8 Habits That Improve Your Life, if Applied
Change your mindset and attitude with good habits.
The one thing everyone can universally agree on is we want to be happy in life, with life. How can one find happiness?
You can buy trinkets, but after the new wears off, you’re back to being unsatisfied again.
You can change your hairstyle, hair color, clothes, shoes, but again the happy factor is temporary.
Being happy is more than a passing emotion. True happiness comes from contentment. Getting content means doing more than being mindful or, being in the moment. You need to find you, the passion that drives and motivates you. You have to become aware of the things or people that keep you from that resting place of peace.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could achieve contentment by downloading a happiness app? It would be so much simpler than thinking about the changes we have to do to have a joyous feeling. But I don’t think it would be nearly as satisfying as making changes to our lives.
The eight suggestions listed here are not like a twelve-step program. You can’t go down the list, do it, then check them off. Believe me, if there were a way to get to happy land by enacting certain concepts in a precise order, I would write the book and give it away. These suggestions are geared towards those who understand the work they need to do in certain areas of life to find contentment in life. They work also for others who want to have a better life.
1. Adopt a Gratitude Attitude
Make it a point every day to list three things you are grateful for. The best practice is to list three in the morning before starting work and three again at night before calling it a day. If that’s too much, begin with listing three a week. Then build up your gratefulness from there. Even in the worst of times, there is something you can find to be appreciative of.
2. Find the Joy in Giving
We have all heard the saying, “It is better to give than receive.” It’s true, according to science. Numerous studies on Dopamine, Seratonin, and Oxytocin, done by leading universitites and reported in JAMA. Psychology professor and known researcher Dr. Richard Wiseman used various hormonal studies results as a base for his quirk research on giving and receiving. His studies have shown a person’s good hormones rise when they see the impact their giving has had on the receiver. Here’s the best news; it doesn’t have to be a big-ticket gift that’s given. A small act of kindness, like buying the coffee of a person behind you in line, can be equally uplifting to both giver and recipient. Remember the movie, “Pay it Forward.” That’s what giving is.
Doing something thoughtful for someone who doesn’t expect it may nudge them to pass along the kindness. Purging unused items and donating them to charity is another easy way to get joy from giving and getting that feeling of being lighter. Cleaning out your closets, attic, basement, or storage unit regularly keeps your life uncluttered and fresher. There will never be too many kindnesses in any one’s life, so start sharing some today.
3. Add a Splash of Green to Your Workspace.
Did you know living plants inspire creativity? Creativity, in turn, helps to find solutions to problems. Solving dilemmas is an excellent way to lower stress levels. Hit a greenhouse and find your new best friend or latest teammate. Plants have needs that must be met for them to live. Committing to performing that care keeps us grounded to the subconscious concept: for it to thrive, I have to do my part. The same is true at work, for a project to succeed, or a goal to get met, you have to do your best, no matter how significant a role you play on the team. That concept applies to more than work, think relationships. They need care to thrive.
4. Shake Your PomPoms Often.
We have all felt like wallflowers. Sometimes we wonder if anyone sees what we are contributing to a company, a volunteer group, or even a relationship. To make sure people you know and interact with don’t feel like wallflowers, praise them for their work. Praise is easy to give. Compliments go a long way in getting the best from people. Relationship partners need recognition too. Thank your better half for cleaning up with you after a meal — lavish praise on them for washing your car or giving you a massage. Let others know you see what they are doing, and you are appreciative.
5. Connecting Through Touch
Touch is a powerful sense. It can tell us when we’re safe, comfort us, warm us, even hurt us. Think about how you feel when you run your hands over something soft, like a dog’s fur or a fluffy blanket. The emotions that those sensory perceptions conjure up can elevate a mood or calm one down.
Lightly touching someone on the upper arm can have a positive effect also. This simple act can result in that person agreeing with you or with a request you make of them. It sounds odd, but what that touch conveys is your confidence in them and their abilities.
6. Step Away From Yourself
We all have an end result in mind when we set out to complete a goal. Visualizing the winning of a medal, or the award is easy. Getting to the finish line is more laborious. When you step aside from seeing the accolades and see yourself in a third-person perspective, you become more aware of the steps you need to take to hit your goal. According to Dr. Richard Wiseman, from the University of Sheffield, being in the third-person means you have a 20% greater chance of successfully achieving the result you imagined as you’ve switched your mindset from achieving to doing.
7. What Will You Leave Behind
Every so often, it’s good to sit back and reflect on what you have done in life. How will people remember you? Will they recall your shortcomings or your successes? Will kindness or stubbornness be a word used to describe you?
When we look at our lives objectively, we can regain balance and get ourselves back on track to being the person we want ourselves to be. We’ll get back to the business of living, making memories with those we love, and taking care of the important things in life.
8. Writing Love Letters
Hearing the words, I love you is nice. Reading them is much better. When you commit your feelings and thoughts about your partner to paper, you boost your chances of having a happy, healthy, long-term relationship. Another research project, by Dr. Wiseman, which studied communication in relationships found writing letters results in a 20% chance of the courtship blooming and lasting instead of budding and fading. Putting pen to paper shows a level of commitment and reads like a spoken vow that deepens the other’s feelings towards you as well. Trust in the partner, trust that this is right grows stronger. Strong bonds keep couples together. Strong couples can weather any storm together.
These eight things, as quirky as they seem, are easy to do daily. When you do them enough, they become good habits which change your mindset and attitude with life. Studies have proven that these steps make us more creative, better engaged, more imaginative, and happier. The best part is it only takes a little thinking, not a lot of spending money or energy to become a better version of you.
The decision is yours. How much happier do you want to be with your life?
