Category: Happiness

Happiness is possible for you.

It's possible for everyone.

But I think it's fair to say that happiness isn't that easy, natural thing we all wish it was.

It seems that happiness and being free from mental health issues actually requires a bit of work.

But we're not taught the how of happiness in school, college or even by our parents.

It's assumed that it's something we should all innately know.

But you don't know what you don't know...

It's time to walk away from the shame and stigma attached to not knowing how to create your own happiness, and embrace learning how to move from sadness, depression and anxiety to joy and contentment.

Well that's what I plan to help you do anyway.

What is happiness?

Let's start with the best definition of happiness I could find from Merriam-Webster:

"A state of well-being and contentment."

Well yes I think we can all agree that is happiness, but there is so much more to happiness than that.

What is happiness in life?

What is happiness to you?

I think these are the better questions, the ones we should all focus on to make sure the life we're living really means something.

For me personally, happiness means stable mental health and the absence of depression. It smean looking forward to waking up the next day rather than putting off sleep for as long as possible to try and prevent the next day from coming. It means actually wanting to savour each moment, not numb myself from my own emotions.

A happy life is one where I've made a difference, where I've minimized my negative impact and maximised my positive impact, and accomplished the things that I couldn't stop thinking about.

How to be happier?

Aka, my favorite small steps you can take right now that will help increase happiness.

1 - Reduce your time on social media

If you struggle with happiness in any way shape or form then I'm 99% sure that reducing how much time you spend on Facebook, Instagram or whatever else the kids are into these days will help.

And that's coming from someome whose job it is to hang out on Facebook and who knows the pitfalls and realities behind the pictures, yet it still affects me.

2 - Get more sleep

Have you ever noticed how much worse everything is at two in the morning. It's because you're tired.

No ifs or buts. It's super hard to be happy when you're tired.

3 - Reframe the negative

Life happens. But if everytime something happens you see it in a negative light, shock horror, your life will start to feel pretty shitty and not very happy.

Instead start working on reframing events from negative to positive. For example, let's say you miss your train home. Now you could easily see this in a negative way because it is super annoying, but instead try and reframe it in a positive light.

Now you have an extra half hour to read that book you've been loving while enjoying a delicious treat from the bakery across the street.

4 - Simplify and declutter

You might be thinking this seems a bit odd of an odd one to help increase happiness, but it works amazingly for two reasons.

The first that when there is too much in your life (be that to-dos, physical objects, obligations, etc) you get overwhelmed, and overwhelmed is not a state that leads to happiness.

But also because when there is too much in your life it's difficult to pick out exactly what does make you happy, and without knowing that it's difficult to do more of it...

But what about if you have depression?

I would still say the above tips can still really help, but you might find this post on the self-care routine I created that helped me beat depression much more useful.

The Best Books For Happiness

If you have depression then I really recommend The Depression Cure, the knowledge inside that book was paramount to me figuring out how to get my mental health to a point where happiness was a possiblity again.

Depression: Why it happens and how to overcome it was the book that gave me the confidence and permission to realize I could get over depression and that I could be happy again. That I had that power.

Because decluttering really can change your life and happiness: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.