Forget the paycheck, forget the status, what we all really strive for in life is the ability to be happy during both the workday and in everyday life.
50% of your happiness falls under your pre-determined personality traits. Those are often tougher to change.
But let’s look at the glass as half-full and remember that 50% of your happiness is still within your control.
Knowing how to grow your happiness is of utmost importance if you want to lead a great life. Focusing on your career, relationships, health, and more is the best way to do just this. Happier people live longer, so why not work on increasing your day-to-day joy today?
To help you out, here are a few tips for leading a happy work and day-to-day life.
- Express Gratitude Constantly
It feels awesome to be thanked for something you do, but it also feels great to thank others.
Doing so will help you build great relationships based off of mutual respect and appreciation. Whether you are thanking co-workers, strangers or family, everyone will appreciate your kindness.
It’s also important to keep yourself thankful for what you already have.
One great practice to increase happiness and a feeling of contentment is to write down things you are grateful for at the end of every week. Some studies have shown that this simple practice has made participants up to 25% happier after a period of only 10 weeks.
- Keep In Touch with Good Friends
Nobody understands and appreciates you as well as your closest friends.
Keeping a strong support network of people who appreciate you and don’t take advantage of your kindness will make your life much better.
Additionally, if you are going through a rough time, great friends will make it much easier to get over your hump.
- Do Things You’re Good At and Do Them Often
Your self-esteem is one of the keys to happiness.
A great way to raise your self-esteem is to do things you’re good at, and to do them often.
- Pursue Your Goals Aggressively
Never stop pursuing your goals.
Once you do so, a big part of the zest of your life will begin to diminish. Dreams keep you going, and help inspire you to be the best you can be day after day. Additionally, reaching your dreams will help you develop stronger self-esteem.
According to David Niven, an author who wrote a great self-help book “100 Simple Secrets of the Best Half of Life, “people who could identify a goal they were pursuing were 19 percent more likely to feel satisfied with their lives and 26 percent more likely to feel positive about themselves.”
- Don’t Focus Too Much On Possessions
While money is certainly a helpful tool in achieving certain objects that will make you happier, the key to happiness has nothing to do with your finances.
Statistically, people stop becoming happier due to their wealth once they pass $75,000. Get yourself into a comfortable financial situation, but then focus on improving your life in more worthwhile ways.
- Live According to Your Own Plan
Throughout your life, people will be telling you what you should do to be happy.
Additionally, they will tell you what your work trajectory should be and when you should have kids… Well, they will try and tell you everything really.
Because of this, you should focus on your own desires as much as possible. Taking constructive criticism is important, but you must learn how to ignore comments and suggestions that will ultimately make you unhappy.
Additionally, you must be prepared to erase negative people from your life.
