Do you want to know how to be happy: be happier in life?
Can you say that you’re happy with your life right now?
Are you seeking ways to experience more joy in your business, work, and life generally?
Everyone wants to be happy in life but not everyone experiences true happiness.
Many people pretend to be happy with their lives, but not everyone is truly happy.
Faking happiness doesn’t guarantee happiness.
To achieve true happiness, there are certain steps, actions, and habits you must incorporate into your life.
If you are on a quest to finding true happiness in your life, then you are in the right place.
In this blog post, we share tips that are based on research and strategies that work to help you to be happy.
Read on to find out about how you can make every day of your life a joyful one.
How To Be Happy: Be Happier In Life
As said earlier, everyone wants to be happy but very few people know how to make their lives joyful.
Every day, most people struggle with things in their daily lives that seem to tamper with their joy and fill their minds with many negative thoughts.
Thereby making it difficult for most people to be happy in life.
While we may not be able to get rid of all our problems in life there are ways we can make our lives more joyful.
However, before then let’s consider some important aspects of the concept of happiness.
Let’s consider;
- What is Happiness
- Reasons for unhappiness in most people
- Factors that lead to a happy life
- Tips on how to be happy in life
What Does Happiness Mean
Happiness could mean different things to different people.
Even more, happiness for some people could be the presence or absence of certain things in their lives.
For some people, happiness could mean having a great family.
To another, it could mean having a flourishing business or a thriving career life.
For others, happiness could come from finding love or great and supportive friends.
Also, to other people, their happiness could come from making other people happy.
So, the definition of happiness depends on an individual’s personality or specific needs.
However, in a more general term, happiness is a state of being happy (being joyful).
In psychological terms as defined by Sonja Lyubomirsky;
” Happiness is the experience of joy, contentment, or positive wellbeing, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.”
Overall, happiness is all about being in a positive state of mind void of negative feelings such as anger, anxiety, depression among others.
Now you know what happiness is let’s consider some factors that lead to unhappiness.
Reasons For Unhappiness In Most People’s Lives
If happiness is such a good thing why do some people seem to be unhappy?
Why choose negative feelings over positive feelings?
These are some of the reasons why most people experience unhappiness.
These reasons cut across business, work, and life generally.
- lack of sense of purpose
- holding on to past failures, mistakes, or hurtful experiences
- worrying and anxiety
- debt/financial problems
- negative events and issues of life such as divorce, bad relationships, marital problems, etc.
- self-comparison
- inability to achieve set goals
- lack of advancement or progress
- mental health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders
- not living in the present moment
- …among other things.
These are some of the reasons why most people are unhappy in life.
Now let’s consider the important factors that lead to a happy life.
Factors That Lead To A Happy Life (Lasting Happiness)
Below are the necessary factors that lead to a happy life.
Without these things, one cannot be said to be living a happy life.
They include;
- Peace of mind
- Good health (mental and physical)
- Financial success
- Sense of accomplishment (achieving set goals)
- Fulfilling purpose
- Having great relationships
- Self-awareness
- Personal development (growth and advancement)
Now that you understand what happiness is all about, let’s move on to discover how to be happy in life.
Tips On How To Be Happy: Be Happier In Life
Can one learn how to be happy in life?
After all, they say happiness is a choice.
“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” —Abraham Lincoln
Therefore, you can choose to be happy or not.
However, realizing and acknowledging the fact that happiness is a choice doesn’t guarantee happiness.
Most people, despite several accomplishments in their lives, are unhappy with their lives.
Furthermore, a lot of people never experience self-satisfaction despite having so many wonderful things in their lives.
Why is this so?
This goes to show that beyond choosing to be happy, there are other things that you need to do to be happy in life.
Hence, here are some of the things that you could do to be happy in life.
Develop A Positive Mindset
A positive mindset is very necessary to be happy in life.
A positive mindset is having the mindset that focuses on the good side of things even in negative situations.
It’s all about recognizing the silver lining to life.
Even more, it is about bouncing back from negative situations and being hopeful about life again.
In life, there are my challenges that you’ll encounter.
