How to make Your Happiest Day

 

Do not look for a waterfall. You also do not have to win the lottery, parachute or go to Hawaii to have the happiest life. You will surely get excited about those adventures, but lasting happiness comes from the habits you do every day. If you have a bucket list, go ahead anyway, jump off that plane, and ride an elephant in Nepal. However, you can also make ordinary everyday work great every Wednesday. How? “How Happiness: A New Approach to Achieving the Life You Want,” says Dr. Sonia Lyubomirsky, a California-Riverside professor who has written a book on increasing happiness through small actions. . These “simple, deliberate and orderly methods are inherently happy in order to mimic the myriad of healthy thoughts and behaviors associated with individuals.” Translation: Do things every day that make you feel satisfied, optimistic and grateful.

In honor of World Happiness Day, recognized by the United Nations on March 20, we bring you a basic systematic guide.

You will see immediate results, but keep going. Just as you do not expect to lose all your extra weight with one day of exercise, you cannot expect eternal happiness for just 24 hours just by following the routine of the next three pages. Todd B. Kahneman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a curious author? Discover the missing element for a productive life.

Do not feel that you have to try any of these strategies at once. Even just one subsequent activity can make a difference by creating a spark that positive psychologists call an upward spiral. “A positive explosion this morning may lead me to a creative thought at work, for example, make me happier and more accessible, which makes me closer to a friend or colleague, which the system “It strengthens my immune system.” Lyubomirsky explains and so on.

Launch your upward spiral today!

6 am: Press the snooze button

In one study, Daniel Kahneman, Ph.D., a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist at Princeton University, and his colleagues asked 909 working women to reconstruct all aspects of their past and to evaluate how they felt during their work. The two factors that had the greatest potential to lift their spirits that day? Lack of sleep at night and tight work deadlines. You may not be able to control your deadlines, but you can try to get more ZZZs. Everyone is different, but many studies show that the negative consequences of health and mood are significant when the sleep duration for several consecutive nights is less than seven hours. If you feel drowsy most days, try going to bed just 30 minutes early or waking up 30 minutes later – if you have to, it will not betray you for a few minutes in the morning.

6:30 a.m.: Sweat

Exercising releases chemicals that feel good in your body, especially endorphins, morphine-like neurotransmitters that interfere with your perception of pain and enhance your sense of well-being. Exercise also warms your core body temperature, which relaxes your muscles and gives you the Zen feeling you get after a hot shower and its effects are not temporary. In a well-known study in 1999, people with depression were divided into three groups: one group took the antidepressant drug Zoloft, another group followed an exercise program, and a third group did both. After 16 weeks, depression decreased for most participants in each group. However, a follow-up six months later showed that groups that exercised alone were less likely to have a recurrence. (Always talk to your healthcare provider about depression treatments that work best for you.)

8 a.m.: Ommmm

For meditation, you do not need to sit on a straw mat in a quiet room in the lotus position. In fact, you can meditate while exercising (rhythmic exercises such as running, walking and swimming are best) or when you are on a train going to work. Simply clearing the mind and becoming more aware of the body’s emotions and breaths for a few minutes at a time can be considered meditation – and any meditation is for greater mental well-being (SWB stands for what scientists like). Call it happiness). Meditation has been shown to significantly reduce stress in cancer patients, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, boost immunity, and improve sleep. For a tried and true program, start with John Cobb Zayn (MindfulnessCDs.com) mindfulness meditation exercises.

10 a.m.: Get Java with your colleague

“Let’s have some coffee!” You probably said it a thousand times today, actually do it. Communicating with a friend – or a potential friend – can make as much difference as the options available at Starbucks. In a study of very happy people, researchers – two pioneers of the positivist psychology movement, Edward Dinner, Ph.D., and Martin Seligman, Ph.D. They had moderate happiness, quantity and quality of their social relationships, happy people spent the last time alone, most time socializing, and rated their relationships positively. Lesson? Time is not wasted Stronger motivation: More than 100 studies have linked strong social relationships to lower mortality and scientifically shown that having (or not having) friends is as important to your health as smoking or drinking. Have friends, live longer!

