5 Happiness Habits

1. Choose a specific time, place, or trigger for your happiness habit to kick in.

For example, use Habit #1 (Imagination) when you wake up, use Habit #3 (Interested) during your commute to work, and Habit #4 (Paradise) every time you see a stranger.

2. Use a reminder system.

Use a phone app, voice assistant or calendar to remind you to use your favorite habits.

Have them send you a notification, an email, or a buzz to remind you to practice your happiness habits.

Notes at the top of your to-do list, on sticky notes or on a wall calendar are also effective.

3. Create personal rules or policies to use happiness habits.

For example, “Whenever I feel lazy, I will ___,” or “Each time I feel stressed or angry, I will ___.”

Let’s say hunger makes you irrational. So instead of finding a sugary snack, use a happiness habit, like Habit #5 (Lighten Up) to calm down and get focused. If it works, make it a personal policy to lighten up each time you get hungry and irrational. Soon, the new habit kicks in whenever hunger strikes—no sugar needed.

Note: If none of these habits make you happier today, don’t give up. Come back and try these five habits again tomorrow. We will also add more Happiness Habits later this year and will announce them in a subscriber email.

Exercise

1. Close your eyes.
2. Imagine feeling happier right now.
3. Within a few seconds or minutes, you feel a lift.
4. Open your eyes and smile.

Congratulations! You just made yourself happier.

Be Happier During Difficult Tasks

For example, you need to clean a dirty bathroom. At first, the smells and garbage make you nauseous. So you use your imagination in one of these three ways.

“I imagine the bathroom sparkling clean, smelling fresh like a meadow after rain. The floor gleams, and every surface feels smooth to the touch. I feel proud of the transformation I’m about to create.”
“I imagine courageously facing this bathroom with no hesitation or reaction. It does not bother me in the slightest. While most people hate bathroom cleaning, it’s nothing to me.”
“While most people would need 30 minutes to do this, I can see myself getting this done in just ten minutes! I move fast and get it done, done, done. Once again, I prove I’m powerful!”

You create the mental picture. Bang! You feel a boost. You feel happier than ever.

You can even use this habit to make yourself happier when your life is not pleasant. For example, during a stressful meeting, while you are in pain, when you suffer a major loss or even while in prison.

Action Steps

1. Pick one or more times each day when you will pause and use your imagination to become happier. Make it a habit to do it every time, starting today.

2. Decide to pause and use your imagination to help you handle unpleasant tasks. Pick a task to use it on today.

3. Whenever your life is not going well, take a few seconds to imagine everything turning around and going your way. Create an automatic response or habit to use this technique whenever a part of your life is going downhill so you start going up ASAP.

Using your imagination to boost your happiness may be the best habit you have ever made for yourself.

Learn more by reading “The Power of Your Imagination.”

Example

You have a goal to save $100,000. Once you reach that goal, you will certainly be happy with yourself! Yet, just making a step toward the goal, and seeing that you did so, will also make you happy.

So you open an investment account and put $100 into the account. Bang! You feel happier.

You then make a habit of setting aside some money each day or each week for this account. Whenever you put cash in a special jar or transfer some money into the account, bang! You make yourself happier.

If you spend all day making progress toward your goals, your happiness is unlimited!

Exercise

1. Write down one of your important goals.

2. Make some progress toward that goal. It does not matter if your progress is a baby step or a giant leap. Any progress will do, but it must be done in the real world. Do it right now.

3. As soon as you take the step, notice how you just made yourself happier.

Action Steps

1. Make a list of goals you want to reach as soon as possible.

2. Pick one of the goals. Write down a few steps you can do without waiting for anyone or anything.

3. Select a time and place you will work on this goal every day. It can be the first thing you do each day in your home, it can be something you do during your morning break at your desk, or any other time and place that works for you, every day.

4. Make it a habit to make real-world progress toward this goal every day at the time and place you selected. Your steps do not need to be perfect. Any kind of progress is good enough.

You now not only make yourself happier at least once each day, you create your own success!

Read “Goals = Pleasure” to learn more.

You can create that happiness anywhere at any time, just by being interested.

In fact, the greater your interest, the greater your happiness.

For example, you hear a piece of jazz and it interests you. You feel a small lift of happiness, so you listen to a few more jazz songs and then a few albums. You get interested in the different forms of jazz, the musicians and the songwriters. You buy a saxophone and take lessons. Your interest turns into passion. You have never been happier!

