10 things science says will make you happy

7/27/2019 10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy

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10 Things Science Says

Will Make You

HAPPY


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What makes us happy?

In the last few

psychologists and researcherbeen digging up hard data on a q

previously left to philoso


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e the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert

gist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen

the world to find out how things like money,h, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect

Here are 10 scientifically proven

strategies for happiness.

The emerging field of positive psychology

is bursting with new findings that suggest

your actions can have a significant effect on

your happiness and satisfaction with life.


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Savor Everyday Moments.1

Pause now and then to smell a

rose or watch children at play.

Study participants who took timeto savor ordinary events that

they normally hurried through, or

to think back on pleasant

moments from their day,showed significant increases in

happiness and reductions in

depression, says psychologist

Sonja Lyubomirsky.


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Avoid Comparisons.2

Comparing ourselves

with others can be

damaging to happiness

and self-esteem.

Instead of comparing

ourselves to others,

focusing on our ownpersonal achievement

leads to greater

satisfaction.


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Put Money Low on the List.3

People who put money high

on their priority list are more

at risk for depression,

anxiety, and low self-esteem,

according to researchers Tim

Kasser and Richard Ryan.

The more we seek

satisfactions in materialgoods, the less we find them

there, Ryan says. The

satisfaction has a short half-

lifeits very fleeting.


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Have Meaningful Goals.4

People who strive for

something significant,

whether its learning a newcraft or raising moral children,

are far happier than those

who dont have strong

dreams or aspirations, say

Ed Diener and RobertBiswas-Diener. As humans,

we actually require a sense of

meaning to thrive.


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Take Initiative at Work.5

How happy you are at work

depends in part on how muchinitiative you take. Researcher

Amy Wrzesniewski says that

when we express creativity,

help others, suggest

improvements, or do additionaltasks on the job, we make our

work more rewarding and feel

more in control.


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Make Friends, Treasure Family.6

Happier people tend to

have good families,

friends, and supportiverelationships, say Diener

and Biswas-Diener. But its

not enough to be the life of

the party if youre

surrounded by shallow

acquaintances.

We dont just need relationships, we need close ones that

involve understanding and caring.


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Smile Even When You Dont Feel Like I7

It sounds simple, but it works.

Happy people see

possibilities, opportunities, andsuccess. When they think of the

future, they are optimistic, and

when they review the past, they

tend to savor the high points,

say Diener and Biswas-Diener.Even if you werent born

optimistic, with practice, a

positive outlook can become a

habit.


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Say Thank You Like You Mean It.8

People who keep gratitude

journals on a weekly basis are

healthier, more optimistic, and

more likely to make progresstoward achieving personal

goals, according to author

Robert Emmons. Research by

Martin Seligman revealed that

people who write gratitudeletters to someone who made

a difference in their lives score

higher on happiness, and

lower on depressionand the

effect lasts for weeks.


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Get Out and Exercise.9

A Duke University study shows

that exercise may be just as

effective as drugs in treatingdepression, without all the side

effects and expense. Other

research shows that in addition

to health benefits, regular

exercise offers a sense ofaccomplishment and opportunity

for social interaction, releases

feel-good endorphins, and

boosts self-esteem.


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Give It Away.10

Make altruism and giving part of your life, and be purposeful about it.

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Researcher Stephen Post says

helping a neighbor, volunteering, or

donating goods and services resultsin a helpers high, and you get

health benefits as well. Listening to a

friend, passing on your skills,

celebrating others successes, and

forgiveness also contribute to

happiness, he says. Researcher

Elizabeth Dunn found that those who

spend money on others reported

much greater happiness than those

who spend it on themselves.
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10 things science says will make you happy

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