How to Be Happy: Tips to Live a Happy & Fulfilling Life

When you are happy, it often means that you are feeling joyful, and having the sense that your life is meaningful. How to be happy in life? We can be happy by letting go negative emotions and foster positive emotions.

Happiness is a feeling of contentment, joy, and fulfillment coming from within and is influenced by our thinking, actions, and experiences. Nobody is happy all the time, but happiness is something everyone wants to have. Read this post to know about happiness and find some useful tips on how to be happy in life.

“Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering.” ― Steve Maraboli

What is Happiness?

According to Collins Dictionary Happiness means:

1. the quality or state of being happy
2. good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy

Source - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/happiness

As mentioned in Wikipedia:
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happiness is associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, or engaging in enjoyable activities. Happiness can also arise spontaneously, without any apparent external cause. Happiness is closely linked to well-being and overall life satisfaction.

Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness

Happiness has various definitions; however it is generally associated with life satisfaction in life and positive emotions.

Tips on How to be Happy in life

Here are some useful tips to help you live a happier and fulfilling life.

Remain Optimistic

Look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty. Focusing on the good things in your life, believe in yourself. Put yourself in situations where good things are likely to happen to you. Just be happy that you are not in that worse situation. When you remain optimistic you will be happy in any situations.

Exercise Regularly

Physical exercise is known to reduce stress and improve mental health. Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being that it’s actually been proven to be an effective strategy for overcoming depression. It is known to release endorphins that give feeling of happiness. Know that any form of exercise or movement can increase your fitness level and decrease stress. Just pick an activity that you enjoy. Examples include walking, stair climbing, martial arts, jogging, dancing, bicycling, yoga, gardening, weightlifting, or swimming.

Learn about 7 benefits of regular physical activity (Mayoclinic site- External Link)

Meditation

Meditation is an important habit for improving focus, clarity and attention span, as well as helping to keep you calm. It is also useful for improving your happiness. The right type of meditation can provide profound rest to the physiology. Practice meditation for atleast 10-20 minutes daily. Try meditation.

How To Meditate For Beginners-Video

Take Care of Physical Health

Treat your body like it deserves to be happy. Researchers have found that exercise, healthy diets, and regular sleep are key factors in growing more happiness and staying that way.

Get Enough Sleep

A good night's sleep is crucial for overall well-being. When you sleep more you’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions. Sleep helps our bodies to recover from the day and repair themselves, and that it helps us focus and be more productive. It is important for our happiness. 

How well (and how long) you sleep will probably affect how you feel when you wake up, which can make a difference to your whole day. Try to get sleep by 10-11pm. If you're middle-aged, get at least eight hours of sleep each night; the young and elderly can have 9 to 11 hours of sleep each night.

Read about - How Much Sleep Do We Really Need (Sleepfoundation site-external link)

Smile More

Smiling itself can make us feel better. Science suggests that when you smile, whether you're happy or not, your mood is elevated.

“A smile will gain you ten more years of life.” - Chinese Proverb

Listen to Music

When you listen to the music that you love, the study found, your brain releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical.

“Music is the strongest form of magic.” ― Marilyn Manson

Read 5 Reasons Why We Listen to Music (Psychologytoday site-External link)

Spend Time with Family and Friends

Stay close to friends and family. Spend time with them, share things. Several studies have found that time spent with family and friends make a big difference to how happy we feel, generally.

Do One Thing at a Time

Focus on one thing at a time. Enjoy it, taking the most pleasant memories of it into the next task. Learn to slow down, simplify, and focus to enjoy better quality of life. Concentrate on one task at a time because you can't complete everything at once.

Remember Swami Vivekananda Sayings: “Do one thing at a Time, and while doing it put your whole Soul into it to the exclusion of all else.”

Forget the Past, Live in the Present Moment

The past should be left in the past or it can steal your future. Live life for what tomorrow can bring and not what yesterday has taken away. Letting go of the past will help you free from negative thoughts and live a happier life. You can't experience something new if you only rely on the past. Every day is a gift. Don't feel regret due to past mistakes. Instead, learn from them and move on.

