Living a happier life might sound out of reach, too complex or even too imaginative. It might seem like there is a secret to happiness that you will never find out. You also might be living an already pretty good life, but it might feel like something is missing. Maybe you feel lonely or irritable more often than not. Self-improvement aimed at a happier life might even sound too selfish for your current lifestyle.
Self-improvement is always something we should be focused on to keep growing as people in order to lead a happy life, and every person deserves the opportunity for growth and happiness.
Truth is, there is no secret solution. There are, however, small things we can do everyday to improve our existence and live a positive happy life.
Here are 10 ways you can improve your life to become a happier person.
1. Do what you love
Doing what you love is very crucial to obtaining a positive happy life. Stress, regret, and resentment are all negative emotions that can transpire when we are exposed to a job, responsibility, or even hobby that we don’t love.
There are also actual medical consequences of job burnout. Some of these include excessive stress, fatigue, alcohol or substance abuse, and even type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Doing what you love will make you happier and healthier. If you are meant to be something, don’t stick to what is expected, do what you love.
2. Be thankful
Mind over matter is a real phenomenon and being thankful is a great way to practice this theory. Thinking about what makes you happy and fulfilled is good for your brain because it stimulates growth of nerve connections and improves cognition by increasing mental productivity.
However, it also is the baseline for creating real outcomes that will happen in your life since your thought is the root of your character, your beliefs and how you socialize. Start being thankful for those people in your life, your job, your body, and other attributes and see how your life starts creating a brighter more positive life.
3. Exercise
Exercising is one of the easiest ways to feel happier in your life. You don’t need to depend on outside substances or other factors to create happiness within yourself.
There are specific hormones that are released when we exert a high amount of energy. The “feel good” chemical is endorphins, but your body also produces serotonin, norepinephrine, BDNF and dopamine, which are the reward chemicals. Both make you feel instantly happier, because it is their job to!
4. Eat healthy
When we have a sense of pride in ourselves, we generally feel happier overall. Eating healthy gives you a sense of accomplishment that can increase how you feel about yourself and make you happier in your life.
The nutrients that come from eating a majority fruit and vegetable-based diet also have a direct association to feeling happy. For example, if you are lacking sunshine you probably are not getting enough vitamin D. However, there are so many healthy food options to achieve that vitamin you are lacking, for example salmon and mushrooms.
5. Practice compassion
Doing something nice for others also creates a sense of accomplishment and purpose in your life that can lead to a happier existence. Seeing how happy someone is because you helped them is a great reward factor and can give you both a feeling of security in this society.
Smiling is also a great way to give yourself an instant boost of happiness. When you smile on command, even if it is not natural, you temporarily trick your brain into thinking that you are smiling because something made you happy or laugh in real life.
6. Feng Shui
Humans like things that are routine and predictable. We don’t like to feel uncomfortable or distracted by nuisances. This effect is the same with the environment you are in.
Fung shui goes deep into the principal of how your environment is associated with your wellbeing. It is, essentially, the practice of making specific life improvements happen based on positioning your surroundings in a harmonious way.
One way to accomplish this is if you are trying to be a more productive person to achieve more happiness in your life, setting up a designated workstation that is clean, comfortable, and with no distractions will lead you to the most success. Feeling successful can be associated to a happier life.
7. Forgive and forget
You probably work very hard at avoiding situations that might be stressful or harmful in order to lead a happier life.
When we think negative thoughts or reflect on a negative memory, our brains are essentially reliving those emotions as if they were happening in that moment. You are, therefore, putting yourself in a stress inducing situation over and over again just by thinking.
Think about how you might be negatively impacting your mental and physical health by still reliving those experiences after they have long passed.
8. Try to replace negative thinking with positive
Negative thinking can be draining you of all your energy and leading you down a path that is not helpful to your success.
Positive thinking means that you look at life’s problems, low income, food shortage, relationship problems, and you think about how much you learned and benefited from it.
This can help you live happier, and healthier, as you are convincing yourself every time you think positively that your life is glass full and every “bad” situation is a good one in disguise.
9. Read more books
Reading essentially can take you to a new place where you can forget temporarily about struggles in your own life, and take on, perhaps, new struggles in the character you are reading about. Reading is an escape from your own existence.
There are also other factors that can benefit to your happiness such as a better night’s sleep is associated with reading, which can improve happiness. Also, the satisfaction of doing something good for your memory and cognitive ability can be a positive factor.
10. Sleep 7-8 hours
Sleeping for 7-8 hours a night has a ton of affects on our mental and physical wellbeing. Sleep makes your brain work properly as it takes all those hours for the brain to reboot after a stressful day.
Lack of sleep can also lead to more irritability and less productivity, both of which can lead to an unhappy life. Try to aim for 7-8 hours of sleep a night and see how it may lead to a happier life.
Focusing on these ten items is a great way to start with improving your life. No matter where you are in your life, whether you are feeling great about your life or not so much, implementing some positive habits can bring you more success and happiness.
Everyone, including you, deserves a happy and fulfilling life. Try out some or all ten of these suggestions today and see how your life can change for the better.
