Are You Happy? 18 Things You Can do to Increase Your Happiness!
Happiness comes from attaining pleasure and avoiding pain. It consists of having three elements: having frequent positive emotions, having infrequent negative emotions, and feeling satisfied with your life.
But what causes us to be happy?
Current theory claims that part of a person’s happiness is due to heredity. People inherit a happiness “set up point” in which their levels of happiness will fluctuate throughout their life. This theory also claims that life circumstances are also a large determinant of a person’s happiness. Both positive life events like earning a raise at work or having meaningful relationships, as well as negative life events like experiencing severe trauma in childhood or suffering from an illness, can all have an impact on the level of happiness a person will experience.
If you ask what affects the differences between people in their level of happiness, heredity and life circumstance account for about 60% (Tharp, Watson, 2007).
But what accounts for the other 40%? Our own behavior!
The most effective way to increase one’s own happiness is to engage in the behaviors that lead to happiness.
What are some behaviors that increase happiness? (Tharp, Watson, 2007)
Here are some based on Fordyce’s Happiness Fundamentals
- Live a more active lifestyle and keep yourself busy.
- Spend more of your time socializing with others and building friendships.
- Work on being productive at work that is meaningful to you.
- Organize your environment and plan out your schedule in advance.
- Stop worrying about things you can’t control.
- Do not place too high of expectations on yourself or others.
- Develop a more positive, optimistic outlook on life.
- Orient yourself on the present and do not focus on what has happened to you in the past or what might happen in the future.
- Always work on bettering yourself.
- Develop an ongoing, social personality. Make friends everywhere you go!
- Just be yourself!
- Eliminate your negative feelings.
- Work on growing close friendships.
- Make a list of 5 things everyday that you are thankful for.
- Give back! Volunteer and donate to those that are less fortunate than you.
- Forgive those you may be upset with.
- Make happiness your first priority.
Now where to start?!
This may seem like an long, overwhelming “To Do” list. Just focus on one item at a time and you will be surprised on how much just one “happy behavior” might change your attitude.
Say, “Hello” to the happier you!
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.” -Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
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It’s great to know that we have so much control over our own happiness. I think that in life many people fail to realize this. I do a lot of the things mentioned on that list and I generally feel happy most of the time.
I find the “set up point” for happiness interesting. I have not heard of this before.
I found it interesting that you mentioned 60 percent of our happiness is based on our heredity, but i feel that can be debateable. It is true that some extreme situations we go through in life can cause a change in our emotions, but I believe life is all about perspective and attitude.
Two people can go through the same situation in life, say losing a job. One person who has a negative, pessimistic attitude might feel depressed because now they will have loss of income, as well as the stress of finding a new job. But a person with an optimistic attitude may look at the situation as a postive opportunity; a chance to go to a new environment, meet new people, and grow as a person. Even if we have inherited a low “set up” point for happiness, I do believe we are more than able to choose our own happiness.
Life is always better when you’re happy. Every morning I wake up and tell myself that I’m going to have a great day. I get up and give thanks that god granted me another day, and instantly that makes me happier. I go through my day thinking positive.
I was a little taken back by the 60% hereditary happiness also. That is a large present that we are given from our parents and the possible environment and people we are exposed to when we are born. I did not think about it in that way whatsoever. On the other hand i took two points out of your research that i need to practice implementing. 1 is to stop worrying about things i cant control. That is a hard one for me i think i can fix and manipulate anything which can sometimes be over whelming. Lastly being more optimistic and not thinking everything is going to end badly. I hoping to see if your research is right and if I change those to habits i will be happier.
This is truly awesome being able to control your own happiness. Although I do believe it is tough for some people to follow those steps. I believe that people are always going to be worrying about things. Either way this is something every body should read. People should know that they are in control of their own happiness.