by Ashley Couch: We all seek a state of happiness in our lives…
While difficult to define, happiness touches on feeling contentment and fulfillment in all aspects of existence. Achieving happiness is a complex endeavor involving many factors both in and out of our control, and isn’t always fun and pleasant in the moment, especially when tackling long-term or substantial goals.
With the stresses of our daily routines, myriad obligations to family and friends, and feeling pulled in too many directions throughout the day, it can be a challenge to remember that happiness is a choice. But we can choose to reset our happiness set-points for the roughly 40% of our happiness under our control. Here are 8 tips for a happiness makeover that you can use to transform your life and reach a state of true happiness:
Make Happiness Your Priority
If you want to improve your levels of happiness, you’ll have to change the way you operate. This means focusing on personal growth, truth and honing your skill sets. To be happy with your work, you need the skills to succeed at your job. If you want to be happy in your personal life, you need the skills to engage your community. If you want to be happy with yourself, you need the skills to live as the highest version of your self. So focus on developing skills in the areas where your happiness levels could use a little boost.
Take Time to Smell the Roses
Human survival mechanisms drive a focus on the negative versus on the positive things in life, which means that bad things can be amplified in your mind. To counter-balance that negativity bias, spend time intentionally focusing your attention on all of the good in your life, and you’ll start noticing all the great things you have going for yourself.
Practice Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness practices can help to calm the body and mind so we can de-stress and find a sense of peace, which in turn leads to improved levels of happiness. Many of my clients notice a difference after adding in a daily meditation practice for just a few minutes a day. Learning to be present in the moment can also improve your interactions with others as you can develop deeper connections and mutual respect when you are truly giving them your full attention, and you may also notice improvements in your work performance with renewed focus as well, potentially leading to even greater levels of happiness.
Say Cheese
Turn that frown upside down by thinking about things that make you happy, as genuinely smiling more can often improve your mood and interactions with others.
Stay Grateful
If you’re having trouble channeling that sublime state of joy, start making a list of everything you’re grateful for. If you are alive and reading these words, that’s a start! After my morning meditations, I spend a little time before work writing down my thoughts and ending with the list of things I’m grateful for as it sets an awesome, happy tone for the day. When you can remember all the things you have to be grateful for, it’s easy not to let the little things get you down and has been proven to increase happiness.
Chase Happiness, not Success
Rather than feeling like you need to be successful to be happy, try approaching it the other way around. When you choose to live in a state of happiness and positivity, often your performance will improve, resulting in increased levels of success.
Take a Hike
Spending time in nature to ground yourself and recharge leads to amazing results for your mind, body, and spirit, so find ways to incorporate playtime in the natural world to experience healing and happiness, courtesy of Mother Nature.
See it in Your Mind’s Eye
Believe it or not, visualizing yourself happy and what happiness would look like in different areas of your life tricks your body in a sense as it can’t tell the difference between the real sensation and your visualized version, and even visualizing your happy future can transform your present state. I suggest that you begin by evaluating different areas of your life including your career, money, fun, health, tribe, romantic life and environment to determine where you could use a happiness makeover. Once you’ve identified areas where you’d love to raise your levels of happiness, create a list of things you could do each day to improve your happiness in those areas. Keep track of your happiness makeover tasks and then after a month, evaluate your happiness levels again. You’ll be amazed at your happiness makeover results!
