7 Ways to Cultivate Happiness

When you have a bad day, there is nothing like going down the YouTube rabbit hole of puppy videos to make you feel better. While watching puppy videos is a good short-term tactic for lifting a bad mood, science has found that incorporating the following activities into your life helps create longer-lasting happiness — after you’re done watching the videos, of course.

In his Ted Talk, “The Secret to Better Work,” Shawn Achor details why incorporating these habits of happiness into your routine will make you not only happier but also more productive and successful.

Become happier and more successful with these seven habits of happiness:

1. Keep a Journal

Jotting down your feelings, especially when you are overwhelmed by any certain emotion, is a great way to calm yourself down, according to researchers at UCLA. Dubbed the “Bridget Jones” effect, when you write down your feelings, you are “initiating an emotion-regulation process” that helps you clarify what you are feeling and why you are feeling it. This helps you regain control of your reaction to an intense emotional situation.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed, grab a pen and write it all down. You will feel so much better afterward.

2. Raise Your Heart Rate Regularly

You don’t need to be a marathon runner or a gym rat to reap the benefits of exercise. You only need to raise your heart rate for at least 20 minutes several times a week to experience the same consistent mood boost or “high” many marathoners like to talk about. Exercise induces this natural high by releasing endorphins, your body’s natural blissful sedative.

But don’t worry; you can enjoy the endorphin rush of exercise without fear it will be habit-forming.

3. Live in the Present

Or, as psychologists like to say, be mindful — of your emotional reactions to situations, of how you spend your time, and of how you react to stress. By changing their mindset to focus on the present and current opportunities for growth instead of on the past and old failures, “mindful” people have been found to be more happy and successful than their less self-aware counterparts.

Being mindful helps you banish the baggage of the past and live your best life in the present.

4. Sit Down and Take Several Deep Breaths

These are the first and most basic steps to meditating — sitting on the ground cross-legged and listening to music or a guided meditation is optional. The most important part of meditating is using your breathing over a period of several minutes to clear your mind of intrusive or anxiety-inducing thoughts. Routinely clearing your mind of overwhelming emotions through meditation has been found to reduce stress and make your brain healthier.

So the next time your mind and heart are racing with anxiety, breathe in and out to a count of ten for several minutes. While this exercise may not solve the problem that caused you stress, it will help you have a clear head to deal with the impacts of that stress.

5. Express Gratitude

Learning to see the good in life, including the silver lining when storm clouds rush in, is a powerful tool for remaining resilient in the face of adversity. Seek out the good things in life, because expressing gratitude for such things, whether in a journal or in person, makes you happier.

To feel better on a bad day, choose to recognize a good deed, and say thank you.

6. Give to Others

It may seem like a paradox, but giving away your time, energy, and means makes you happier. Notre Dame University researchers, as part of the Science of Generosity Initiative, found that people who gave more than 10% of their income reported they were never or rarely depressed. People who spent five hours or more a week volunteering also reported being very happy, compared to “unhappy” people who volunteered less than one hour a week.

If you want to volunteer more in your community but don’t know where, www.volunteermatch.org is a great place to start.

7. Go to Bed

One of the quickest ways to improve your mood is to get seven to nine hours of undisturbed sleep each night. Sleep deprivation has been linked to increased feelings of anxiety and depression and can cause more irritability and moodiness with an inability to manage emotional responses. Getting enough shut-eye each night is a good way to banish feelings of unhappiness and anxiety as well as refresh your mind and body.

You can’t lose when you prioritize getting enough sleep in your life.

Happiness doesn’t just happen — it is a habit. And knowing the tools and mindsets that bring happiness into your life enables you to make a habit out of happiness.