The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World's Happiest People (The Happiness Institute Series)

by Meik Wiking

The most important thing is to start talking with your neighbors, to learn their names, find out their skills, interests, and needs, and build a community around them—a community that is as unique as the people who live on your street.

The ancient Greek stoic and philosopher Epictetus once said that wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.

Take the scenic route. There are apps (try Kamino and Field Trip) that will tell you not the fastest route but the prettiest.

What the researchers find is that, on average, participants are significantly and substantially happier outdoors in all green or natural habitats than they are in urban environments.

Get your friends together and form a “help mob” (a helpful flash mob), say, for a charity or somebody who needs a hand with something; dress up as a superhero and perform random acts of kindness that day; or call or write to someone who has been kind to you in the past and thank them.

Hand out smiles and friendly remarks. They are free. Make small talk. Have a friendly chat. Give a compliment. Americans have mastered this art; Danes are notoriously bad at friendly chats with strangers.

Start doing little Random Acts of Kindness Sign up on the website www.randomactsofkindness.org and become a member of the Global Community of Kindness, or join local communities of kindness like the Fucking Flink movement (www.fuckingflink.dk/) in Denmark. Start out with little things: give a (sincere) compliment, help a tourist find their way, pass on a book you have enjoyed, tell someone who means a lot to you that they do.