All of these can play an important role in the overall experience of happiness, although the relative value of each can be highly subjective. Some activities may be both pleasurable and meaningful, while others might skew more one way or the other.
For example, volunteering for a cause you believe in might be more meaningful than pleasurable. Watching your favorite tv show, on the other hand, might rank lower in meaning and higher on pleasure. Some types of happiness that may fall under these three main categories include:. While some people just tend to be naturally happier, there are things that you can do to cultivate your sense of happiness. Achieving goals that you are intrinsically motivated to pursue, particularly ones that are focused on personal growth and community, can help boost happiness.
Research suggests that pursuing these types of intrinsically-motivated goals can increase happiness more than pursuing extrinsic goals like gaining money or status. Studies have found that people tend to over earn—they become so focused on accumulating things that they lose track of actually enjoying what they are doing.
So, rather than falling into the trap of mindlessly accumulating to the detriment of your own happiness, focus on practicing gratitude for the things you have and enjoying the process as you go. When you find yourself stuck in a pessimistic outlook or experiencing negativity, look for ways that you can reframe your thoughts in a more positive way.
People have a natural negativity bias , or a tendency to pay more attention to bad things than to good things. This can have an impact on everything from how you make decisions to how you form impressions of other people. Discounting the positive—a cognitive distortion where people focus on the negative and ignore the positive—can also contribute to negative thoughts.
Reframing these negative perceptions isn't about ignoring the bad. Instead, it means trying to take a more balanced, realistic look at events. It allows you to notice patterns in your thinking and then challenge negative thoughts.
Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in many different areas of life. Even the happiest of individuals can feel down from time to time and happiness is something that all people need to consciously pursue. Exercise is good for both your body and mind. Physical activity is linked to a range of physical and psychological benefits including improved mood.
Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise may play a role in warding off symptoms of depression, but evidence also suggests that it may also help make people happier, too. In one analysis of past research on the connection between physical activity and happiness, researchers found a consistent positive link.
Even a little bit of exercise produces a happiness boost—people who were physically active for as little as 10 minutes a day or who worked out only once a week had higher levels of happiness than people who never exercised. In one study, participants were asked to engage in a writing exercise for 10 to 20 minutes each night before bed. The results found that people who had written about gratitude had increase positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improve life satisfaction.
As the authors of the study suggest, keeping a gratitude list is a relatively easy, affordable, simple, and pleasant way to boost your mood. Try setting aside a few minutes each night to write down or think about things in your life that you are grateful for.
Research has found that people who feel like they have a purpose have better well-being and feel more fulfilled. It may help improve happiness by promoting healthier behaviors. Some things you can do to help find a sense of purpose include:.
This sense of purpose is influenced by a variety of factors, but it is also something that you can cultivate. It involves finding a goal that you care deeply about that will lead you to engage in productive, positive actions in order to work toward that goal. Click below to listen now. While seeking happiness is important, there are times when the pursuit of life satisfaction falls short. Some challenges to watch for include:.
Money may not be able to buy happiness, but there is research that spending money on things like experiences can make you happier than spending it on material possessions. One study, for example, found that spending money on things that buy time—such as spending money on time-saving services—can increase happiness and life satisfaction. For instance, if you realize you value your family over your job, you may decide to spend more time at home.
For example, maybe you would write "my family," "my pets," and "my job. Translate those into values. See if you can figure out how to translate what's most important to you into values.
If you listed "travel," then maybe adventure is one of your values. Look at other values on the list. If you used a list of values from the internet, it can help to simply look through that list to see if you can find other things you value. Go through a list and star any values that seem relevant to your life. Right now, star as many as you feel are important to you, even if it seems like you're starring too many at once.
Narrow down your values. Now try narrowing down your values to the 10 most important. You're not saying that you don't value the ones you're leaving off. Rather, you're looking inside yourself to see what is most important to you. Once you've narrowed down to 10, try narrowing down to 5. Next, try to pick your most important value.
If you're having a hard time deciding, ask yourself which ones you could live without. For instance, you might find that you can live without adventure as long as your family is happy.
Take an assessment. Another option to help you figure out your values is to take an assessment. You can find any number of assessments on the internet for free that will help you assess what you value. Some may require you to give them an email address, though. Try looking on psychology-based sites. However, remember that no assessment is perfect, and if you feel like the values you get back are off, feel free to move them around as needed.
Rearrange your life. Once you figure out what your values are, it's time to put those into play. Consider how you can rearrange your life to better fit your values. Rearranging your life should make you happier, as it is bringing your life more in line with who you are.
Another example is that if you find you value adventure, spend more time seeking it in your life. You don't need to go on glamorous vacations to find adventure. You can do it in your own city by seeking out new places to visit, new things to try, and new restaurants to eat. The point is whatever values you have at the top, especially the top value, should come first in your life. You need to make space for it with your time, energy, and money. Part 3. Pursue active hobbies. Active hobbies, such as engaging with other people, exercising, or making things, can increase your happiness in comparison to passive hobbies, such as watching television.
Therefore, exploring hobbies that get you active can help increase your happiness once you find one you love. You just need to find it meaningful and relaxing. Look at what you loved in the past. If you're looking for a new hobby, consider what you enjoyed doing in the past, even in childhood.
For instance, if you loved coloring, you could find a pastime that puts similar skills into play, such as drawing with colored pencils. Browse hobbies. Another way to try picking up a new hobby is to browse places that are focused on hobbies.
For instance, you could visit the craft store or sporting goods store. You could also go to the library and browse through the books on different kinds of hobbies. Building a business is hugely satisfying. It's also often torturous day to day. In short, Kahneman suggests there are two distinct paths to the good life and which you take depends on your values and preferences. But, according to new research, there's actually also a third option: You can chase joy or satisfaction or, if both of those feel hard to come by, psychological richness.
First, a definition. As students "learn more about a new country's customs and history, they're often prompted to reconsider the social mores of their own cultures," she notes. Occasional awkwardness aside, studying abroad is generally pretty nice , but experiences that make your life psychologically rich don't necessarily have to be pleasant.
We must choose how we are going to react and conduct ourselves going forward despite all that. It is in this choice that we find liberation, contentment, empowerment and of course, happiness. The state of the world is what it is, we can either bemoan the negatives, or we can CHOOSE to adopt the most positive attitude despite it. It is in that choice that will determine our happiness in this thing we call life. Have you ever notice there are some people who are perpetually happy or optimistic?
Now our natural instinct would be to say one job was great, the other was terrible. However, after some reflection we can determine that what really makes us happy is having great coworkers. We could take that even further to say, we thrive off of having positive people around us in all aspects of life. Go through a few days, just jotting down your likes and dislikes, keeping notes and taking time to reflect on each of the things you write down. With these written down, think about what they mean to you.
Think about why they made their way on to the paper. It can be a good time to just sit back and consider these things. Think about ways you can do more of what makes you happy and what ways can you minimize what makes you unhappy.
The trick to finding you happy place is finding the deeper truths and building a strategy to benefit from that understanding.
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