Now that you, the reader, understand what happiness is, and know why you want to be happy, you are probably wondering how to become happier. As I started learning about happiness, I wondered if I was truly happy then, and how I could become happier. Now, I still wonder that, but I have a better idea, and a better plan to become happier. Take my advice on improvement, if you want to grow your happiness.
Becoming happier is a challenging task, but if you take it one step at a time, it can make the journey seem easier. Here is a step-by-step list on how I believe you can become happier:
Becoming happier is a challenging task, but if you take it one step at a time, it can make the journey seem easier. Here is a step-by-step list on how I believe you can become happier:
1. Lead a healthy life
Before you try to be happy, I would recommend trying to be healthy. Happiness and health travel hand and hand, and diet and exercise play into happiness significantly. If you are feeling sick and fatigued every day, it will be challenging for you to be happy. To lead a healthy lifestyle, make sure that you get plenty of exercise, daily. Not only does it keep you fit, exercising releases endorphins and dopamine into the brain, leaving you with a rush of feel-good feelings. In addition to exercising regularly, make sure the food you are eating is healthy. Healthy food is food that is barely processed or not processed at all, and has low sugar levels. Indulge in healthy fats for your body, such as avocados or cheeses. Try to eat a balanced diet, and focus on eating more vegetables and proteins than just carbohydrates. To continue to be healthy beyond that, be careful to spend as much time as you can in nature, so you are not just cooped up in an office all day. Taking deep breaths of clean air can de-stress you, and it can make you more mindful of yourself and your surroundings.
2. Have healthy relationships
Relationships are key in your happiness. Loneliness can lead to depression, and it is vital to spend time interacting and engaging with other people. Humans are social animals, and we live for connection. Spending time with friends and family is crucial to our overall health. Just like practicing a skill can strengthen it, spending time with people can grow your social skills, and calm you down. If you want to become happier, focus on interacting with those around you. For the people that drag you down, try to take them out of your life. There are toxic people in this world, and if there is no reason to interact with them, why should you? In addition to taking toxic people out of your life, try to bring healing people in. Planning meet-ups with your friends that bring you joy and make you laugh will only increase your overall happiness. In conclusion, spend more time with the ones you love, and try to strengthen your relationships.
3. Do the things you genuinely love
Do you ever get that feeling when you are so immersed in something, time just ceases to exist? That feeling is engagement with something you love doing, and it is an important feeling to have. For me, at least, when I am doing something I enjoy doing, it makes me happy. It's pretty simple: you feel happy because you are doing something that makes you happy. It is critical for your own well-being to indulge yourself, and let yourself do what you truly want to do. Now, that does not mean you can go out and murder your children or jay-walk, but it does mean you can experience the things you want to.
Gretchen Rubin, the Author of The Happiness Project says:
“We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.”
Many people try to convince themselves that they love something they actually do not. I love going to music concerts, they assure themselves, even though they hate the loud noises and the bustling crowds.
“What's fun for other people may not be fun for you- and vice versa," writes Gretchen Rubin.
Genuine joy is hard to find, and you have to be honest with yourself, and ask yourself the important questions. Do I really like doing this? Are there better ways to spend my time? What do I truly want to do? Be honest with yourself, and answer these questions truthfully. If you can't be honest with yourself, you probably can't be happy, since you can't accept yourself for being the way you are. To be happy, be honest, and indulge yourself by doing the things you genuinely love doing.
Gretchen Rubin, the Author of The Happiness Project says:
“We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.”
Many people try to convince themselves that they love something they actually do not. I love going to music concerts, they assure themselves, even though they hate the loud noises and the bustling crowds.
“What's fun for other people may not be fun for you- and vice versa," writes Gretchen Rubin.
Genuine joy is hard to find, and you have to be honest with yourself, and ask yourself the important questions. Do I really like doing this? Are there better ways to spend my time? What do I truly want to do? Be honest with yourself, and answer these questions truthfully. If you can't be honest with yourself, you probably can't be happy, since you can't accept yourself for being the way you are. To be happy, be honest, and indulge yourself by doing the things you genuinely love doing.
4. Challenge yourself and grow
Some say people flourish under challenge, and some say they do not. The thing is, what may be challenging for one person would be a walk in the park for another. Challenge is personal and subjective, and cannot be applied to all of humanity. Growth is crucial to development. Imagine you are going on a hike. If you stopped walking and stayed in one place, how would you finish the hike? You wouldn't, and to continue to grow, you must challenge yourself.
I believe that you are never done growing, and there is always something you can learn or perfect. The hike is a long loop, and has no finish line. You trace the circular, trodden road for ages; you can never truly finish the hike. You can only take a break, or collapse from exhaustion. The saying "you learn a new thing every day" is absolutely true, if you don't learn multiple things a day. You can learn things without being in school, from new experiences or new perspectives. People can scoff at the growth mindset, but the mindset is right. The only thing I differ with on the growth mindset is the fact that the growth mindset assumes that people wouldn't be naturally growing. You don't always have to will yourself to grow, sometimes it can happen unconsciously.
You can grow and improve on yourself in many ways. Experience new things, and gain new perspectives you otherwise might have never thought about. Read, because books contain the wisdom of centuries. Go outside, and just look around you. You can always learn, and the people you talk to will always know something you don't. If you disagree with someone, don't be afraid to challenge their opinion. Prove yourself right or wrong, and don't take umbrage if you are wrong. Failure is necessary to learning, and mistakes are critical to growth. Mistakes show you how to improve, and they are the hiking guides. Mistakes let you know what is correct and what is false.
How can you be right if you do not know what is wrong? Don't be afraid of failure, but don't cherish it either. If you learn to accept failure and use it as a guide for the future, you have the utmost power. Don't abuse it.
Growth and challenge are crucial components of happiness. One who desires happiness must learn to accept failure, embrace challenge, and look for growth.
I believe that you are never done growing, and there is always something you can learn or perfect. The hike is a long loop, and has no finish line. You trace the circular, trodden road for ages; you can never truly finish the hike. You can only take a break, or collapse from exhaustion. The saying "you learn a new thing every day" is absolutely true, if you don't learn multiple things a day. You can learn things without being in school, from new experiences or new perspectives. People can scoff at the growth mindset, but the mindset is right. The only thing I differ with on the growth mindset is the fact that the growth mindset assumes that people wouldn't be naturally growing. You don't always have to will yourself to grow, sometimes it can happen unconsciously.
You can grow and improve on yourself in many ways. Experience new things, and gain new perspectives you otherwise might have never thought about. Read, because books contain the wisdom of centuries. Go outside, and just look around you. You can always learn, and the people you talk to will always know something you don't. If you disagree with someone, don't be afraid to challenge their opinion. Prove yourself right or wrong, and don't take umbrage if you are wrong. Failure is necessary to learning, and mistakes are critical to growth. Mistakes show you how to improve, and they are the hiking guides. Mistakes let you know what is correct and what is false.
How can you be right if you do not know what is wrong? Don't be afraid of failure, but don't cherish it either. If you learn to accept failure and use it as a guide for the future, you have the utmost power. Don't abuse it.
Growth and challenge are crucial components of happiness. One who desires happiness must learn to accept failure, embrace challenge, and look for growth.