The Power of Happiness: 5 Days to a positive mindset
Achieving happiness seems to be everyone’s goal at the moment. Especially in millennials and generation X we have seen a real shift on the importance of a truly fulfilled life rather than a life full of achievement. The Yale Course “The Science of Well-being” is the most subscribed online course ever. But we discover more and more that what we thought would make us happy, actually doesn’t.
While 20 years ago a successful career, a family, a house and financial stability were the ultimate goals for happiness, we now realise these are all great to have but despite having all these, we are still not happy. And with social media being all around us, we constantly compare ourselves to the perfect life everyone else is living.
Happiness is not a constant state where we always feel fantastic and everything is rainbows and sunshine and it isn’t something that just happens to you. But we can do a lot in order to feel better in our lives. Making small changes in our behaviour, our surroundings and our relationships can help set us on course for a happier life.
While short term happiness or joy is only temporary, authentic happiness is living a life where you feel comfortable with yourself and you are at the place you want to be at that point in your life.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula for happiness. To experience authentic happiness, you have to take action and commit to yourself. Below is a list of suggestions are some things you can do to experience more of it on a daily basis.
Below is a list of suggestions for how to achieve happiness in your everyday life.
Day 1: Control your mind
One of the sad things about modern life and about being a human is that we have minds that tend not to stick on the task that we want them to stay on. We have minds that are all over the place most of the time. Psychologists call this “mind wandering”. In fact we spend almost 50% of our time not thinking about things in the here and now. When we are not actively engaged in a task our brain goes into the so-called default network. When we are in the default network, we think about what went wrong in the past, about dinner tonight, about what we are going to do the next day, etc. But researchers found out that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. We continue to lose the present moment by thinking about the future and the past, conjuring up “what if” scenarios, and generating anxiety about things that probably won’t ever happen. And your thoughts create your feelings. If you maintain control of your thoughts, you also maintain control of your feelings.
So, what can we do to stop our mind wandering? The most effective tool for that is meditation. Practising meditation only 5-10 Minutes per day can make a huge difference and significantly improve our happiness levels.
Living in an internally controlled emotional world, rather than being dictated by external circumstances, will significantly shift your happiness meter.
Day 2: Exercise
When people get up and move, even a little, they tend to be happier than when they are still. There are a host of studies to show that exercise helps anxiety and depression. When you are engaged in movement, it increases endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline and endocannabinoid. These are all brain chemicals associated with feeling happy, feeling confident, feeling capable, feeling less anxiety and stress and even less physical pain. There is even a positive correlation between physical performance and cognitive achievement.
Exercising just three times a week, for 30mins a day can have huge psychological benefits. So, get up and running!
Day 3: Express Gratitude
Did you know that simply feeling grateful for what you have in life rather than longing for what you don’t have will make you a happier person? Being grateful for whatever you have, wherever you are, the connections that you have, and the relationships that you have, is not just great for your overall well-being, but also great for your viewpoint and perspective about life.
Start by taking out 5 minutes per day before you go to bed to write down three things you are grateful for that happened during the day. This can be as simple as for being healthy, for the sunny weather or for your family.
By cultivating that kind of optimism, you put your brain into a positive mindset.
Day 4: Sleep long enough
Did you know that researchers have discovered a single treatment that improves memory, increases people’s ability to concentrate, strengthens the immune system, and decreases people’s risk of being killed in accidents? Even better, this treatment has no side effects and is completely free!
Believe it or not, sleeping longer does not only deliver all those benefits, but it also has a HUGE impact on your happiness levels. To perform at our best we need a minimum of 7 hours sleep on average per night.
Day 5: Social Connections
Research shows that people who spend a lot of time with friends and family are happier than people who spend more time alone. Merely connecting with the people around you can make you happier. Try to be open to conversations when you shop, when you buy a coffee, on a train journey and see if that influences how happy you feel.
Day 6: Seek Opportunities to act kindly
Simple acts of kindness can improve your happiness. Remember the kind things you do and think about kind things people have been doing for you in the past. Acting kindly and caring for other people can make you feel really good.
If you feel you need professional support in your life, feel free to get in touch and book a complementary Clarity session with me.
My passion is to help women take control of their life by overcoming their challenges & inner doubts, empowering them to proactively make changes in business and life.
