“It takes very little to live a happy life; it is all within you, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.”
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want a lifetime of happiness, help someone else.”
Chinese saying
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look at the closed door for so long that we don’t see the one that has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller
Happiness does not always have to come from big things and events. It can also come from smaller, daily habits.
So today I’d like to share three quick tips and habits that help me live a happier life.
1. Start by setting a low bar for happiness.
When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself, “Set the bar low for happiness today.”
When I tell myself this and try to keep it in mind during the day, I appreciate things more.
The food, my work, the weather, the small events of the day do not become everyday things, but something that I am happy with.
The little things, or what might be something you take for granted, becomes something I now often pause to absorb and appreciate.
But if I become happier in my daily life because of the smaller things, does that mean I become unmotivated to keep working on the bigger things?
Not in my experience.
This way of looking at my life, on the other hand, gives me more energy and inspiration, life becomes lighter and I feel less inner resistance as I explore and work on both small and larger things.
I recommend giving this one a try and seeing how it works for you.
And to use a reminder on your phone or on paper to make it easier to keep that low bar in your mind.
2. Help someone.
Helping someone is one of the simplest, but also one of the most powerful things you can do to live a happy life.
How can you help someone? By giving them value in some way.
Here are a handful of ideas to do that.
Provides some practical help.
For example, with work, moving or cooking.
Just giving some good advice.
People may not always want advice, but when they ask for it, give the best advice based on your experience.
Cuddly toys.
The comfort of one or more hugs can make the other person’s situation at least a little better.
Encourage someone.
There is a lot of discouragement in the world. So instead, be an exception and encourage people to believe in themselves and what they want to do.
Just listen.
Sometimes people don’t want help. They just want to vent or want someone to listen while they figure things out and release pent-up emotions.
It may not seem like much, but it can be a huge help to someone who needs it. So be fully present – don’t keep thinking about anything else – and listen.
Put things in perspective.
It’s easy to get caught up in a problem and turn a molehill into a mountain. But you can help by adding your perspective.
You can talk about it together, maybe laugh about it, and even discover the hidden opportunity in the problem that in one person’s mind almost felt like the sky was falling.
And don’t forget to pat yourself on the back and appreciate yourself for helping someone. Don’t brush it off or make it smaller than it is.
Pause and take a moment to quietly think about how you did something good.
3. Be kind to yourself.
Being kind to yourself is very helpful healthy self-image and for a happier life.
Of course, there are many ways to be kinder to yourself, but here are three good ways that I think are powerful.
Change your input to things that are kind and constructive.
Destructive messages from those around you or from those further away, such as the media, advertising and society in general, do not help you be kind to yourself.
So replace them little by little with other daily and weekly input.
It could be the encouragement of friends and family and the help of someone close who has been in the situation you are in now.
They can be practical personal development books and blogs that help you with real solutions to the challenges you face and the goals you want to achieve.
Or it could be spending more time in nature and in silence to relax and recharge.
Compare yourself to yourself.
Comparing what you have and your results to what other people have and have achieved can really undermine your motivation and keep your self-esteem at a low level.
There are always people in front of you.
So focus on you.
About what you have achieved. And how you can and have improved your results.
This is important because it is a great motivator to see how much you have improved and how far you have come.
Give yourself a break.
I sometimes hear that you should always be positive, always win or work towards your goal. That might sound inspiring in theory.
But reality is not ideal or perfect, and neither are you or me.
Life sometimes gets in the way. You may be getting in your own way. And sometimes you simply don’t have the energy, courage or time to do anything.
And that’s okay.
Instead of trying to live up to a perfect image that other people and/or yourself impose on you, you choose to set human standards for yourself.
Choose to give yourself a break when things don’t go the way you might have wanted, and choose to cut yourself some slack.
