Turning to Happiness: Making Happiness A Habit

Over the years one thing has become abundantly clear to me, happiness is a choice within reach for each of us. Happiness is a habit that you can create for yourself, and happiness is something that you can share and spread around to everyone around you, bringing more happiness, and more success into your life.

Happiness is a key factor to success; happiness is what propels you to optimism, to pick yourself back up after failure, and to keep going against all the odds. Happiness is the motivator to achieving your dreams.

There are countless ways that you can do to make yourself happier and thus lead you to having more success in your career, and personal life. Each of us differ slightly on what works best for them, but there are still very solid principles that will work for everyone.

I’ve discovered four ideas that if you practice regularly with sincerity and real effort are almost guaranteed to increase your happiness, success, and relationships. These rules apply not just for the office, but at home, in volunteer work, and any other aspect of your life that you feel needs improvement.

1. Exercise and eating healthy

I will be the first to admit that after baking a batch of chocolate cookies, I don't just stop at one, two, three, or even four; rather I don't stop eating my freshly baked cookies until they are all gone. I will also admit that sometimes going to the gym or for a jog is much less inviting than sleeping in, or watching just "one more" episode of my latest Netflix binge. But I have never yet regretted going to the gym, or choosing a healthy serving a quinoa stuffed tomatoes over a McDonald's Big Mac.

A little more than a year ago I found myself constantly lagging; I could never make it through the day without a can of Dr. Pepper, and a nap right after work. The entire day I felt tired, weak, and just ready for a nap, after the nap though, I never did anything productive. Too tired or too unmotivated to work on personal projects, or even cook I would run over to the nearest fast food restaurant, order a delicious sounding combo meal to go, take it home and veg out on the couch while playing video games or watching Netflix.

I was happy, but I knew that I could be happier. I knew that I could get more out of my work day, and more out of my evenings too. So I made the decision to cut out the soda entirely, and see where that would lead me.

The changes were almost immediate. I quickly found that I actually had more energy by cutting out the soda for lunch, and throughout the day. Having more energy, I was able to come home from work, cook a healthy meal for myself and then I also had the alertness to read a good book, or work on a new project. Maybe my TV was lonely, but I could feel my body thanking me, and my mind was opening up more and becoming a sponge to increased learning.

Adding regular exercise has only increased my daily productivity, and energy. Needless to say, I went from being happy, to really happy just by starting with cutting out a little soda in my diet. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture right away, start small if you need to but continue to implement a healthier diet, and routine exercise and watch your happiness grow.

2. Find the Strength to Forgive

I cannot express the importance of making helping you understand deeper the importance of letting go and moving on. Forgiveness can be extremely hard, and the other person may not deserve it. But YOU do deserve allowing yourself to forgive others.

One of the most powerful stories I have ever heard is the story of Louie Zamperini, in the book Unbroken.

In the beginning Louie had his dream of becoming an Olympic runner, his dream was stripped away from him with the start of WWII. With the Olympics being cancelled as a result of the war Louie enlisted into United States Army Air Corps. During a failed mission due to a mechanical malfunction in his plane, Louie and his team are sent plummeting to into the ocean.

Himself and only two others would survive the initial crash, but now the three of them are left to survive living at sea. Louie constantly prayed and committed to God if he would only be able to survive this experience. After 33 days one of three remaining members passed away, on day 47 Louie and the other surviving member of the crew are taken captive as prisoners of war by the Japanese Navy.

The Japanese were known for their merciless abuse of the U.S. prisoners of war. Louie, unfortunately got singled out by one guard "The Bird", who was known for being the most brutal and abusive of all. Louie showed unimaginable courage throughout his imprisonment, and until the end of the war.

Upon returning home Louie was faced with the challenge of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and it led him down a dark path of alcoholism, anger, and revenge for his captures, particularly The Bird. On the brink of losing everything he had, Louie meets a reluctantly goes to an evangelical crusade, where the pastor speaking, subsequently reminds him of his commitment he made to God while lost at sea. He recommits his life to God, and soon after is able to completely forgive his captures.

The rest of his story is amazing; anytime Louie would then meet one of his former captures he would greet them each with a warm hug. He even asked to meet The Bird again when he was an Olympic torch bearer during the Olympics in Japan, but The Bird denied the request. The ability to forgive and let go of the hated, transformed Louie's life. He found true happiness, and so can you.

No matter what the difficulty or abuse that you have experience in your life, letting go and finding the strength to forgive those who have hurt you will make such a tremendous impact on your life, your progress, your relationships, and your happiness. You are the person who suffers the most by the lack of ability to forgive and let go. You hold yourself back. So let go, forgive those who you need to forgive, and watch your happiness grow.

3. Serving Those Around You

You have more than likely heard the term "Pay it Forward", or you have more than likely heard several analogies about the ripple effect in water. But have you ever stopped to consider how important recognizing the truth in the power of the ripple effect truly is? Or have you ever considered the impact that an unbroken chain of "Pay it Forward" can truly have on changing the world?

As you serve others these two things, the ripple effect and pay it forward almost naturally happen. Think about the last time that someone performed an act of service for you, no matter how big, or how small. What did that act of service do for you, how did you feel afterwards. Because your now lifted mood, how did this impact the way you treated others around you. I am almost certain that in that moment you were more kind, understanding, and you spread the happiness, even if it only lasted for a few moments.

Serving others has a tremendous impact on those around you, which then will come back to having an impact on yourself. It is a natural boost to your dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels all of which have a major impact on your happiness. The neat thing about this is it also boosts the levels in the person you serve so you are literally sharing an increased wealth of happiness with them. So the next time share a plate of freshly baked cookies with your office, family, friends, or neighbors; remember you are sharing more than just cookies, but happiness making chemicals as well.

I could talk about giving meaningful service to others for days. But I just want to express that I know it really does work, but more important it spreads happiness, to a countless number of people, even if you never see the results. You may never know what someone is going through, even those who lash out and you suddenly in an angry rage. But you can make the difference. As you seek to understand others, serve them, and share happiness, you will see, and feel your happiness grow in unimaginable ways.

4. Recognize the Good, and Be Positive

This one is easier said than done, it is easier written than put into practice. But I assure you that this will make the world of a difference in your life, if you can make recognizing the good, and having a positive mindset a habit.

The truth is goodness, and positivity surrounds you daily. There is always more good than bad, you just need to train yourself to see it your life. It might mean avoiding the "dark and dreary" news stations, it might mean sitting down for a good while and writing down the good things about the job you hate, or the positive qualities of a difficult co-worker of family member. Whatever it is that is bringing negativity in your life, YOU have the control to it, to change it, to take it out, replace it or whatever means necessary.

But these small things will build up, they will compound and if you do them frequently enough they will become habit, you will find that you are seeing and doing these things without having to make half the effort you used to in the beginning.

As you focus on the positive, as you keep your head up even during hard times, you will invite into your life the things that you need to be happy, you will attract into your life happiness.

You are in full control of your happiness, you are in full control of your life, and what you let into it. You are in full control of your attitude. As you do these four steps that I have shared with you, you will see your life and your happiness improve in ways you never thought possible. You will find other key things that work for you to increase your happiness, but these four will never fail you in making happiness a habit.