How to get Happier

HOW TO GET HAPPIER

Thinking and doing happiness

Here are some research-based recommendations from David G. Myers, psychology professor at Hope College in Michigan:

1. Realize that enduring happiness doesn't come from financial
success. People adapt, even to wealth.

2. Take control of your time. Happy people feel in control of their
lives and their time. We overestimate what can be accomplished in a
day but often underestimate what we can do in a year.

3. Act happy. Smile when you don't feel like it. Talk optimistically
when you aren't optimistic. Motions can trigger emotions.

4. Seek work and leisure that engage your skills. Happy people are
absorbed in tasks that challenge but don't overwhelm. Sitting idly
doesn't cut it.

5. Exercise. It's an antidote to anxiety and depression.

6. Sleep. Getting enough sleep renews you. Sleep deprivation results
not just in fatigue but in gloominess.

7. Give priority to close relationships. Intimate friendships help you
weather difficult times. Make sure you are as kind to those closest to
you as you are to others.

8. Focus beyond self. Reach out. Happy people are helpful and helpful
people are happy.

9. Be grateful. People who keep a gratitude journal, who reflect daily
on the positive aspects of their lives, experience heightened
well-being.

10. Nurture your spiritual self. Faith provides a support community, a
reason to focus beyond self and a sense of purpose and hope.