5 extraordinarily simple ways to be happy
Sophie Scott is the national medical reporter for the ABC, in addition to being a prominent public speaker. Sophie has won numerous awards for excellence in journalism and is the author of two books, Live a Longer Life and Roadtesting Happiness.
What is happiness and how do we get it? It's something I spent months thinking and writing about when I researched and wrote Roadtesting Happiness. The genesis of the book was dealing with grief, or not dealing with it, really.
I'd been struggling to regain some semblance of a normal life, after my mother died. So to bring some equilibrium, I looked into the advice of happiness experts, to see does their advice really work?
Here are some shortcuts detailing what I found:
Be happy not perfect. While we all want to do well and succeed in work and in relationships, if we set unreasonable standards, the opposite can occur. So let go of unrealistic expectations on yourself, your time and your loved ones.
Remember good enough is OK. At the end of each day, there are always things on my to do list that don't get done. But I would rather spend some quality time with family, and turn a blind eye to the household and work tasks that always need doing.
Gratitude. Feeling grateful for the people around you and the gifts you have is one of the most powerful shortcuts to happiness. And it can boost your physical health as well. Optimists are better at looking after their physical health. Write down just a couple of things you are grateful for each day, finding new things to be thankful for can make a real, tangible difference to your happiness.
Mindfulness. Scientific research shows chatting on the phone, while checking social media is mentally and physically draining. American neuroscientist Daniel Levitin says asking the brain to shift attention from one activity to another causes the prefrontal cortex and striatum to burn up oxygenated glucose, the same fuel our brains need to stay focused. And the kind of rapid, continual shifting we do with multitasking causes the brain to burn through fuel so quickly that we feel exhausted and disoriented after even a short time.
Mindfulness is the opposite of that. It's about focusing on giving your full attention to what you are doing in order to truly appreciate what you are eating, reading, doing or experiencing.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Constantly comparing yourself to others means you will be less happy than you could be. We 'expect' to find a soul mate or that we 'should' have the perfect body, job and life. A journey to happiness involves modifying some of those expectations when circumstances out of our control change. Success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting what you get.
What are the small changes you can incorporate today to be happier, more mindful, more grateful to those around us? What has worked for you to feel happier?
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Related links:
The secret to overcoming life’s challenges
9 traits of emotionally strong people
10 signs you’re too self-critical