11am: Do not whisper sweet things in your spouse’s inbox

Just as flying and mountaineering do not require a very satisfying life, a candlelight bath is not the cornerstone of a happy marriage or romantic partnership. Small things weigh the most. These everyday gestures – spontaneous hugs, unwanted definitions and shared ideas – keep a relationship fresh and healthy. Peter Frankel, Ph.D., of the Ackerman Institute for the Family Center for Work and Family in New York City, advises each partner to start each day with three of what he or she calls a “60-second pleasure point.” Message to your spouse, “It looked great this morning.” Send your husband a comment about a movie and suggest you watch it together. Rub both of your spouse’s back while you are both watching TV. Yes, it may take less than a minute to work on your relationship! The stronger your bond, the happier you both will be.

Make Yourself Happy

12:30 pm: Have a picnic

The benefits of sunlight on our mood are well documented. Vitamin D (which our skin produces when exposed to the sun’s UV-B rays) protects against depression and insomnia, which is why people are more prone to SAD (seasonal affective disorder) during the winter. However, it is not just sunlight that makes us happy. Even on cloudy days, going out can boost your mood. One study found that people who only went out for 20 minutes a day felt more positive than those who did not. Another study found that hospital patients whose windows showed greenery recovered faster, took less medication, and were discharged sooner than patients whose windows faced the wall. So plant yourself on a piece of grass and do not care at all that the ants move towards your chicken salad sandwich.

1 pm: Go with the flow

Whether you are writing, numbers, brainstorming, customer service, cleaning, or anything else, try to get lost in what you are doing. Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the leader of positivist psychological thought, coined the term “flow” to describe, “Complete absorption in what one does.” This absorption has been shown to play a major role in our overall well-being. When you look at the clock after a period of continuous work and realize that much more time has passed than you thought, you know you are on track. You feel full, productive and even physically satisfied, just as you might be after a run or a good meal. It is easier to get into the flow when our work comes from our core strengths (for example, you are detail-oriented and you are in the same area when you are editing a copy). However, if your daily work does not use your core strengths, try it at home

5 pm: Help an elderly woman cross the street

Alternatively, buy a meal for a homeless person or help a co-worker complete a project. From self-sacrifice and charity, with any moral law, is a good thing. Yet, there is also a selfish side effect: Doing loving deeds also makes you feel good. Lyubomirsky has extensively studied the effects of personal kindness and happiness, and has found that doing charity not only increases happiness, but also increases communication and flow.

6:30 pm: Rewrite the dinner script

Asking the same questions – “How was your rosette?” Or “What did you learn in school?” – Usually gives the same answers (“good” and “nothing”). So change the subject. Part of being happy in a relationship – with co-workers, friends, important people or your children – is a surprise. “Do not expect anything,” says Kashdan. “Get rid of your tagging and be curious and interested…. “Anything can happen in a social interaction.” Instead of asking what your child has learned, say, “I read this article about a fish that has human-like teeth!” You can imagine! ” Your family members may surprise you, and you will learn more about them than what they ate for lunch.

8 pm: Plan

While swimming with dolphins may not be the ultimate way to happiness, planning to swim with dolphins may help. Dutch researchers wanted to find out if people who go on vacation are happier than those who stay home. It turned out that they were not. However, people who went on vacation reported higher levels of satisfaction before the trip than people who had no plans. “Waiting, planning and preparing and looking to the future are the most important parts of the holiday,” says Kahneman.

9 pm: Go Veg (no guilt).

Kahneman study that asks women to rebuild their days and evaluate their happiness at every moment? It was clear that the subjects were very happy while watching the tube. “Unless your TV habits have negative consequences – for example, preventing you from finishing work or spending enough quality time with your family – there is no reason not to watch the first season of True Detective,” says Lyubomirsky.

10 pm:  Thanksgiving

“Appreciation is an antidote to negative emotions,” says Lyubomirsky. There are dozens of studies that show the positive effects that appreciation cultivation can have on your SWB. Lyubomirsky’s research has shown that formal thanksgiving every night can be like a chore, so write it down once a week or more. Whether it’s “mint chocolate chips” or “an easy commute” or “good health”, you certainly have a lot to celebrate.

Now turn off the light and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be even better and you will be happy .