You can find happiness every day by incorporating simple habits in your daily routine. You can form a habit in just 30 days, essentially putting happiness on auto-pilot once the happiness habit is formed.
Glance through this post and pick one action that makes you happy. Then do this every day for 30 days until it is entrenched in your daily routine and gets done without any further effort on your part.
Find happiness in the morning
“Be pleasant until ten o’clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.” – Elbert Hubbard
I used to check my email first thing in the morning, which was an abrupt way to start the day. Now I spend 20 minutes quietly with a cup of coffee, and only start working when I’m ready to face the day. This small change made every day start off on a good note.
Find a happiness routine that makes you feel happy. Then do this first thing in the morning every day for the next 30 days until it becomes a habit. You can choose from the list below or make up your own.
- Meditate for one minute
- Write in your gratitude journal
- Go outside for a walk or run
- Stretch for a few minutes at home
- Sit quietly and taste every sip of your coffee
Find happiness during the day
“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.” – Barbara Jordan
Christians are taught to say grace before meals, while Muslims pray at least five times a day. The value in these practices is in stopping to focus on what’s important at regular intervals during the day.
If you are not religious, there are other simple practices that can help us find happiness during the day. Again, choose one of the following actions or one of your own and do this once a day for the next 30 days until a habit is formed.
- Exercise at lunch time
- Call a friend just to say hello
- Call your partner to say you were thinking of him/her
- Take a walk around the block
- Sit in a quiet park
Find happiness before you sleep
“A good gulp of hot whiskey at bedtime – it’s not very scientific but it helps.” – Alexander Fleming
Studies suggest that sleep reinforces our emotional memory. What you feel prior to sleeping may therefore play an important role in your long term emotional well-being. Do you spend the hour before bedtime on actions that generate positive emotions?
Here are a few actions to consider for your bedtime ritual:
- Read an uplifting book
- Cuddle with your partner
- Burn aromatherapy oil and breathe deeply
- Listen to soothing music
- Visualize your ideal day tomorrow
Start a new happiness habit today!
“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead. Tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx
Ideally you would form a happiness habit for the morning, one during the day, and one before you sleep. This way you stay happy throughout the day. If your day is really busy then just do something every morning and every night. If even twice a day is too much, start with just on happiness habit a day – either morning or night.
Do not under-estimate the long term changes in your psyche from just one repeated daily action. After gratitude journaling for a few months, I started to experience sudden moments of pure joy that descended on me out of the blue.
Start your daily happiness habit today, and the day will soon come when you won’t need find happiness everyday. Happiness will find you.