“Never worry about anything. Live in the present. Live now. Be happy.” — Marsilio Ficino

Plan a vacation

Planning a vacation or just a break from daily work can improve our happiness.

According to research study by Associate professor Dr. Jameson Hayes and instructor Jay Waters (External link) - “Travel makes us better people and happier people. And it is easy to do. I hope that people will look at this information, decide to make travel a priority, and see travel not as an expense but as an investment in their quality of life,” Waters said.

Visit Quiet Places

Visit places like libraries, museums, gardens, and places of worship that provide islands of peace and calm. Find a quiet place nearby you.

Write Down Your Tasks

Writing down your tasks can help you organize your thoughts and calm your anxiety. Write about your deepest thoughts and feelings, your dreams, person you want to be, problems you are having, places you want to go, stories, songs, poems etc.

Sometimes Spend time Alone

“Ordinary men hate solitude. But the master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.” – Lao Tzu

Carving out a little solitude can make a world of difference. Solitude allows you to reboot your brain and unwind. It also helps you work through problems more effectively, provides the space for creative thinking, and help you gain deeper self-knowledge. 

According to psychologist Thuy-vy Nguyen from the University of Durham, solitude helps extroverts reset their social batteries, leading to more meaningful social interactions when they’re back in the mix.

Practice Mindfulness

Be in the moment. Pay attention to how you are behaving, how your emotions are functioning, and how your current actions work toward your goals. Mindfulness has numerous positive benefits some of them are – stress reduction, memory improvement, decrease in depression, positive feelings, and better relationships. This will help you to remain happy in life.

"The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life, reaching far beyond the people and places you can see.” – Earon Davis

How to Practice Mindfulness-Video

Never Regret Decisions

When you have a decision to make, and you're down to two or three options, just pick the one that feels right, and go with it. Never regret the decisions you make in life. 

Just live by the 3 C's of life: choices, chances, and changes. You need to make a choice to take a chance, or your life will never change. 

Learning to Say No

“Learn to say ‘no’ when you have to. Else you will be forced to say ‘yes’ when you don’t want to.” – Unknown

The ability to say no is linked to self-confidence. People with low self-confidence often feel nervous about antagonizing others and often rate others’ needs more highly than their own. Learn to say NO when it is needed. You don’t have to make other happy at the cost of your own happiness.

Learn to Forgive and Let Go

When someone you care about hurts you, you can hold negative thoughts/ anger - or embrace forgiveness and move forward. The study (External Link) suggests - “Forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce health risks and promote health resilience… .”

“Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts. Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.” – Marianne Williamson

Practice Gratitude

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” —William Arthur Ward

Acknowledge and appreciate the good in your life. Spend time thinking about happy memories. This will increase happiness and life satisfaction. There are lots of ways to practice it, from keeping a journal of things you’re grateful for, sharing good things that happen each day with close ones, and going out of your way to show gratitude when others help you.

Watch Your Thoughts

Whenever you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, start thinking of positive things.

Also Read: The Power of Positive Thoughts

Make Good friends

People with strong friendships can reap big well-being, happiness rewards.

Remember - “Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Count your blessings

Be grateful for small things, big things, and everything in between. Count your blessings, not your problems.

Additional Tips to be Happy in life

• Engage in those activities that bring joy and take your full attention.
• Learn to have positive thoughts in life.
• Perform acts of kindness and compassion towards others. Help the needy whenever possible.
• Associate with happy people.
• Find happiness in the job.
• Be in regular touch with loved ones.
• Gain new experiences and knowledge.
• Build and maintain meaningful relationships.
• Set realistic goals and celebrate achievements.

Conclusion

Remember, happiness is within reach; it's up to us to embrace it. Some people require a lot of their needs to be met before they experience happiness, while others find it in simplicity. To be consistently happy in life, identify the beliefs/feelings that make you miserable and replace them with the one that make you happy. Start incorporating above given useful tips to begin a journey towards a happier life.

Recommended Reading
Are you interested in exploring the topic further, check below some recommended books on happiness:

• "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler.
• "The How of Happiness" by Sonja Lyubomirsky.
• "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin
• "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl
• "The Happiness Story: Unlocking the Secrets to Living Your Best Life” by Savi Sharma

(Updated on 17-10-2024)