8 Tips to Increase Your Happiness

Here’s a summary of what the UC Berkley Greater Good Science Center  and The Help Guide say will help increase your happiness :

1) Build relationships: Social connections are essential for happiness. Make time for those you are closest to — nurture relationships that feed you.
2) Express Gratitude: People who give thanks and count their blessings on a regular basis are more optimistic and have greater satisfaction with their lives. My favorite exercise for this is What Went Well. 
3) Help others: Use your strengths in service of something bigger than yourself. Doing nice things for others, helps us feel good. 
4) Give up grudges: When we forgive, we feel better about ourselves, experience more positive emotions, and feel closer to others.
5) Take good care of yourself:  Regular exercise increases happiness and self-esteem, reduces anxiety and stress, and can lift some symptoms of depression. Poor sleep is linked to lower happiness, depression, obesity, and diabetes.
6) Pay attention and learn to savor the moment: This is the opposite of moving around frenetically. Learn how to be stay present and enjoy what is happening right now. Psychologist and coach Audrey Berger has a great post on savoring here.
7) Don’t focus on material wealth: After our basic needs our met, research suggests, more money doesn’t bring us more happiness. The science around this keeps changing, but the basic message remains the same: Money doesn't bring happiness in excess.
8) This one's mine: Learn to laugh more even when things are hard. If you can lighten up enough to laugh, you can savor some of the hard stuff too.

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