Top Ten Happiness Tips

I got the chance to speak about the “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Happiness” at the Oasis Learning Center in January of this year. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again.

Here is an overview of my “Ten Things:”

1. Happiness Can Be Measured (Positive Psychology studies happiness and measures it.)

2. Knowing your Character Strengths adds to your happiness. (Take a free survey through the University of Pennsylvania’s web site to find out your top strengths using the VIA Character Strengths Survey - authentic happiness.org)

3. Find FLOW activities and do them as much as possible. (More about what flow is)

4. Gratitude raises happiness. (Start writing down 3 things you are grateful for every day and see what happens to your happiness level.)

5. Happiness is contagious. Seriously, it is.

6. Social connection is important. (Especially random connections with members of the public like talking to your grocery checker or barista.)

7. Random acts of kindness can profoundly effect your happiness in positive ways. Try it and see.

8. Know what doesn’t make you happy. (Loads of money, the perfect body/spouse/house/car, etc. For more on this take the free Yale course called “The Science of Well-Being.”)

9. Get more sleep, exercise, and start meditating. (I think we know this. A good place to start with meditation is HeadSpace.)

10. Happiness Can Be Increased. (According to Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book, The How of Happiness, 40% of your overall happiness is directly under your control. Find out more by reading her book.)

Hopefully, this list will give you a few things to explore as far as Positive Psychology goes. There are a lot of great resources and references here so enjoy!