21 Science Backed Ways To Be Happier

It’s a common question people ask: “How can I be a happier person?”

There are lots of different actions you can take, in order to improve your mood and overall outlook on life. By adopting a few simple habits and daily practices, you can make real improvements to your mood. By reading through this article, you’ll be armed with 21 great ways to be happier in life. Continue reading to learn more:

21 Ways To Be Happier

1. Stop The Hedonic Treadmill

The hedonic treadmill is a concept you may or may not have heard of. It refers to the human tendency to return to a baseline state of happiness over time. So if something great occurs in a person’s life, for a short time they may feel happier but before long, they return to what is their “normal.”

Consider making some physiological changes to your life, be it through diet, or working out, in order to get out of this loop.

2. Boost Your Confidence

Another great way to become a happier person is to boost your confidence. People who lack confidence are less likely to commit to making meaningful changes to their lives as they feel they will fail at it. It is because of this that it is important to look at yourself in a positive light. By showing yourself that you can accomplish many things, your confidence will get a boost, and you’ll likely be all the happier for it!

3. Learn How To Look At Yourself In A Postive Light

To make it easier for yourself to pursue happiness, it’s important that you identify what skills you have that you link most closely with happiness. One of the best skills you can work on in order to become a happier person is the ability to look at yourself positively. To improve this vital skill, try to improve the way you look at yourself. Some examples of ways you can accomplish this include noting down your positive traits, visualizing yourself at your best, and focusing on your strengths.

4. Maintain A Work-Life Balance

It’s hard to put forth the energy required to pursue happiness if you are always worn out and tired after a hard day’s work. In order to make happiness a priority in life, it is important that you allocate yourself both the time and energy required for the task! Seek out a balance between your work-life and your home-life, so that you are able to adequately pursue your goals of improved outlook.

5. Create A Growth Mindset Towards Happiness

Another great way to be a happier person is by adopting a growth mindset. A growth mindset is an way of thinking about things with an eye towards self-improvement. By creating a growth mindset with a goal of happiness, we tell ourselves happiness is possible. This is vital because if we aren’t sure that we are capable of being happy, we are less likely to pursue it with the fervor required.

6. Build Positive Memories

With enough effort and practice, the different area’s of our brains may be strengthened! If we find that we are already good at remembering all the negative aspects of our lives, it may be easy to switch gears and work on improving the parts of our brains that are important for internalizing the positive things in life! When we more easily recall the good things in life, our mood naturally improves.

7. Look At Things Positively

Every happening in our lives can be looked at either in a positive or a negative light. If you want to be a happier person, consider seeking out the positive aspects of everything that occurs in your life. It may be difficult at times, but by looking at everything that happens to us in a positive way will likely result in much better moods! This is a skill that is developed, and you’ll find that as you get better at it you will be better able to handle stressful situations.

8. Take A Social Media Break

Social media can be a great way to stay connected with friends and family, but it can also be a negative drain that puts us in a less than stellar mood. It is a good idea, from time to time, to take breaks from our social media accounts. By taking regular breaks and disconnecting, you’ll likely find that your mood starts to improve and you end up feeling less stressed out.

9. Invest In Your Happiness

Being mindful of how we spend our money is a great way to ensure our happiness. Make the aim of your spending to be on improving your life in ways that will make you happy. Prioritize spending your money on things like vacations or gifts for others, and limit your spending on the things that don’t bring joy to your life.

10. Be Kind To Others

A great way to feel better about ourselves is by showing kindness to others. Try doing a good deed for someone else every day, show empathy and respect, and communicate in a kind way when you interact with others throughout your day. By working on your communication, and making attempts at improving the moods of those around you, you’ll likely find that you begin to be more happy yourself!

11. Interrupt Your Negative Thought Patterns

It can be hard to face this fact, but a lot of the times the reason we are unhappy is because of the way we think about things in general. By fixating on negative things like how someone treated us unfairly, or how something didn’t pan out like we’d have liked, we end up staying in a state of unhappiness. These negative thought processes act to keep us unhappy and makes it difficult for us to push ahead towards a happier existence. Next time you find that you are in a negative feedback loop, stop for a second and bring your attention to something more positive.

12. Think About What Makes You Unhappy

It is especially difficult to act on your goal of improved mood if you haven’t been able to identify what it is that makes you unhappy, or how you feel in general. In order to act on this goal, try to figure out how you actually feel and what might have caused you to feel this way.

13. Define Your Values And Act On Them

After taking a good, hard look at yourself and figuring out what it is you value in life, you’ll likely find that you knew all along what it was you needed to do in order to be happy. If you’re looking to improve your outlook on life, and become a happy person, identify what it is you value most so that you aren’t missing out on something obvious.

14. Focus On The Good Things In Life

Life isn’t always easy. Sometimes it can be downright difficult! By focusing on the good things in life, it makes it easier for us to move past the negative experiences, resulting in us being much more resilient and strong. When you notice something good has occurred, relish in this moment, and hold onto it for as long as possible, in order to realize true happiness.

15. Take Advantage Of Your Imagination

This little tidbit is something that few know but, our minds are not very good at picking out what is real and what is imaginary in our daily lives. In order to take advantage of this fact to improve your mood, try imagining something that makes you happy. You’ll likely find that your mood improves noticeably!

16. Try Mindfulness

The world isn’t always rainbows and unicorns, and sometimes we seek out refuge from the harsh realities of our daily lives. If we take to being more mindful of the positive and negative happenings in our live, we can up in better spirits. When we are more engaged in our daily lives, it is easier to focus on the positives, no matter how small, resulting in happiness.

17. Define What Happiness Means To You

Everyone has a different definition of what happiness means to them. By pinpointing your individual definition of the term, it can be easier for you to seek it out! Take some time to really think about what happiness means to you. Determine what it looks like in your mind, what it means, and how it feels, in order to better work on improving your mood.

18. Get Out Of The Rut

It can be easy to fall into the trap of doing the same things over and over again. How can you expect to become a happy person if you continue the habits that resulted in you feeling negative, to begin with? Push yourself to try new things, and do something different every day!

19. Speak Up For Yourself

If you’re always letting other people talk over you, you’re likely not happy in these moments. It is important to speak up and be a bastion for yourself. When we speak up and let our thoughts and feelings be known, we become much more in control of our ability to be happy.

20. Find A Purpose In Life

It’s common for one to want to make their impact on the people and the world around us. To do this most effectively, try to figure out just what kind of impact you would like to make. By finding your purpose in life, it will give you a goal to move towards. As you progress, you will likely find happiness.

21. Stay Connected With Others

Almost everything is more enjoyable when we share experiences with others. One of the most impactful things you can do to improve your happiness and outlook on life is to create real meaningful relationships and connections with others around us.

Final Thoughts On Ways To Be Happier

Happiness is possible for everyone! By taking these tips to heart, you’ll find that after a while, you become a much more positive person! By acting on your goal of happiness, you’ll find that before long, you become a truly happy person!