How to quickly become happy: an easy way that everyone can use

There is a simple theory of happiness, the essence of which is reflected in the famous phrase about safety in air travel.

Put on an oxygen mask before helping others. This will help both of you survive.

In other words: try to "try on" happiness on yourself, even if life seems to you not the brightest and most joyful thing. Surprisingly, such a simple technique will help make people around you and yourself happy. Proven by science.

How we spoil the lives of others with our misfortunes

An old English proverb says, "Misfortune loves company." And it is true. Eternally suffering people are a real poison that affects everyone else. Think of the most dreary, constantly dissatisfied boss you ever had - and you will understand what I mean.

Especially close ones get a lot of poison. The Harvard Family Study, which lasted nearly 80 years, found

Good genes are nice, but joy is betterfor example, this is what. Women who married unsatisfied men with their own lives tend to get sick more often and have more memory problems than those who are marriage with happy spouses.

Therefore, it is important to remember that your personal happiness is not just about you. The way you feel about your own life greatly influences others. Hardly any of you want to be a distributor of poison for loved ones. The takeaway is simple: it's important to feel happy. Tellingly, this is not as difficult to achieve as it might seem at first glance.

How to be happy quickly

The answer is slightly paradoxical. To become content with life, it is enough to behave as a happy person would. Even if you are not.

The point is that our behavior and feelings of happiness are linked, and this is confirmed by research. For example, in one of them, scientists randomly dividedExperimental manipulation of extraverted and introverted behavior and its effects on well-being. volunteers into two groups. Participants in the first were asked to deliberately behave like extroverts: openness, as shownExtraversion and happiness numerous scientific papers is one of the most common characteristics of happy people. The second group was instructed to become introverts. A week later, the volunteers told how they felt emotionally. It turned out that all conscious extroverts felt more prosperous and satisfied with life than before. BUT introvertson the contrary, they complained that their outlook had become more gray and sad.

There are other studies that demonstrate how "happy" behavior, even if there is no objective reason for it, really makes a person happy.

For example, if you present yourself as a person without any particular financial problems and do charity work, at least for a minimal amount, this will increaseSpending Money on Others Promotes Happiness your personal level of happiness.

No free money? Then just start helping others, do some volunteer work. Imagine yourself as a strong, accomplished person who has the inner resources to support others. In a magical way, this will make you really feel like someone who successfully copes with his life and knows how to get high from it.

However, no, not magical. The link "I behave like a happy person - I am a happy person" has a completely logical explanation.

Why Pretending To Be Happy Does It Really Feel Better

Prosocial, helping others behavior causes cognitive dissonance in a person dissatisfied with life. "How is it, I feel bad, but I behave like happy ?!" To get rid of a destructive internal conflict, the subconscious mind does a somersault - and leadsMind – Body Dissonance: Conflict Between the Senses Expands the Mind’s Horizons sensations in accordance with actions. The person really begins to feel happier.

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire (UK) and author of 59 Seconds That Will Change Your Life, How to Catch Your Luck and others, callsThe As If Principle: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life it is the "as if" principle. The general meaning of this idea can be described as follows.

If you need a quality - a character trait or a sense of self - act as if you already have it.

Of course, this is not a universal rule. They, for example, will not be able to cure existing mental disorders - the same depression. But if we are not talking about a diagnosed disorder, but about a general personal experience of life, Wiseman's principle may well help.

How to start increasing your happiness from today

Get started with three easy steps.

1. Imagine how you would behave if you were truly happy.

Imagine: you can do anything, you are not bound by destructive complexes, fears, uncertainty in tomorrow. How would you live? How would you write your work emails? Who would you call to ask how you are doing and what would you say? In what tone would you communicate with your partner, children, relatives? What would you wear? What would you do in the evening?

If it is difficult to think over the image of a lucky person from scratch, take a closer look at how your acquaintances who look happy with life behave. What are they doing for others? How do they spend their time? How and with whom do they communicate?

2. Make a plan of action for a happy person

Embody in it everything that you wrote down in the move above.

• Create a “happy email” template (write it pretending to be a happy person) and use it in the future.
• Come up with three or five creative greetings, write them down on stickers and stick them on the wall where usually talking on your mobile: let your "Hello!" in the telephone receiver sounds confident and joyful.
• Make a list of loved ones, friends and acquaintances whom an imaginary happy person would call with the questions "How are you?", "Do you need my moral support?", And plan these conversations in the organizer.
• Take a look around: there may be volunteer activities that you can handle. For example, plant flowers in a flower bed near your home. Or help your granny neighbor with the grocery delivery from the store.

3. Implement and Expand Your Happy Plan Every Day

The actions listed above will not make you happy with life right away. They have a slightly different task.

They will create an environment around you that will make you feel happy over time. And as a side effect, you will also delight those around you.