Give your happiness a boost
According to experts every individual is born with their own happiness set point, meaning that some may be at eight out of ten on the scale (bubbly and cheerful most of the time) and others may hover at around 2 (more often than not…grumpy). However there are always ways of boosting ourselves up a level and below are some great tips from Women’s Health magazine to help you do just that:
Be Thankful
Sounds cheesy but each day take a little time out and think of all the things which have happened recently that made you smile. Doing this forces us to take a look at things we may have overlooked and taken for granted, for instance, yes maybe your car broke down in a blizzard the other day, but what about the good samaritan that pulled over to help you jump start it?
Don’t Compare
Instead of using other peoples happiness to measure against your own, why not just take pleasure from it? If you are always comparing what you have and how happy you are to someone else then you won’t feel good or appreciate the great things you have in your own life. Life is not a race so start taking things slower and try to be less competitive.
Believe your job matters
Often we lose sight of how what we do has a positive impact on the lives of others. A study of hospital cleaning staff found that those who described their job as bettering the lives of others were more satisfied than those who didn’t consider their jobs worthwhile. We are all part of a bigger picture and we all contribute to the common good.
Surround yourself with happy people
According to a study conducted by Harvard Medical School and the University of California, happiness has a domino effect which spreads from person to person, through social circles. On average, every happy friend you have increases your chance of being happy by nine per cent.