What Happy People Do Differently
I’d always believed
that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and
would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected
that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines
and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple,
happy, uncomplicated life.”
-Dan Millman
Last week I introduced the
research of positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of the book The
How of Happiness. She found there were only 12 things happy people do
differently to increase their levels of happiness. Here are the last 6 things
Learn to
forgive. – Harbouring feelings of hatred is horrible for your
well-being. You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past
and present emotion. When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking
about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system.
Increase
flow experiences. – Flow is a state in which it feels
like time stands still. It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing
that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged. You’re
not hungry, sleepy, or emotional. You’re just completely engaged in the
activity that you’re doing. Nothing is distracting you or competing for
your focus.
Savour
life’s joys. – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing
down to enjoy the joy. It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and
omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences. When
we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic. It’s the simple
things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully
experience them.
Commit to
your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing
something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things
start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get
somewhere. When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no
choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option – where
you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they
know part of their purpose.
Practice
spirituality. – When we practice spirituality or religion, we
recognize that life is bigger than us. We surrender the silly idea that we
are the mightiest thing ever. It enables us to connect to the source of
all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists. Some
of the most accomplished people feel that they’re here doing work they’re
“called to do.”
Take care of your body.
– Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be.
If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy
(your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy
(your purpose) will all be negatively affected. Did you know that studies
conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent
exercise raises happiness levels just as much as anti-depressantst? Not
only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who
participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher
sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.
