There are two things we all share: the desire for fulfilling relationships and happiness. Healthy, long term relationships are the greatest predictor of happiness. After all, we are social creatures. Is there a way to bring more of these two components into our lives? Habits for Happiness has answers.
Doing random acts of Kindness without expectation of reward is the quickest and most assured way of being happier. Having a Positive mindset not only shapes the world around you, but greatly impacts your mental well-being. Being more Mindful not only keeps you in the present moment, but also brings more creativity, productivity and success – even to the other habits. When others interact with these three character traits back to you, expressing Gratitude to them further cements the relationship. Gratitude also lessons the feeling of envy and the adaptation principle of always wanting more.
There are two other critical habits making the brain function well: being more Active and Restful. Like any other part of your body, a rich flow of oxygenated blood into the brain makes it excel. Aerobic and anaerobic movement of the body generates this flow. Mental and physical wellness is greatly influenced by what and how much we eat. Food’s fuel for physical activity and development of brain cells impacts the wellness of the brain. When sleeping the brain reviews the thoughts generated by the day’s activity, deletes what is irrelevant, organizes the rest and gives prominence to what is important. The amount of and deepness to one’s sleep determines if this process functions properly.
The brain is a complex organ regulating our thoughts, actions and bodily function processes. Most importantly, the circuitry of the brain is malleable. Science proves we can make connections within our brain shorter and stronger by repeating small steps daily, which will compound over time and intensify with practice. This does take effort, and focusing on just one concept at a time achieves the greatest reward for building a habit.
So how long does it take to create a good habit, or for that matter avoid a bad one? Some say it takes about 21 days, some say 30, 60 or even 90! When contemplating being more Kind, Positive, Mindful, Grateful, Active and Restful, one realizes these are every day occurrences, happening year round. Why not establish 60 days to focus on each of the six habits, and make this a year long practice? This is an easy concept. Each day for sixty days, put that one habit front and center in your brain. Just do a little bit more than normal to accomplish it.
Certain days of the year are particularly associated with certain habits, such as Valentine's Day for Kindness, beginning of school for Positivity, and Thanksgiving for Gratitude. To make them fit nicely together, we suggest starting the year for 60 days each with the order of being more Kind, Mindful, Active, Restful, Positive and then Grateful. Each individual can determine which habits to strengthen, the order or the duration of focus. Make this work for yourself, as any amount of effort in this regard will be beneficial. Turn subconscious thoughts into conscious actions. These habits work nicely with each other. Kindly asking for or joining another for a brisk and Active walk, with Mindful listening to Positive topics of conversation, and then being Grateful for such an experience, and you've just put together five of the six habits! Wouldn't you want friends who help you out when needed, avoid the negativity in this world, will actively listen to your conversation, and will generously thank you for your efforts towards them? For each habit we have laid out why it is critical, what is involved and how to get there. A compelling presentation of these habits was given by Carol Decker for our Positivity Workshop in 2017. Our Resource Section has past articles, workshop materials and book reads we have done. Please connect with us to further build this practice. From the folks at the Science of Happiness and Positive Psychology (SoHaPP). Thank you!