With close to 8 billion people living throughout the world with diverse cultures, religions, traditions, climates & living conditions, each person is unique yet all are seeking the same thing… to be happy.
Here are 5 things you can do to be happy TODAY.
1. Plan a trip, but don’t take it
The feelings and emotions that come from seeing pictures of where you want to vacation, looking into where you would stay, daydreaming about sitting on the sandy beaches sipping a pina colada without a care in the world… these will create feelings of joy and excitement inside you right now. Plus it doesn’t cost you a thing to plan. If you do decide to actually take the trip, that’s a plus, but probably not something you can squeeze in before dinner. Many times the happiness associated with the anticipation of an exciting future event outweighs the actual event, so let the planning begin.
2. Go outside and soak in some sunshine
Take twenty minutes sometime today, when the sun is still shining and go for a walk. This is one of the easiest and simplest ways to get a jolt of natural happiness flowing inside you. You will feel refreshed, less stressed and a greater feeling of confidence and perspective… simple, but powerful.
3.Exercise at least 7 minutes
We often think exercising is to help us lose weight and get in shape so that we can look better. But the true benefit of exercising is to help us be happier. You can be happy no matter what you weigh or how you look in jeans. When you exercise, endorphins are automatically released providing your body with a rush of natural happiness hormones. There is nothing like the feeling you get after a good workout; you feel healthy, confident, and ready to conquer the world, because in reality, you can!
5.Practice smiling either by yourself or with others
If you are by yourself, take your phone and make a quick video of yourself smiling for about 5 to 10 seconds. Now, go back and watch yourself smiling. As you watch yourself smiling, guess what? You can’t help but smile too. Now practice smiling when you are with other people, notice who else with you is smiling. As you focus on smiling more and as you notice others that are smiling, you will begin to feel better and happier yourself, even if you’re forcing yourself to smile at first. Eventually it will be genuine and you truly will have something to smile about.
6.Practice gratitude and compliments
Take 5 minutes and write an email to someone and thank him or her for something or compliment them, be creative, but genuine. The email doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to be sincere. As soon as you click the send button, you will feel a genuine feeling of happiness that comes as with showing gratitude and recognizing the good in others. Plus, you are going to make someone’s day and help someone else be happy as soon as he or she reads the email. That is why this step is so powerful. It should be repeated each day, because of the ripple effect where many are edified by a single act of kindness.
About the Author
Corey Davis is the founder of DaysToHappiness and the popular 3 Days To Happiness program that is helping people around the world be happy (from Australia, Taiwan, Germany to Italy, Belgium, United States). Watch the 3 Days To Happiness video and enjoy the benefits of happiness: better health, less depression, more success at work, improved relationships.
Summary used with permission from author Cory Davis.
