10 Tips for a Happier Life

Thoughts about the road to happiness turned to primary topics I spend a lot of time discussing. Based on those, here are my 11 suggestions for living a happier life.

1. Surround yourself with a positive support circle. Happiness arrives quickest when your head is a

repository of positive thoughts, beliefs, and memories. Rid yourself of things — objects, people, and situations — that create negative emotional experiences. This is hard for some people, especially when it comes to letting go of long-time connections or affiliations. The hard part is the moment you step up and take action. A day or two later you’re thinking, “I feel better. Why didn’t I do that weeks/months/years ago?” Negative emotional experiences create burden and baggage. Jettison that and replace it with can-do support.

2. Support the efforts and dreams of others. Snarky, negative, critical people live in a world of ridicule and negative judgment. When we support the ambitions of others, they will support us. Want to feel good? Help someone achieve something important.

3. Ask for help when you need it. Volunteer help when others do. When asked the secret to happiness, the Dalai Lama replied, “Do more, want less.” What he meant was, “Do more for other people (it will make you feel better) and worry less about the materialistic trappings of common pursuit. There are givers in life and takers. Having been both I can assure you: Being a giver is a happier place to be.

4. Know what happiness looks and feels like; and when you find it … protect it. Happiness starts with the choice to be that way, followed by decisions and actions that enable you to become that way. Happiness need not be temporary. Happy people tend to stay that way because everything from their approach to decision-making and actions remains congruent. Get your head and heart in alignment. When they are, everything works

5. Live with passion. Golfer Greg Norman calls this concept “attacking life.” I’m with him. People who live with passion hop out of bed. Those lacking passion bang the snooze button three times before falling out due to gravity, not ambition. A life devoid of passion is a life shortchanged. If work is a drag, enrich your life in other, more meaningful ways.

6. Own and manage your head. Too many heads these days are too crowded with noise. With a thousand voices shouting, placid thoughts and happiness will hide behind the furniture. If you worry too much read, “Managing the Worry Circle” (How to Improve Your Life by Worrying Less). You will learn how your head works, how to worry less, and how to make sure you worry only about the right things.

7. Understand what it is that will make you happy. Everyone has unique requirements for attaining happiness and what makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy. Revel in your individuality and do not worry about whether or not your desires are comparable to those of your peers.

8. Make a plan for attaining goals that you believe will make you happy. Your mood will very likely increase as your pursue your goal because you will feel better about yourself for going after something you value.

9. Surround yourself with happy people. It is easy to begin to think negatively when you are surrounded by people who think that way. Conversely, if you are around people who are happy their emotional state will be infectious.

10. When something goes wrong try to figure out a solution instead of wallowing in self pity. Truly happy people don’t allow setbacks to affect their mood because they know that with a little thought they can turn the circumstances back to their favor.

11. Spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things that make you happy. These few minutes will give you the opportunity to focus on the positive things in your life and will lead you to continued happiness.

 Happiness is hard to define but most people are aware of whether they are happy or not. Many people

believe that happiness is a form of luck and that some people are destined to be happy while others are destined to be unhappy. I try to incorporate the tips above into my life and have had great success in achieving happiness. The tips in this article are small but meaningful steps that you can take each day to lead you to true happiness

I hope everyone enjoying these tips

Cyril P Abraham