The Good Life
(Research shows that these make us happier)
Savoring and Gratitude (keep a journal)
Kindness and Social Connection
Exercise and Sleep
Meditation
Time affluence
Determining your Signature Strengths and using them daily
SAVORING - Intentionally focusing your attention on the positive aspects of an experience. This intensifies and lengthens the positive emotions associated with an experience.
- Make a point to savor one experience each day.
- At the end of the day, take note of what you savored. Spend time thinking about it again and remembering why it made you happy.
- Take a picture to help you remember your savored moments throughout the day, and reflect on these at the end of the day.
Savoring can boost our mood in 3 ways:
Thwarts hedonic adaptation - by helping us to focus on and remember the good things in our life. This prevents the natural adaptation of getting used to these things which leads us to want more and different things.
Thwarts mind wandering, helping us to stay in the moment
Increases gratitude
GRATITUDE - The positive emotional state of recognizing and appreciating what you have in life.
Taking time to experience gratitude can make you happier and healthier.
- Take 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to write about someone or something that you are grateful for.
- Research shows benefits from writing a paragraph about one thing you are grateful for and why you are grateful for it.
- You can also write down 5 things you are grateful for - they can be big or small, but really focus on these while writing them down.
Gratitude refocuses the mind from what one is lacking to what one has.
Writing gratitude letters to those that you are thankful for makes you happier and also creates happiness for the recipient of the letter.
KINDNESS
The happiest people practice small acts of kindness. They think about things they can do for others and they notice acts of kindness in the world around them. Even thinking about kind acts can make you happier in the moment.
- Try doing 7 small acts of kindness each week
Participating in charitable opportunities with friends and having contact with those you are helping increases positive emotions and builds stronger social connections.
When we do nice things for people in our social circle, this strengthens the ties between us. Strengthening our social connections leads to more happiness.
SOCIAL CONNECTION
- Happier people spend more time with family and friends.
- Socializing with others make us happier than eating, shopping, or relaxing.
- Try spending at least 1 hour of quality time with someone that you enjoy daily.
Prioritize SLEEP and EXERCISE
Physical activity (30min 3x/week) boosts happiness.
Exercise can be as effective as taking antidepressants for some people.
People that are sleep deprived (<5hrs/night) have more physical and emotional complaints.
People getting an adequate amount of sleep (7+hours/night) report a more positive mood.
MEDITATION
Helps to control the mind. Decreases mind wandering.
With neuroplasticity, we can improve our happiness and well-being by changing our habits and thought patterns.
Human minds tend to not stick to tasks. Our minds tend to be all over the place all of the time. Our thoughts tend to naturally shift away from whatever task we are doing, to think about other things, and to not be in the moment.
Mindfullness and being present improve happiness.
People who meditate are able to shut down this default mind wandering mode which keeps other parts of the brain activated. This helps with focus and staying in the moment. People who meditate report more positive emotions and higher happiness scores.
TIME AFFLUENCE
Most of us experience time famine. We wake up thinking that we didn’t get enough sleep, and go to bed thinking we didn’t get enough done today.
Time affluence - the idea that you have the time to do what you want do, you are not strapped for time, you can even spend time doing nothing.
Time affluence allows for more social interaction which leads to more happiness.
Time vs Money
You could make more money, but then you wouldn’t have as much free time.
or
You could choose to have more free time, but then you wouldn’t have as much money.
People who prioritize time over money are happier overall than those who prioritize money over time.
5 things we should prioritize:
- Kindness
- Social connections
- Time affluence
- Mind control/ meditation and mindfulness
- Healthy practices of sleep and exercise
(These are proven to increase happiness.)
How often do we prioritize other things at the expense of these?
…See next section/click on next tab to learn about SIGNATURE STRENGTHS…