10 Easy Steps to Being Happier

Being happier is the one common goal that everyone shares. However, happiness comes and goes, and many of us often lack happiness in our lives.

Often people become distracted with other goals, such as success and forget about being happier. However, being happier is much more important than success, as no matter how successful you are, it doesn't mean you will be satisfied. On the other hand, when we are happy, we are much more likely to become successful as we are more motivated.

Do you believe that you could have a happier time? If so, being happier can be achieved in many ways.

When we look after our bodies, our mind will be in a better place also. Therefore, it is crucial to keep active and eat well. Exercise can be as easy as a 30-minute walk per day. Eating well allows us to meet our bodies requirements and fuels us with energy. Accordingly, when you take care of your physical health, you will be one step closer to a happier time.

Getting enough sleep is critical to boosting our energy, promoting good mental health and being happier. It is recommended that, on average, adults have between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. There are some tips and tricks to encourage our bodies to achieve a good night's sleep, for example:

• Go to bed around the same time each night
• Avoid using your phone or watching TV just before bedtime
• Practise meditation and breathing exercises
• Spend some time outside during the day
• Avoid caffeine in the evenings
• Reduce time spent in your bedroom each day

These tips will help to reduce difficulty sleeping and help form a bedtime routine. Therefore, when we wake up, we will have more energy and have a happier time.

Those around us significantly influence our mood. Therefore, it is essential to surround ourselves with positive and happier people. It would help if you reduced the amount of time you spent with people who bring you down. Instead, ensure those around you have a positive attitude. Positive people encourage those around them to have a happier time.

Therefore, these people will encourage you and elevate your mood. In other words, even if it means putting yourself out there to make new friends and develop new relationships, it will result in you being happier.

Often, the most immense happiness we experience in life is accepting that we a loved and valued. Therefore, ensure that you do not isolate yourself and remain sociable. Feeling loved develops self-worth and self-confidence. You will find love is a great motivator, as you can make plans with others and look forward to being happier in the future.

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Fresh air is a great way to have a happier time. Many people lock themselves away indoors,

especially if they are working from home. However, this can damage our mental health as we become "stuck in a rut". Spending more time outside has many benefits other than being happier. Some of these include:

• Lower levels of stress
• Improved short term memory
• Reduces depression and anxiety
• Reduced tiredness
• Strengthened immune system

When we write down how we feel, we can understand our emotions better. In fact, we may discover feelings we didn't even know we were having. Moreover, writing our feelings down daily by keeping a diary or journal will make it clear when emotions are consistent. Therefore, you will be aware if you are feeling down often that you need to take action to reduce those feelings. Benefits of journaling include:

• You can see a record of your development
• Allows for better decision making
• Enables you to feel like you have accomplished something
• It develops a daily routine

Another way in which we can aid our mental health to have a happier time is gratitude journaling. This is slightly different to regular journaling as we only write down what we are grateful for. Therefore, this develops a higher level of self-esteem, increases positivity in our lives and results in us being happier.

For us to have a well-balanced life, we must make time for self-care every day. You are the only permanent thing in your life. Therefore, your personal needs and being happier needs to be a priority. Self-care varies significantly from person to person. In short, self-care is doing something that makes you feel good each day. Therefore, you must do what suits you best. Taking care of yourself in such a way will lead to you being more positive, feeling better and being happier.

Social media is one of the best and worst things we have in our lives. On the one hand, it can help you stay in contact with loved ones and combat loneliness. Social media portrays many people's lives in the best light. However, many of us still compare our lives to what we see online.

Therefore, there are many negatives: poor self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and high-stress levels. For that reason, when you are already feeling a little low, it is best to avoid social media, which would make you feel worse. Instead, look for alternatives to help you, which will result in you being happier. For example, meet up with friends, go for a walk, or run a nice relaxing bath.

Just as we exercise our bodies, it is good to exercise our minds. No matter what you read, your brain will stimulate a healthy mind and lead to being happier. Reading for some time each day will come with many benefits, for example:

• Reduced levels of stress
• Better language and writing skills
• Promotes creativity
• Gain new knowledge
• Improved memory
• Improved focus

Being happier means staying busy. When we don't have any plans, we can experience a lack of self-accomplishment. Therefore, having things to do adds purpose and variety to your life. When we fill our lives with different things, we are more grateful and appreciate what we have in our lives. Therefore, we will be less negative, have more confidence, and leave our comfort zone to aid learning and development.

The key to being happier is mindfulness. Mindfulness allows us to focus on the present moment, leading to less stress, anxiety and depression. The benefits are endless. Some of these include improved memory, regulated emotions, greater compassion and the ability to boost the body's immune system. Mindfulness is a lifestyle choice, which allows us to see the world in a more positive light. Some ways we can be mindful are:

• Meditation
• Breathing exercises
• Journaling
• Mindfulness body scanning
• Focusing on your senses throughout the day

Written by Amy Bamford