The Easiest Way to Double Your Happiness

Sometimes my head spins when I read about how to be happier. We’re told we need to change our unhealthy eating, get more sleep, balance our lives, and make sure we’re exercising enough. Don’t get me wrong—I agree with all that. But for now, let’s start with something more manageable. To do that, I’m going to give you one tip (not three, just one that works right away) to double your happiness.

Pay attention to when you’re happy
We know that life has its ups and downs. Being happy doesn’t mean there aren’t times you feel sad, angry, overwhelmed, or stressed-out. If you receive disappointing news, it’s normal to be disappointed. It’s okay to feel angry if someone mistreats you—that anger can be a catalyst to you doing something about it. So the goal in our desire to be happy isn’t to feel “happy” all the time.

With that said, I bet you’re happier more often than you think. I say that because plenty of things go on in your day that can give you positive energy (happiness) if you stop and think about those times. The challenge is we tend to pay attention to when things go wrong, but we don’t notice all the times things go right. We notice when we’re in pain, but do we notice when we feel good?

If you want to double your happiness—and then continue in that direction—you just have to do one thing. Notice the times you feel any level of positive energy—about anything. Do you like the people you work with, or at least some of them? Did your car get you to work today? If you are proactive and look for things to feel good about you will find them all around you.

You do hundreds of things throughout the day without giving them much thought. Begin to be more conscious of what you do that gives you even a little charge of positive energy. That cup of coffee? Didn’t you like it? That was a time of happiness. What do you do at work that brings you satisfaction on some level, something you can take pride in?

Those are times of happiness. Do you have someone that cares about you? Doesn’t thinking about them make you feel good? It’s not that we don’t have a lot to feel good about, we do. We just have to be aware of these things—we have to notice them on purpose. Doing that one thing will double your happiness.

Happiness Action Plan: At the end of each day, simply recall three things (or start with one thing) that makes you feel good in some way. Soon you’ll realize you’ve felt more times of happiness than you’ve realized. 

 

 

 

 

- Alan Allard, Creator of Enlightened Happiness

 

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