Habits to become a happier person

Everyone wants to be happy. To become a happier person comes down to forming the right habits and mindsets and not falling in the same traps as so many other people.

Happiness is a conscious decision and a choice to react in certain ways given certain circumstances. For this to become a natural lifestyle, there are a few key things that you can do in order to make life much easier for yourself.

To be a happier person in general, try implementing the following habits and mindsets in your daily life.  

Complain less.

To complain is to inject negativity into a situation.

Before complaining, consider what good it will do the situation at hand and what you could rather do differently to better the situation.

If you’re complaining about someone else’s actions, instead try to communicate with them, rather than complaining about them. Instead of using negative words in a less than perfect situation, see which positive words can bring solutions and turn the situation around.

If you find yourself complaining about something that you have control over, rather use that energy to find a solution to transform the situation into something you won’t want to complain about. 

If you’re in the habit of complaining about a situation that is out of your control, try learning from the experience instead. If a situation or outcome is different from what you had in mind, find a way to make the result work for you. 

It comes down to being a more adaptable person. People who adapt better, are generally happier.  

Stop giving up halfway.

Another habit, is that people tend to give up too quickly when things don’t work out for them.

Get over the idea of making mistakes and let go of your fear of failure. Mistakes don’t have to be negative things. They’re great learning tools you can use to tweak your performance in future attempts.

And failure? What about it? Failure is not an endpoint. It’s a benchmark. A place along the journey to stop, breath and re-evaluate that which is not working, so that you can change it for the better in the future.

Instead of giving up when things don’t seem to go your way, learn from your mistakes and push through until you reach your goals.

Pursuing goals brings happiness and picking the fruits of your labour brings even more happiness. It’s hard work though, but giving up is just not worth it.

Be your own knight in shining armour.

If you’re waiting for someone else to come along and lift you out of your current place of discomfort, you are going to wait a long time. 

While you’re busy waiting, start working towards being that person that you want to be saved by. 

In all honesty, your happiness depends much more on your actions and attitude than external circumstances. If you think it’s the other way around, start working on changing your perspective, otherwise you will only set yourself up for disappointment.

Someone else will not be able to save you if you are not actively working on saving yourself.

It’s a process, but with it comes happiness.

Forgive and forget.

Forgiveness is not letting someone else off the hook; it’s setting yourself free. 

Holding a grudge does nothing more than accumulating negativity. The effect is much more detrimental to you than it is to the other person. You’re not doing yourself any favours.

If someone did you wrong, acknowledge it, accept it, learn from it and walk away a stronger person. Choose to grow out of it, because the alternative is just not worth it.

Surround yourself with happier people.

Negativity breeds negativity. 

You know you’re in a negative crowd when your negative statement gets glorified by another negative statement. 

The only way to break the cycle is for a negative statement to be countered by a neutral or positive statement. Happy people will try to flip any conversation to the positive side and build up from there, rather than the other way around.

More frequent conversations that strive to be positive will make you feel better and happier in general. Don’t let the people you surround yourself with feed the flames to your negativity.

What it comes down to, is that happiness is a choice. One does not start being happy passively. One actively has to put in the effort to make happier lifestyle choices. Once it becomes a habit, it gets easier with time and at some point it becomes the new normal. 

This might come across as tough love, but it’s up to you to choose which emotion to allocate to a given situation. Set positive choices to default and once they become part of your habits, you will be a much happier person, guaranteed!

---

Do you have any thoughts you would like to contribute to our blog? Go to the Write for Us section to learn more!