Happiness is different for everyone but learning how to be happy is a choice. If you want to understand the keys to feeling happier and how to be happy with yourself, it’s important to understand that increased feelings of happiness is a uniquely personal experience.
Regardless of your own keys for happiness in your business and life, being happy is within reach if you choose to look at things through a lens of being grateful and appreciating what you have and your experiences.
If you want to learn how to be happier, I’m going to share 9 tips to help you be happier, more in control, less overwhelmed and feel much more self-confident and abundant.
The keys to happiness
Everyone’s perception of happiness is different but there are a number of key drivers of personal happiness which you can use if you want to be happier.
The key for happiness for many people lies in having a gratitude mindset for what they have, living and enjoying the present moment, helping others, getting more exercise, being more joyful and spending more time with people that make them feel happy.
The charity, Action for Happiness, have a great resource on 10 Keys for Happier Living.
When you understand that being happy is a mindset, that it is internally driven, learning how to be happy becomes more powerful every time you choose to be joyful and appreciate what you have.
Expand your feeling of being happy
If you want to be happier, start by thinking about all the things in your life that make you happy and expand your happiness in those areas.
There are no rigid rules for being happy. If spending more time with friends makes you happy, do more of that.
If doing more exercise makes you feel happy, do more of that that.
When you start each day feeling grateful for what you have and being clear on what you want to achieve you’ll feel happier and more confident.
This feeling of positivity can come internally as well as externally, be that from happy experiences you have with family and friends, or a funny story you read.
During the day, choose to maintain that feeling of being happy , despite the ups and downs you may experience.
Feeling happy then becomes a decision, which can appreciate over time every time you choose it..
Make being happy a habit
if you want the keys to happiness, start by taking ownership of it and make being happy a habit.
With good happiness habits we feel more joyful, grateful and energised. If you’re not feeling great right now, try focusing on everything that’s positive in your life. If you want to be happier, create an attitude of gratitude and focus on everything and everyone that you’re thankful for.
Make a commitment to be happy every day for a specific period of time, try 14 days, and see how you feel at the end of each day.
Create a gratitude journal and write down three positive feelings or experiences about yourself, and others each day.
The decision to be happy is a decision that each of us can make right now.
How to be happy and be happier today
If you’ve asked yourself “how can I be happy?” these 9 tips will give you the framework to learn how to be happy.
1. Surround yourself with happy people
If you want to be happy surround yourself with like-minded people. We like being with people who make us feel good, energised and joyful. Things just feel so much better.
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” – Charlie Tremendous Jones
When you spend your time with people who are unhappy you will become unhappy.
If you spend your time with complainers and blamers, you’ll naturally gravitate to the same mindset. When you surround yourself with people with an abundance mindset, you’ll develop the same mindset.
Be it your friends, family, co-workers, or close network, gravitate towards positive people who make you feel good about yourself, make you laugh or you just feel happy being around them.
2. Be happy with yourself
You have to choose happiness, and being happy starts with liking yourself because happiness attracts happiness.
Become intentional about being the happy person that people gravitate towards. If you’re looking for reasons to be happy you’re more likely to find them if you’re already happy.
When we choose to buy something or work with someone, we are naturally pulled to the person who has a happy demeanour, rather than someone who is not.
Ask yourself, how can you become the type of happy person that more and more people want to spend time with and collaborate.
3. Expand what makes you feel happy
The key to create increased levels of happiness is to build on your existing feelings of being happy.
We are happy in different areas of our business and life.
Rather than pursue happiness, look at the areas where happiness already exists and look to build upon what you already have.
When goal setting, recognise your progress and achievements.
With your family and friends recognise what is good about them to elevate your feelings of happiness.
To expand your existing happiness, expand your gratitude and and appreciate everything you have right now and everything you have to look forward to in the future.
4. Achieve your goals
Happiness is often achieved when we achieve measurable goals, be that a number or an event
Being happy with an achievement comes from making measurable progress, whether winning or simply moving forward
When happiness is achieved as the result of something specific, you know exactly what made you happy.
You can use this capability and knowledge to be able to see how to replicate that happiness in the future.
5. Focus on your positive progress
We are happy when we are making progress. Every step towards your custom-designed growth and achievement makes you feel better about yourself.
Whether that is a 1% improvement on something or a bigger breakthrough towards your goals.
When we achieve something important to us, we feel happy, more confident and energised which boosts self-confidence.
This achievement could be for ourselves or helping someone else achieve something that is crucially important to them.
Always focus on progress, not perfection.
6. Don’t compare yourself
The key to personal happiness is to be happy with who we are.
To be proud of what you’ve achieved, comfortable with where you are right now and confident about your future.
It’s easy to have FOMO and compare ourselves to others. If we feel we don’t match up, we’re not happy.
This can escalate into frustration, stress and feeling overwhelmed.
It’s easy to feel that we don’t measure up somehow.
The problem starts when we constantly compare ourselves and beat ourselves up that we are in some way “not good enough”.
If you start getting into that kind of mindset, stop. Challenge yourself about that way of thinking, and focus on appreciating where you are and what you have.
As long as you feel happy about yourself and stay true to your own values and purpose that is all that matters.
if you want to be happy, celebrate your own wins and don’t look to other people’s success.
7. Express gratitude daily
If you want to learn how to be happy, express gratitude every day for what you to have and to the people in your life,
When you appreciate things and people, their value grows.
If you have a gratitude mindset you will always be coming from a place of happy abundance, rather than scarcity.
When you’ve had a difficult day, write down one or two things that you’re grateful for.
This will create positive feelings and will set your mind up for a positive day tomorrow.
8. Be intentional about what you want
If you want to learn how to be happy, the key is to get clear on what makes you feel good and then become intentional about bringing that joy into your life every day.
You can choose to make your day fun or to make it frustrating.
Be intentional about doing more of the things that make you feel good.
Seek out joyful people and create a more positive mindset and you’ll begin to feel more confident.
9. Focus on value creation
If you come from a place of wanting to help people you come from an abundance mindset.
You aren’t expecting anything in return.
Happiness for you is derived from simply being useful to other people.
Naturally, those people will be grateful that you helped them.
This builds your confidence and feelings of gratitude.
Which in turn makes you feel good about yourself.
Now I’d love to hear from you.
What are the keys to your happiness?
What one thing makes you feel happy?
Let me know in the comments.
Read also:
How to sleep better: 10 proven tips
How to increase happiness: 8 simple ways
About the Author
Mark Pettit is a small business coach to business owners who want to simplify their time, energy and focus so they can multiply their freedom, impact and results.
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