3 Ways to Experience Instant Happiness

In life, we often experience ups and downs. Sometimes the downs can rob us of happiness. But human beings are resilient! We always find ways of getting back up and pushing through. Overcoming challenges is easier when taking action to promote feelings of joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment. Yet, even knowing that, it might be difficult to identify what you need to change to find your happiness. Keep reading to find out three steps that can help promote instant happiness in life.

• How to Be Happy: 3 Steps to Instant Happiness
  1. Practice Gratitude
  2. Try Positive Self-Affirmations
  3. Be Kind to Others
• Why Does Happiness Matter?
• The Pursuit of Happiness: Kindness and Positive Self-Talk

How to Be Happy: 3 Steps to Instant Happiness

1. Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude can be a valuable tool for boosting happiness. Something you can do is reflect on your life and on what has been going well. For example, write down the people you’re thankful for. Or you could think about a time of resilience in your life and how you overcame a difficult situation. Gratitude is spontaneous, and it all comes down to counting your blessings.

In the end, happiness is a choice! Sure, there might be a lot that’s not going right, but more than likely there are parts of your life that are working out. Focusing on even little blessings is an essential step in the pursuit of happiness.

Various studies show that cultivating gratitude facilitates social, emotional, and psychological well-being. Reflecting on the positives of each day can promote social well-being. By keeping a gratitude diary, for instance, you can write down everything you’re grateful for every day—from loved ones, nature, pets, and colleagues to everyday little wins. Gratitude is an emotion that generates a positive effect for both your mind and body. 

Over time, feeling grateful can foster happiness and physical and psychological health. It’s especially important in people already struggling with mental health issues. By practicing gratitude, we can shift our attention from negative emotions. 

2. Try Positive Self-Affirmations

Often, though we do a hundred things right and only one thing wrong, for some reason, we tend to focus on that single mistake. It’s human nature to focus on our flaws or mistakes in life. Implementing positive self-affirmations and being kind to yourself can improve your mood. 

Most of us, unfortunately, focus on negative thoughts. These thoughts end up affecting your mood, confidence, and outlook in life. The problem with negative thoughts is that eventually, they become self-fulfilling prophecies. When you keep telling yourself that you are not good enough, you never will be. This negativity trickles down to your personal life, relationships, and even your work.

Positive affirmations through positive self-talk can help you overcome negative thoughts and self-sabotage. When you start repeating positive affirmations, you begin experiencing positive changes. It’s the same way repetitive exercises improve your physical health and fitness. Repetitive affirmations reprogram our thinking patterns. This, in the end, changes how we think and even act.

A few minutes of positive thinking can calm your nerves and improve your confidence. The same can also help improve problem-solving under stress. Studies use affirmations to treat people with depression, low self-esteem, and other mental health issues. In the end, a stronger sense of self-worth improves your overall well-being. 

Learn how to practice self-love through positive self-affirmation. There are so many ways of doing that. Write down one thing you did well each day. For example, maybe you completed all of your work tasks that day or learned something new. Celebrating small wins is essential to improving confidence and self-worth. Even reading a book can count as a positive affirmation. The Happiness Project is a great book that teaches you how to be happy and could be a good place to start. 

3. Be Kind to Others

Have you ever thought that being kind to another person can improve your life for the better? World Smile Day aims to spread cheer and happiness through kind acts. Research shows that humans experience a sense of satisfaction when helping others. The good thing about kindness is that it has a domino effect.

You can experience the positive effect of kindness both by witnessing an act of kindness and performing one. Seeing an act of kindness stimulates the production of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin helps to lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health. The same hormone affects our self-esteem. 

There is also a strong connection between helping others and feeling stronger and more energetic. Helping others enables you to feel calmer, which reduces the risk of depression. A 2010 Harvard Business School survey concluded that financially generous people are happier.

You can also achieve happiness through volunteering. When you are kind to another person, the pleasure and reward centers in your brain light up. When this happens, you experience the same feeling of happiness as the recipient of the good deed. Kindness is a non-medical antidepressant that promotes the production of those feel-good chemicals. 

Why Does Happiness Matter?

Does happiness matter? To some people, there are far more important things to worry about than being happy all the time. To others, happiness is crucial and something every human being should experience. Happiness affects how you feel, but it’s more than just a mood. 

We experience a range of emotions daily that affects how we react to everyday situations. Fear, for instance, will help you get away from a dangerous situation. Positive emotions like enjoyment help you learn how to be happy through connection-building.

Your happiness matters. Choosing to be happy doesn’t mean that you’re ignoring negative emotions. It also doesn’t mean that you’re pretending they don’t exist. Life is not perfect, and sometimes you will feel sad, angry, and frustrated. 

Happiness is all about being able to make the most of any situation. It’s about finding a way to cope with bad times to experience the best life has to offer. Happiness doesn’t just make you feel good—it leads to better relationships, health, and performance.

The Pursuit of Happiness: Kindness and Positive Self-Talk

The bottom line is that experiencing true happiness is a journey. It’s about making the most of both the good and bad times. It’s not something that will happen instantly. After all, we’re emotional beings who experience a wide range of feelings. Training your mind to make the most of every situation is the first step to achieving happiness; implementing the above action steps may boost your overall well-being.