Continued from page 1
6. Enjoy momentary pleasures. Stop and smell roses. Seriously. When you see a flower, don’t walk on by. Stop. Look at its beauty. Smell it, and enjoy. When you go for a massage, don’t think about all things you have to do after, just focus on how nice it feels to be pampered at that moment.
7. Do new things. Try a new sport, go to theatre, go somewhere new for your summer holidays. Read a new kind of book, eat at a different restaurant, try listening to a different kind of music. We get habituated to familiar- note difference between excitement you feel first time you experience something new and fifth time you experience it.
8. Forgive people who have wronged you. You don’t have to forget, just forgive. It takes a lot of energy hanging onto grudges and bad feelings. Think of all happy things you could so with all that freed up energy!
9. Learn how to be more optimistic. Yes, you can learn how. You need to pay careful attention to your thoughts so you can inspect them and refute ones that aren’t working for you. This takes practice, and don’t be afraid to ask for help with this one.
10. Get a coach to help you implement systematic (and fun) strategies for improving your happiness and well-being
It is widely agreed that there is a natural set-point range within which our happiness levels are likely to fall, and this is unique for each of us. But with knowledge and practice, we are able to ensure that we spend most of our time at uppermost limits of our happiness range. Courses and coaching are available and measurable results have been proven to work. Go to www.get-happier.com for more information on a teleclass series (you just have to get on phone) that can help you increase get happier immediately.
Dr. Gayla Swihart DeHart, from Vancouver, Canada, is a Professional Coach with a Ph.D. in Psychology. She helps busy professionals manage stress, improve goal-setting and follow-through, develop emotional intelligence, and increase life and work satisfaction. More information on Dr. DeHart and her services can be found at www.AchieveExcellence.ca.