Some of these challenges would knock you off your feet and fill your mind with negative emotions.
Thereby, making you unhappy about life generally.
In other to be happy in life or happier in life you need to be positively minded.
You need to learn to see negative situations in your life in a positive light.
This is not about blind optimism, rather, it is about reframing negative thoughts into more positive thoughts.
For instance, as a business owner, you’re in a negative situation (probably, you’ve just encountered a major failure in business).
This could be a great source of anxiety and unhappiness for you as a business owner.
However, with a positive mindset, you’ll be able to learn from your failures, get back on your feet, and be willing to move forward with your business.
Thus giving you another opportunity to achieve your goals and achieve success.
Thereby making you happy in life.
Practice Gratitude
Another important tip that can help you to be happy in life is practicing gratitude.
Practicing gratitude means being constantly happy and thankful for all the good things in your life.
Simply reflecting on all the wonderful moments (big or small) in your life can greatly increase happiness in your life.
Research suggests that gratitude can make you a happier person.
According to Robert Emmons, gratitude has the power to heal people of past hurts and change lives.
Thus helping people get over the pains of the past and giving people hope for the future.
Consequently, helping people to be happier in life.
So, Emmons suggests that gratitude be integrated into daily life.
Hence, to be happy in life you should cultivate the habit of practicing gratitude daily.
To do this;
- You could keep a gratitude journal (this is where you write down your thoughts about things you’re thankful for in your life).
- Also, you could take 10-15 minutes of your time daily to reflect things you’re grateful for (this could take the form of saying a prayer of gratitude).
- Furthermore, taking time out to appreciate the beauty of nature is also a simple way to practice gratitude.
- You could also watch inspiring videos that remind you to take every day of your life as a gift.
Gratitude is all about being thankful for life and treating each new day as a gift.
This would help you recognize the good in your life and make you feel content.
Thereby, getting rid of anxiety, depression, and making you a happier person.
Build Good Habits
One of the factors that lead to a happier life that we examined earlier is good health.
You might struggle to happy if you struggle with health issues.
Furthermore, one of the things that promote good health is good habits.
On the other hand, bad habits tend to destroy the quality of life.
Hence, to be happier in life, build good habits, and break the bad ones.
This is so that you can be in good health, improve the quality of your life, and be a happier person overall.
Good habits such as exercising, eating healthy foods, getting adequate sleep, etc lead to a healthier and happier life.
For instance, when you exercise, your body tends to release proteins and endorphins which boost positive feelings.
Exercising isn’t just about building muscles or losing excess weight.
Besides these, exercise also helps to relieve stress, feelings of anxiety, increase self-esteem, and happiness.
It doesn’t have to be rigorous/intense exercises.
You could do simple 7-15 minutes exercises such as;
- taking a walk in the park/around your house
- yoga/meditation
- Simple stretching exercises
- Cycling, jogging, etc
More so, eat healthy foods and get enough sleep.
These would help you feel better physically and mentally.
Thereby helping you live a healthier and happier life.
Live is full of ups and downs so sometimes we might fall ill through no fault of ours.
In these situations, choose to focus on the positive.
Count your blessings.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the process of focusing on the present moment.
It is a mental state of living in the here and now.
Practicing Mindfulness helps you let go of negative and hurtful moments in your life.
One of the factors or causes of unhappiness in the lives of many people is negative thoughts.
Thoughts about the past or future would only lead to depression anxiety and unhappiness.
However, by practicing mindfulness, your focus would be on the present moment.
Thereby, helping you recognize the good things in your life, be happy about your life, and help you appreciate life better.
So, to be happy in life, practice mindfulness.
One of the effective ways to practice mindfulness is through meditation.
Through meditation, you can find inner peace and self-satisfaction.
Consequently, helping you achieve peace of mind and happiness.
You can incorporate 10-15 minutes of morning meditation into your daily routine to help you practice mindfulness.
Stop Self-Comparison
Another thing that makes most people unhappy is self-comparison.
Self-comparison is the act of comparing yourself, capabilities, and achievements to other people.
