6 Simple Things To Start Doing for Your Happiness

A little while back, an author named Gretchen Rubin came out with a book called The Happiness Project.

The project’s premise is that we make more progress towards happiness when we focus on our moments of joy and pleasure and on increasing our everyday pleasures and adding new ones to our lives. It’s all about figuring out what will make us happier, then taking action to implement it in small ways every day.

So that’s what I decided to do. I want to be happier, and I’ve learned a lot about using small actions for big results in my own life.

So I decided to share my happiness project with you here at the reader’s digest — where inspiration and practical ideas go hand-in-hand.

I will share seven simple things you can do right now to start building the life you want, one small action at a time.

1. Say no to things that don’t make you happy.

This doesn’t mean anything, or anyone has the right to do anything they want to you or say anything about you if it isn’t making you happy.

I often see people try to impress other people or get revenge on someone else by saying things like, “Well, I shouldn’t have to pay for that!” Or “I don’t like the way she talks to me!” or “He should have given me back that sweater he took from me!”

Stop it. Only you know what’s going on in your life and your head, and only you can know if something is making you happy. This applies to your inner world, as well as your physical world.

If you’re going through a divorce and all you can think about is revenge on an ex who just lost her job, you’ll only make things worse by saying anything that would make her happy, and this wouldn’t be an example of being happy anyway, so what’s the point?

2. Start reading

Practically every person I know who has increased their happiness has been reading more.

It’s not too late to learn a new skill or take on a new hobby. And the thing about reading is that it’s super easy to do at the same time.

Just pick up a book, start reading, and continue until you finish it — without skipping around or doing something else at the same time.

3. Start using your hands in more ways

One of the things that makes me most happy about being a writer is that I type all day. And I’m not just talking about writing. I’m talking about blogging, responding to reader e-mails, and working on business projects.

My hands are trained to do it, and the more I do it, the better they get at doing it. And if I don’t use them, they start to get sore and irritated.

Always use it when you have something that you’re good at or enjoy doing.

Play an instrument, play sports, build a model train set or an architectural model railroad, write songs or books and poems, paint, knit, or crochet. Whatever you do that makes you happy in your way. It’s all good.

4. Take a walk

As long as you walk somewhere fun, it doesn’t matter where or how far you go; someplace where you’ll have some privacy and relax without being disturbed.

It takes a 5–10 minute walk that brings you joy and makes you feel good. That’s all it takes to get the benefits of Physical Therapy, and just 10 minutes a day can do wonders for your physical health.

5. Don’t take what people say personally, ever

As I mentioned before, no one will take you seriously if you’re constantly taking everything they say personally.

If someone says something that doesn’t make sense to you, write them a short note and say something like, “I know this doesn’t make sense, but could you try to explain it? The way I’m experiencing it right now is confusing.”

This will help them understand what’s going on in your head. And if you get a response that makes sense to you, good.

6. Work on the things you most enjoy doing

I’m really lucky to have such an amazing job, and I work with great people (who are all my friends, by the way).

But sometimes, I spend so much time working on my career that it takes over my life, and I forget to be happy. And that’s not good for me.

The point of the happiness project is to create a life that includes the things you most enjoy and turn them into opportunities for fulfilling work.

If you’re working on something you don’t have an interest in, change it. If you have too much time on your hands, work on something else instead.

But whatever you decide to do, go ahead and make it fun or interesting. Being happy counts, not how much or how fast you’re busy.

You can be fun and still work a lot of hours. But you can’t be happy at work or in your personal life while something is missing, so do things that make you happy — because that’s all that matters.

I’ve noticed a lot of people these days who want to be happier but don’t know-how.

I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one thing that you could be doing to make yourself happier, and I hope you’ll share it here with everyone else, so we can all learn from each other.

—

This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

***

From The Good Men Project on Medium

What Does Being in Love and Loving Someone Really Mean?

My 9-Year-Old Accidentally Explained Why His Mom Divorced Me

The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex

The Internal Struggle Men Battle in Silence

—

Photo credit: Shutterstock