How to Be Happier Right Now
Happiness. It’s an exclusive motherfucker. But it turns out we can feel better about ourselves and life in general right this second. No really, we can. At least, that’s what Shawn Achor says. And we should probably listen to him. In addition to having one of the most-watched TED talks ever, Shawn is a former Harvard lecturer and the author of two New York Times best sellers, The Happiness Advantage and Before Hapiness. Here’s Achor’s advice for being as psyched about life as someone in a Pharrell video, in his own words.
Every day when you wake up, write down three new things you’re grateful for that have occurred over the past 24 hours. That helps you practice scanning the world for good things.
Shift your happiness paradigm.
Guys especially get the formula for happiness wrong in the first place. We think, “If I can work harder right now, I’ll be more successful, and thenI’m going to be happier.” And it turns out, that’s not true—partly because every time we hit a goal, our brain changes what success looks like, so happiness is on the opposite side of a moving target, and we never get there. But if guys can create happiness in the present, they can actually dramatically improve their success rates long-term.
Be grateful.
Every day when you wake up, write down three new things you’re grateful for that have occurred over the past 24 hours. That helps you practice scanning the world for good things. It also helps you practice optimism.
Keep a journal.
Journal about a positive experience you’ve had over the past 24 hours. Type every detail you can remember in just two minutes in a blank Word document. That’ll help you relive that experience.
The research isn’t in it yet, but we are willing to bet that running next to a hot blonde will not make you sad.
Work out every day.
Fifteen minutes a day or 30 minutes three times a week of fun, mindful cardio activity is the equivalent of taking an antidepressant, but with 30 percent less relapse six months later. That’s because, first of all, exercise produces endorphins, which cause short-term happiness.
But what really matters is what exercise does to your brain. When you exercise, your brain records a victory. You’ve been successful. And it creates this cascade of success. So you start developing more positive habits. In fact, people who exercise create entire constellations of positive habits in their lives, such as eating healthier and picking up meditation. Speaking of which…
Meditate.
In work that I was doing at Google, we invited workers to meditate. We found that just two minutes of watching your breath go in and out each day can increase your accuracy rates, decrease your levels of stress and raise your levels of happiness.
Thank someone.
Writing a two-minute positive email to somebody you know, praising them or thanking them for something, increases your social support dramatically. And it makes you happier while you’re writing that note.
Take a vacation. A good one.
Research shows that people return from the average vacation with lower levels of energy and no greater levels of happiness. So I did a study in December of 400 travelers to find out, can we create greater levels of happiness on vacations? And it turns out we could. We found that it wasn’t the travel that was causing people to feel less happy, it was the travel stress. So we were able to decrease this in three ways:
One, plan early. Ninety percent of the happiest vacations are planned out more than a month in advance. Two, travel far from home. Don’t just take a staycation. And three, travel with a friend, or meet up with a local host or guide. A company like Monograms, in addition to dealing with travel details, can make sure there’s a local host at your destination.
Ditch the antidepressants. Or supplement them with action.
Antidepressants serve a very valuable function in society when there are severe cases of depression. But they have to be coupled with behavioral changes as well. Because what matters long-term is knowing that our behavior can impact our levels of happiness. Coupling that antidepressant with gratitude exercises or physical exercise can dramatically improve the levels of happiness you feel long-term.
Make the best of bad times.
My mentor, Tal Ben-Shahar, says, “The best things in life don’t always happen to you. But you can make the best of the things that do happen to you.” So it’s not about complaining about the cards that we’re dealt, but looking at the cards we have and trying to make the best of them. That’ll help us change whatever reality we have into a better reality in the future.
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an incredibly long comment
but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say wonderful blog!
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me? https://www.binance.info/vi/join?ref=YY80CKRN
lasuna canada – cheap lasuna pills himcolin sale
purchase besivance eye drops – where can i buy sildamax brand sildamax
neurontin 100mg price – buy cheap generic neurontin azulfidine 500mg tablet
probalan cheap – probenecid 500 mg without prescription buy tegretol generic
celebrex 200mg over the counter – order generic indocin 50mg buy indocin pills
order colospa for sale – colospa for sale brand pletal 100mg
order voltaren 50mg online – brand voltaren 50mg aspirin generic
cheap rumalaya pill – endep pill buy elavil medication
pyridostigmine 60mg cost – generic mestinon 60 mg buy imuran pills
buy diclofenac for sale – buy diclofenac without a prescription buy nimotop without prescription
brand baclofen 25mg – order baclofen online feldene 20mg brand
purchase mobic online cheap – buy rizatriptan toradol price
buy periactin 4mg pills – periactin over the counter zanaflex where to buy
order trihexyphenidyl for sale – buy generic trihexyphenidyl purchase emulgel
oral cefdinir 300 mg – clindamycin usa
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
deltasone 40mg for sale – purchase elimite cream elimite cost
order acticin without prescription – permethrin canada order retin cream online
buy betamethasone 20gm without prescription – betnovate for sale online benoquin ca
metronidazole usa – buy flagyl online order cenforce generic
cost augmentin 1000mg – order amoxiclav generic levothyroxine
buy generic clindamycin online – order cleocin pills indomethacin 75mg usa
cozaar 25mg pills – cozaar 25mg ca order keflex 250mg online
order eurax cream – eurax cream buy aczone pills for sale
order modafinil generic – buy modafinil paypal meloset over the counter
bupropion online buy – buy bupropion 150 mg pills oral shuddha guggulu
buy progesterone 100mg online cheap – purchase clomiphene clomiphene brand
buy generic xeloda – buy danocrine pills buy danazol for sale
aygestin 5 mg uk – lumigan over the counter order yasmin
dostinex buy online – cabgolin over the counter buy alesse online
order estradiol – purchase letrozole pills order arimidex 1mg online
г‚·гѓ«гѓ‡гѓЉгѓ•г‚Јгѓ« гЃЇйЂљиІ©гЃ§гЃ®иіј – жЈи¦Џе“Ѓг‚їгѓЂгѓ©гѓ•г‚Јгѓ«йЊ гЃ®жЈгЃ—い処方 г‚·г‚ўгѓЄг‚№ жµ·е¤–йЂљиІ©
гѓ—гѓ¬гѓ‰гѓ‹гѓігЃ®йЈІгЃїж–№гЃЁеЉ№жћњ – г‚ўгѓўг‚г‚·гѓ«гЃ®иіје…Ґ г‚ўг‚ёг‚№гѓгѓћг‚¤г‚·гѓіе‡¦ж–№
гѓ—гѓ¬гѓ‰гѓ‹гѓігЃ®иіје…Ґ – гѓ‰г‚シサイクリン гЃ©гЃ“гЃ§иІ·гЃ€г‚‹ г‚ўг‚ュテイン гЃЉгЃ™гЃ™г‚Ѓ
eriacta flare – apcalis farm forzest lodge
crixivan pills – indinavir over the counter purchase cheap voltaren gel
valif online sail – secnidazole cost order sinemet 20mg without prescription
cheap modafinil 200mg – epivir brand epivir drug
stromectol 12 mg – buy tegretol no prescription tegretol 400mg uk
buy phenergan generic – oral phenergan order lincomycin generic