Making others happy is the highest expression of success, but it’s hard to make others happy if you’re not happy. Here are 9 things you can do daily that could increase happiness in your life.
1- Start the day with expectation. Life usually lives up to or down to your expectations; when you get up in the morning say to yourself “something wonderful is going to happen today”.
2- Plan and Prioritize. A common source of stress is feeling you have too much to do; pick 1 thing that, if you got it done today it would get you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life….and do that first.
3- Give a gift to everyone you meet. The gift can be a smile, a simple thank you, encouragement, politeness or a friendly nod of the head; don’t pass a beggar without giving them something. Peace of mind is worth the spare change.
4- Deflect partisan conversations. Arguments over politics or religion never have a right answer, but these topics usually get folks riled up; avoid these conversations by saying “Talking about this stuff makes my head hurt”.
5- Assume people have good intentions. Remember we don’t know what’s on someone’s mind or why people do what they do; placing bad intentions to someone’s behavior adds misery to your life; assuming good intentions leaves room for reconciliation.
6- Eat high quality food and eat slowly. At least one meal a day should be really delicious, something you can savor, enjoy and focus on.
7- Let go of results. Worry is the enemy of happiness; don’t worry about things out of your control; once you’ve taken action you usually can’t do anymore; focus on the job at hand instead of worrying about what might happen.
8- Turn off the background television. Turn off the television while you’re doing something else; don’t subliminally program yourself to be a mindless consumer.
9- End the day with gratitude. Before going to bed write down at least 1 wonderful thing that happened; eg/you made someone laugh or you closed a million dollar deal; anything big or small, just be grateful for the day because it won’t come again.
