Day 168
I recently realized that since the beginning of my research on happiness, I haven't written about a female psychologist, philosopher or thinker. Unfortunately, history goes that women have only been recognized as intellectually equal to men in the past 40 years...
So, I'm very happy to finally write about a female author, Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor and researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, a book that gives strategies, supported by research, that can be used to increase happiness.
In that book, she talks about the fact that 40% of our happiness is in our control (40% is determined by genetics and 10 % by life circumstances). I had read some studies about that and written a post about it (see Some people are born happier than others). I personally thought that circumstances played a bigger role in someone's level of happiness, but research has shown otherwise.
Later on, in the book, she enumerates 12 strategies that, when followed, increase happiness:
1. Show gratitude ( be grateful for everything you have on a daily basis)
2. Cultivate Optimism (try to change all negativity you might have)
3. Avoid over thinking and social comparison (don't think too much, it increases sadness and don't compare and be envious of others, it decreases happiness)
4. Practice kindness (little gestures can go a long way, and if you believe in karma, it can only end up coming back to you)
5. Nurture social relationships (through friendships, romantic love and family ties)
6 . Develop coping skills (develop ways of coping with the inevitable and hard realities of life)
7. Learn to forgive (if you do, you free yourself of a burden)
8 - Find more flow (find activities that you completely get immersed in)
9. Savor the day (enjoy the present moment)
10. Commit to your goals (stick to your goals, try not to give up)
11. Take care of your soul (feed your soul with spirituality, by reading about spirituality or practising a religion)
12. Take care of your body (exercise, eat well and meditate)
These 12 strategies seem simple, yet they require discipline, work and determination. Maybe the best way of implementing them is to work more specifically on those that are really lacking in your life, one at a time. In my case, I know I need to focus on committing to my goals, especially when it comes to exercise, and cultivating optimism, which I am definitely better at now. I also have to learn to really savor the present moment, without worrying about the future.
And what do you need to focus on?
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