The idea of living a happier life may seem out of reach for you. By taking proactive steps to change a few things in your life, you can begin feeling better and more positive about your future – starting today.
Stimulate Your Brain
If you think that a life of leisure will bring you happiness – think again. While it is certainly nice to have a day or two off or a weeklong holiday at the beach, a permanent vacation with nothing to do tends to become dull and boring.
Change the way you spend your free time, whether you are employed full-time, retired, or somewhere in between. Work toward stimulating your brain when you can. Gather your friends and play an energising game of bridge. It is a perfect way to spend time and challenge yourself. Form a club and make it a standing event every week or once a month. The mental stimulation and social interaction from card games are as fun as they are challenging.
Maintain Social Connections
Social connections are essential for a happy life. You do not need to have a vast network of friends. A few good friends will do just fine. The difficult thing about being social is that you lead a busy life with multiple responsibilities. You can still maintain your relationships. You just have to work at it.
Make it easy by scheduling standing meetups, just as you can do with a bridge club. Talk with your closest friend from university and work out a monthly date to get together. With this approach, you will both have the date on your respective calendars and avoid wasting time with the back-and-forth-of inevitable scheduling and rescheduling.
Spend Time With the People You Love
The sentiment of maintaining social connections applies to your family, as well, even if you live in the same household. People get busy and sometimes only see one another in passing. Make it a point to schedule regular family nights.
Have meals together as often as you can with no smartphones at the table. Pay attention to one another and ask questions about school, work, and friends. Extend family time with movie or game nights. If your kids like to play video games but you have never tried them, now is the time! Let them show you their skills and teach you how to play. At the very least, a few laughs will ensue, and some great memories will be made.
Set Healthy Boundaries
If you are asked to help at the school fundraiser or be on the planning committee for the next big event in your community and you are wholly disinterested, know that it is okay and healthy to politely decline. You can always bake some cookies, but you do not have to overextend yourself just to be nice or because you think you have to participate.
Learn how to say no and set healthy boundaries that respect your time and energy. This is applicable to all areas of your life, from romantic relationships to friendships and extended family to the workplace. Standing up for yourself is a form of self-respect you can carry with you wherever you go.
Pursue Your Passion
Personal growth and happiness are often inexorably linked. When you take a journey toward self-discovery and find new passion projects to pursue, you will feel inspired to continue. By continuing to engage in activities that excite you and keep you moving forward, you will grow as a person and grow your feelings of happiness, too.
Watch this video of an inspiring young woman talking about why it is important to pursue your passion.
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Take Care of Your Body
When discussing happiness in life, you should always touch on taking care of your body. This is a broad category as the human body is so complex. Some key points to prioritise should include:
- Try to get in some type of physical activity each day, whether it is walking the dog every morning or taking a HIIT class, make sure you are focusing on physical fitness.
- Always make and keep your essential medical appointments, such as annual well checks, GP check-ups, eye care, dental health, mental health, and dermatology appointments, as needed.
- Make time for mindfulness practices. Meditation or sitting without your smart devices helps clear your mind while allowing you to be in the moment.
- Ensure you get enough sleep each night by eliminating distractions and creating a calm and comfortable sleep environment.
Curate Your Social Media
Social media is a source of information, entertainment, and sharing. It is also a place that breeds anxiety, imposter syndrome, and instability. Unfollow toxic and unhealthy people in your social media feeds. If you are unsure of whether someone could be damaging to your mental health, think about their message and whether they have an agenda. If they are agents of chaos who foment uncertainty, click the unfollow button. Better yet, block them completely.
On the topic of social media, take a moment and think about how much time you spend on it each day. Look in the settings on your devices to get a hard number, and then make a plan to reduce your screen time. You will feel better when you step away from your devices and focus on the more important things in life.
Show Gratitude Toward Others
Paying attention to the world around you and showing gratitude towards others inevitably leaves you feeling happier than before. By acknowledging small acts of kindness, you are putting your own kind acts out into the world and furthering good feelings in others.
Being thankful can improve your mental health by shifting your mindset and focusing on the positive things in the world instead of the chaos and negativity that are sometimes all around you. Consider keeping a gratitude journal where you can document the good things you have witnessed throughout your day. Write in it before bed to end the day on a happy and upbeat note.
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Take steps to live a happier life by implementing any of these tips starting today. By making small changes, you can lift your mood, challenge your brain, making meaningful connections with the people you love while living your life to the fullest.
