Change is hard. Change is good. Change can make you happier…
via Forbes.com by Nancy F Clark
You may be thinking, “What can scientists tell me about being happier and what exactly do they think happiness is?” Researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky can help us out here. She describes happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile.” Plus, her studies have inspired happiness tip number six below, which will make you and those around you happier. Ready to get started?
1. How Can I Have More Willpower?
Stanford’s Kelly McGonigal says there are ways to improve your willpower that are not difficult. Treat your willpower as if you’re building a muscle — increase it little by little. Choose a goal that you’ll look forward to rather than something others think you should do. Try to take little steps earlier in the day before fatigue begins to set in. Now when you slip up and don’t take the right action, the surprise is that you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t go into that negative self-talk downward spiral. Instead, use a self-compassionate mindset and treat yourself as you would a good friend.
Research by Juliana Breines at the University of California, Berkeley shows that when you’re not happy with how you’ve performed or if you feel guilty about something you’ve done, it helps if you follow these instructions, which she gave to the study’s participants: “Imagine that you are talking to yourself about this [weakness/action] from a compassionate and understanding perspective. What would you say?”
By practicing this self-compassionate mindset, participants showed greater willingness to learn from and improve on their self-perceived weakness, mistake or failure. They were more likely to want to take action to reduce the harm of their previous misdeeds. Plus they also had greater optimism that their personal weakness could be changed.
Being kinder to yourself increases your optimism—and consequently your happiness.
2. I Smell Coffee!
Imagine the scent of a cup of coffee at your afternoon break or a warm slice of apple pie. Neuroscientist Jessica Freiherr says that our sense of smell often happens under the radar of our consciousness. Unlike our other senses, our sense of smell (our olfactory nerves) do not go to the brain’s gateway (the thalamus) for processing. They go directly to the cortical areas to arouse emotions and memories without our awareness. So, if you’d like to feel happier several times a day, make plans to line up a few good smelling props. What three things will you choose?
…keep reading the full & original article HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment