Today’s Simple Tip: Make Happiness a Habit
You ever notice how some people tend to always be happy. You wonder if they are naturally happy or if they work at it? Let’s get real and admit sometimes our ego tells us that they are fake or that they must have an easy life in order to be happy all the time.
We all have a different biology giving us different predispositions to certain personality traits and ways of being in the world. Our environment also shapes us along the road of life. I’d like to offer that being happy is a state of mind you can create for yourself even if your baseline tends to be sad or negative. If you are not predisposed to “being happy” you will need to put in some work to make it a habit. If you tend to be happy or somewhere in between, you can still benefit from using my tips below when you are having a difficult time.
How can someone make happiness a habit? You should start small. Choose one happy thought in the morning to carry with you throughout the day. Make it a part of your morning routine. If you feel yourself getting triggered, go back to that happy thought. As many times as it takes. At the end of the day see how you feel.
The next day, choose two happy thoughts to carry with you throughout the day. Alternate between the two of them throughout the day when needed. Assess again at the end of the day, how you feel.
Day three, choose three happy thoughts. You see how this goes. Keep increasing your happy thoughts as much as you can. You don’t want to keep going indefinitely but until you feel you have a great mental toolbox full of happy thoughts you can refer to. Make sure start to write them down and you get a good long list over time. Refer to it frequently.
Happiness is not a state of mind that you achieve, and you are never unhappy again. No one stays happy all the time. They keep choosing to be happy. That is why this simple tip of creating a happiness habit can work for people who are already happy as well as those trying to make a shift in their life to having more happiness.
You can also try thoughts of gratitude. When we focus our attention things in our life that we are grateful for it helps create happy thoughts. Get a notebook and start writing down your happy thoughts and things you are grateful for! Writing things on paper, reinforces it to our mind and I dare say, our heart!
Another thing you can do to make happiness a habit is start surrounding yourself with positivity whenever possible. Cut toxic people out of your life. If you follow social media, cut toxic and negative people out of your social media feed. Start following positive people and groups. Refrain from gossiping with negative people. Stop watching sensationalized news and poor sources of information. After you filter the information you allow to enter your inner world, your happy thoughts will start to increase. If you know someone that always tends to be happy, spend more time with that person.
I offer that happiness can be a choice. Some days when I get up, I feel blah. I reach for my closest happy thought and something I am grateful for today and I carry it with me all day. I hope you know that happiness is there for you and you deserve it! Simple, healthy habits for a simple, healthy, life!
If anyone needs more information on how to create a happiness habit feel free to reach out to me.
Enjoy the journey and always be true to yourself!
~Jen to the Zen