Develop These Habits to Be Happier and Content
You don't have to spend a lot of money to be happy and content. Sometimes all it takes is a few lifestyle tweaks and the courage to explore your emotions, including the unhappy ones. Then working on making these habits a part of your life will be much easier.
As with most self-care practices, getting the basics right is vital: getting plenty of good quality sleep, eating a balanced diet, and exercising regularly. Once you've mastered the basics, you can add the tips below to your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly routine. These exercises help increase happiness and contentment, but it's crucial to do them consistently. Otherwise, you won't reap the benefits.
However, you know yourself the best. If these tips only create added stress or don't fit your lifestyle, ditch them. You'll know what does or doesn't work with time and practice.
Acknowledge unhappy emotions
This might seem counterintuitive, but acknowledging unhappiness is critical to happiness. Bad things happen to everyone; it's a part of life. Avoiding these unhappy emotions may make you feel good at the moment, but it doesn't last long. Any emotion you avoid has its way of catching up to you.
So, acknowledge your feelings and allow yourself to experience them momentarily. Then fix your focus on what made you feel this way and how you might recover. You may need a long walk alone, or some breathing exercises may sound good. Just let the moment pass and take care of yourself. The key to happiness is understanding that no one's always happy.
Practice gratitude
Studies have found that practicing gratitude can significantly impact feelings of hope and happiness. You can make this habit a part of your life by journaling about three things you're grateful for, either at the beginning or end of your day. You can also take note of the pleasant things as you go about your day, like how your coffee tasted good this morning or how the wind felt refreshing.
With some practice, you'll become more aware of all the positive things around you, increasing happiness and satisfaction.
Don't compare
Comparison is, indeed, the thief of joy. It's easy to compare yourself to others at work, on social media, or in your community, but comparison only leads to discontent, lower self-esteem, anxiety, and depression.
Turning inward through journaling or deep breathing can help you better understand yourself and what you truly want instead of wanting what others have. You can also consult a therapist for perspective.
Avoiding comparison will take some time, but for your happiness and inner peace, the effort will be worth it.
Unplug
Being glued to our phones has been known to lead to severe cognitive and emotional changes in adolescents and young adults. The best remedy is to reduce screen time and allot some time to unplug. You can start with an hour once a week. But if you're feeling particularly down, a full day without your phone and other gadgets will do you good.
While you unplug, allow your mind to wander. You can also read, meditate, take a mindful walk, or spend time in nature; you'll be surprised at the difference it makes.
Reflect
Modern life has perpetuated an always-on-the-go attitude that we rarely take the time to sit down and reflect on our day, week, month, or year. Even if you only have time for this practice yearly, reflection plays a significant role in our happiness and contentment. So, catch up with yourself, like you would with an old friend.
Start by reviewing past events. You'll see that some things you've overlooked make you feel happier and content.
Seek professional help
If you find that your mood hasn't improved for a long time, you might want to seek the help of a mental health professional. You may be dealing with depression or an underlying physical condition affecting your mood.