How to be happier by finding positive things in your life

What if becoming happier started with asking yourself better questions? Inspired by insights from positive psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar, this article explores how shifting your focus towards gratitude, strengths and progress can have a powerful impact on your wellbeing. By asking positive questions each day and paying attention to what is already working in your life, you can develop habits that support greater happiness.

I went to a talk last night by Tal Ben-Shahar, who wrote: "Happier: Can you learn to be happy?"

He talked about how to be happier in our lives, and it starts by asking ourselves the wrong questions. Instead of asking what's wrong, what could I improve, what's not working, etc., by asking more positive questions, we get better results.

His point was to not ignore the negatives, to include them in our frame of sight, but also not to ignore the positives, as when things are going well, we should capitalise on those.

9 positive questions for a happier life

1. What is working well in my life right now?
2. What do I appreciate in my life? What am I grateful for?
3. What progress have I made today?
4. What do I appreciate in other people?
5. What do I look forward to?
6. What can I do today to bring more happiness into my life?
7. What are my strengths?
8. What gives me strength?
9. How can I cultivate the seeds of greatness in myself and in others?

Asking yourself some or all of these questions each day will help you feel happier. By focusing on the good things we are and we experience, we can learn how to build more of it into our lives.

Turning reflection into a daily habit

A good way of doing this is by writing in a journal at the end of each day, and the research shows that the more we do this, the more we naturally learn to appreciate what is going well in our lives. In turn, noticing this and being thankful makes us even happier.

Why kindness makes us happier

Another great point he made is that acts of kindness make us feel more consistently happy - volunteering, giving your time or donating money will help, but even very small things, like picking up a scarf someone dropped and offering it back to them, will help you feel better about yourself and your life.

Why not try it out and see what happens?

With very best wishes for a happier life for all of you.