Some things you can do to help find a sense of purpose include: Explore your interests and passions, engage in prosocial and altruistic causes, work to address injustices, and look for new things you might want to learn more about
How to Be a Happier Person
50% of overall life satisfaction was due to genetics, 10% to external events, and 40% to individual activities
Reframe Negative Thoughts
People have a natural negativity bias, or a tendency to pay more attention to bad things than to good things.
- Reframing these negative perceptions isn’t about ignoring the bad. It allows you to take a more balanced, realistic look at events.
Valuing the Wrong Things
Rather than overvaluing things such as money, status, or material possessions, pursuing goals that result in more free time or enjoyable experiences may have a higher happiness reward.
Not Seeking Social Support
Social support means having friends and loved ones that you can turn to for support.
- Quality is more important than quantity. Having just a few very close and trusted friends will have a greater impact on your overall happiness than having many casual acquaintances.
Positive Psychology
Psychologists who study positive psychology are interested in learning ways to increase positivity and helping people live happier, more satisfying lives
