Habits That Can Make You Happier (According to Science)!
Today we’re going to be digging deep into Happy Habits – habits that are based on positive psychology principles, proven to make us happier. I go through five Happy Habits in the podcast and article below, and I’ll be going through many more (and in more detail) in the Happy Habits series on the site. So, let’s take a look at what habits can make you happier according to science.
What are Happy Habits?
The Happy Habits that I cover in the podcast and on the Happy Habits series on the site are all based on research and the science of positive psychology. I love positive psychology because instead of focusing on the absence of illness (like normal psychology), it looks at promoting wellness and human flourishing. How can we go from just feeling okay to feeling amazing?
So these are scientifically proven habits that can make us happier, hence Happy Habits! If you want to know more about the Science of Happiness or Positive Psychology then I highly recommend these books:
- Flourish – Martin Seligman
- Before Happiness or The Happiness Advantage, both by Shawn Achor
- Positivity – Barbara Fredrickson
- Stumbling on Happiness – Daniel Gilbert (one of my all-time favourite books!)
- Grit – Angela Duckworth
- The How of Happiness – Sonja Lyubomirsky
- I have dozens more recommendations – just DM me on Instagram if you’d like more!
Before Getting Started
There are a couple of things to consider before you get started. Firstly, measure your happiness! You’ll never know whether these new happy habits are working if you don’t measure your happiness levels throughout. I recommend the Authentic Happiness Inventory on the Authentic Happiness site here.
Secondly, and I say it all the time, but don’t rush to do all of these new habits at once. Pick one, try it for a week, measure your happiness, and then add in another one. Slowly, gradually, without it being overwhelming.
5 Habits That Can Make You Happier
In the podcast, I go through the following five habits that can make you happier:
- Gratitude – Saying out loud or writing down three things you’re grateful for each day. If you have a copy of The Anti-Burnout Journal, then there’s space to do this in there too!
- Savouring – Really stopping and savouring a moment each day. Just soaking it all in.
- Kindness – Being proactively kind, even in the smallest of ways.
- Nurturing relationships – Working on your social connections and watering them each day, like a plant.
- Finding meaning and purpose, and making positive directions – Understanding what your meaning and purpose is and then making small positive directions towards it each day.
I also mention the following which we’ll be covering in more detail in our Happy Habits series.
- Finding and using your character strengths
- Learned optimism and resilience
- Finding Flow
- Moving your body more
- Sleeping better
- And even what we can spend money on to make us happier (yep, it’s possible).
You’ll also find a list of 35 good habits to do every day here if you’d like more to sink your teeth into. Remember not to try and change too much all at once, however!
P.S I realise I say Martin Seligman’s name wrong several times in the podcast (eek). I blame a fuzzy brain post-Covid. I can only apologise to the Godfather of Positive Psychology!