At first, you think the music makes you happy, but then you realize the happiness comes from you. Being interested makes you happy.

What can you be more interested in?

What can you do right now that is interesting?

Action Steps

1. Make a list of things you are curious about. Which of these would you like to explore?

2. What topics are fascinating to you? How can you learn more about these things?

3. What is a difficult task you must do today? How can you be more interested in it?

4. Create a habit to become interested in something whenever you feel these emotions: boredom, anger, fear, sadness, grief or anxiety. Use them as triggers for this happiness habit.

Learn more by reading “Interested in Life?“

Example

You do not trust your neighbor as he looks mean. He always wears black clothes. He has a bushy beard, long hair and never smiles. You assume he is a bad person and decide to avoid him. Your neighborhood seems unsafe now, especially at night.

You tell your friend about this nasty neighbor. She asks, “How do you know he’s a mean guy? Have you ever met him?”

You say, “No, but he looks evil. Maybe he’s a terrorist or murderer! I’m afraid to go outside at night now.”

She says, “Let’s try something. Assume he’s a fine person. Decide he does good things for people. Try this for a day, okay?”

You agree to try.

At first, this is hard, but you think, “This is just an experiment.” You suppose that maybe might actually be a good neighbor. You take it further and assume this is true. You feel a bit of hope.

The next morning you see the neighbor walking to his car. You notice his shirt is clean. You see him pause and look at the beautiful sky. You realize he’s just a normal neighbor.

To test your assumption, you go outside. As he drives by, you give him a brief nod. He nods back and drives away. You feel relieved and wonderful.

Action Steps

1. Write down the name of a person you barely know, who you do not like or respect. Anyone who you simply assume is a bad person.

2. Change your mind. Decide this person is actually a good person. Assume it with no proof. Imagine they help the world and might be helpful to you.

3. Do this again with another person who you assume is a bad person. Change your mind about him or her.

4. Repeat until you feel happier.

5. Finally, make it a new habit to automatically assume all strangers are good people who deserve your friendship. Do not require proof, just decide to like and respect them, just as they are.

Form this habit and make your life into a happier paradise.

Learn more by reading “Paradise or Hell: The Choice is Yours.”

Three Examples

You can get so focused on making money that you burn out. Your intensity for money turns you into a monster. You skip the joy in life unless you can make money from it.

You can get too serious about your social life. Every tiny hint that you are not perfect feels like an attack. Other people control your happiness with their opinions.

You can get too serious about your family members. You try to control their lives to make them as perfect as yours. You later discover how much love and fun you missed.

Five More Ways to Lighten Up

In addition to the “12 Ways to Lighten Up,” these five techniques can help you form this valuable happiness habit.

1. Laugh at yourself.

Recognize when you’re being too serious and take a moment to laugh at your own intensity. Humor can instantly break the tension and give you a fresh look at yourself.

2. Do things for absolutely no reason or purpose — just for fun.

Take a walk for as long as you like. Work on your hobby. Chat with a friend.

Once you lighten up, you find you can be more productive.

3. Stop being perfect.

Make a mistake on purpose. Deliberately look a little less beautiful. Stop being right all the time and focus on your big goals.

4. Say “So What?”

“So what if I can’t get enough sleep? I’ll just enjoy two hours of soft music.”
“So what if I fail? I’ll try again later. Or not.”
“So what if my team loses? I’ll take a mini-vacation.”
“So what if I can’t pay my bills? I’ll still have plenty of food and some excellent books.”

5. Filter your information.

If you spend time online or watching TV, you receive hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of information every day. Most of it is bad for you. News stories, disturbing videos, gossip, political discussions, social media posts, comments from haters and useless advertisements. It not only makes life seem more serious than it actually is, it wastes hours of your life.

Fortunately, you can treat your personal happiness as a priority by filtering out the bad. Block or ignore everything that makes you angry, worried, stressed out, depressed, jealous, confused or desperate. Use self-discipline to escape this trap.

Make it a new habit of focusing on things that make you happier. Spend your time enjoying funny videos, useful articles, exciting movies, online courses, books, sports and so on. Even better, get up and participate in life.

Filtering your information might be the best happiness habit you will ever form.

Learn more by reading “Being Too Serious Ruins Your Success.”