11 Jul Want to get happy now? Here’s 7 quick and easy ways!
via The Week and Eric Barker
No theory here. No nightly exercises for months. You're feeling sad or angry.
How do you get happy fast?
Sex, exercise, socialize
When researchers survey 5000 people from 83 countries, what do they learn about happiness?
We're happiest when we're having sex, exercising, or socializing.
Using smart phones, Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert of Harvard University collected a large sample of experiences and associated happiness. They also measured "mind wandering." Their database currently contains nearly a quarter million samples from about 5,000 people from 83 different countries who range in age from 18 to 88 and who collectively represent every one of 86 major occupational categories. Their findings confirm what had been found previously: happiness is high during sex, exercise, or socializing, or while the mind is focused on the here and now, and low during commuting or while the mind is wandering." [Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life]
Try smiling
Researchers asked people to do a bunch of different exercises to quickly increase happiness. What was most effective? Smiling.
More than 26,000 people responded. All of the participants were randomly assigned to one of a handful of groups and asked to carry out various exercises designed to make them happier… When it came to increasing happiness, those altering their facial expressions came out on top of the class — powerful evidence that the As If principle can generate emotions outside the laboratory and that such feelings are long-lasting and powerful. [The As If Principle: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life]
Downward comparisons
Research shows comparing yourself to others can make you feel better — but only if you compare yourself to those worse off than you:
"Generally if people compare themselves to those who are worse off, they're going to feel better," continues Bauer, now a research associate at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and a clinical psychologist at Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Associates of Toronto. "When they compare themselves to people who are better off, it can make them feel worse." [Barking up the Wrong Tree]
…keep reading the full & original article HERE