Self-comparison is a toxic habit that can ruin self-esteem, cause depression, and destroy happiness in one’s life.
It simple terms, it only leads to negative feelings of envy, bitterness, anxiety, and depression.
Unfortunately, most people are in the habit of comparing their lives to that of other people around them.
People are different in life, and each person is unique in his or her way.
More so, life in itself is not a competition.
Each person has a unique purpose or path to follow in life.
Hence, there’s no need for competition or comparison.
It’s okay to have people (mentors) you admire and who inspire you to achieve great things in life.
You can use the accomplishments of other people as a motivating force to achieve great things in your life as well.
However, condemning yourself through self-comparison would only lead to negative feelings of resentment and envy.
Rather than that, appreciate yourself and be grateful for the things you have.
More so, work hard on your goals so you can achieve success and live your best life.
Thereby, helping you to be happy in life.
Show Acts Of Kindness/ Be Generous
Showing acts of kindness is another effective tip on how to increase joy and be happier in life.
There’s a kind of joy and self-satisfaction that comes from making other people happy.
Being generous doesn’t necessarily have to involve money.
There are other ways you can show kindness to people.
For instance, giving genuine compliments to people is an act of kindness.
Helping people out or volunteering is also an act of kindness.
Even more, you could spend time with someone to cheer the person up as an act of kindness.
You could give your time, attention, and money to people in need, your loved ones, and generally people around you.
This would help you feel a sense of selflessness and think better of yourself.
Consequently, making you feel fulfilled and happier in life.
Be Yourself (Avoid People-Pleasing And Perfectionism)
Another thing that leads to a happier life is being yourself and loving yourself for who you are.
By being true to yourself, you’ll live your life for yourself (that is doing what makes you happy).
Furthermore, you also wouldn’t be concerned with doing things to please people around you.
We live in an incredibly judgemental world, where people are ever ready to criticize and question other people’s decisions.
So, most people out of fear of what people would say, do things to please people.
More so, they try so hard to be perfect forgetting that humans by nature are not perfect.
Perfectionism and people-pleasing would only lead to frustration and lack of fulfillment in life.
This is because you can never truly please everyone around you.
Also, there’s a limit to our capabilities as humans.
We can only try to improve ourselves but can not attain perfection.
Hence, to be happier in life you’ll need to stop living your life to please people around you.
Also, stop trying to be perfect.
Set Goals, Have Plans And Take Action
One other thing that leads to a happier life is the fulfillment of purpose, dreams, and aspirations.
Most people feel unhappy with their lives when they can’t achieve their dreams and aspiration.
For some people, their dream is to be a successful business owner, entrepreneur, or CEO.
Other people have the dream to be astronauts, sailors, bank managers, fashion designers, artists, etc.
When they can’t achieve this, they feel unhappy with themselves and about their lives.
To achieve anything worthwhile either in business, work, and life generally, there’s a need to set goals.
Furthermore, setting goals isn’t just enough, you also need to have an active plan to achieve the goals.
You also need to be willing to take action on your goals.
A combination of these three things would help you accomplish your dreams.
By achieving your dreams, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment of purpose.
Consequently, helping you to be happy in life.
Final Words On How To Be Happy In Life: Be Happier In Life
Being happy goes beyond a state of mind.
It is also about improving your overall well-being.
Unhappiness in life leads to anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and all sorts of mental and physical illnesses.
On the other hand, happiness promotes good health and reduces stress.
Thereby, helping you to be productive and efficient at what you do either as a business owner, entrepreneur, or regular individual.
Hence, the need for you to know how to be happy.
Bear in mind also, that being happy in life is not the same thing as pleasure.
A lot of people in pursuit of their happiness engage in all sorts of activities such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and frivolous living.
That is no way to get happiness in life.
While all these things might be pleasurable and fun at that moment, they do not bring about lasting happiness.
True happiness comes from engaging in activities that promote your overall wellbeing and not the other way around.
So, seek lasting happiness and not momentary pleasure.
Use these tips to learn how you can make your life more joyful and be happy in life.
What does happiness mean to you?
Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
We would love to hear from you.
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