The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want

by Sonja Lyubomirsky

If we can accept as true that life circumstances are not the keys to happiness, we’ll be greatly empowered to pursue happiness for ourselves.

It is a truism that how you think—about yourself, your world, and other people—is more important to your happiness than the objective circumstances of your life.

By definition, the practice of gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

“When you can hear the minutes ticking and you know the buzzer is going to go off in any minute and your time will be up, you see things so clearly. You just know without a doubt where your values are and why you’re alive, and you’re so grateful for each moment.”

You can’t be envious and happy at the same time. People who pay too much attention to social comparisons find themselves chronically vulnerable, threatened, and insecure.

The first strategy to arrest overthinking is simple and underrated yet incredibly powerful: distract, distract, distract. The distracting activity you select must be engrossing enough so that you don’t have the opportunity to lapse back into ruminations.