Find Your Happy

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Two simple ways to practice gratitude include taking a moment at the end of the day to reflect on an occurrence for which you were grateful and sending a thoughtful message of appreciation to someone you care about. The creators’ development of the measure was spurred by their observation that previous studies had treated happiness as synonymous with a balance between positive and negative affect or overall satisfaction with one’s life. Babin, B. J., Darden, W. R., & Griffin, M. (1994). Work and/or fun: Measuring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(4), 644-656. Our happy place is somewhere we feel a warm glow within. We come away feeling energized and rejuvenated.

When it comes to measuring eudaimonic happiness, most researchers tend to use Ryff and Keyes’ (1995) multidimensional scales of psychological wellbeing (see How to Measure Happiness below). Kristof‐Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: A meta‐analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 281-342. Verywell Mind articles are reviewed by board-certified physicians and mental healthcare professionals. Medical Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more.

Educators, especially those who love and engage with all things reading, may be aware of Emily Coxhead as the founder of The Happy Newspaper; a quarterly subscription newspaper filled with only the most positive news from around the world. I receive these papers for my classroom and would certainly agree that Find Your Happy feels like an attempt at the extension of positivity Coxhead is trying to sprinkle around the world. Committing to work that aligns with your values can instill meaning and fulfillment. You may, for instance, prioritize creativity, travel opportunities, or financial stability for your family. Understanding your values can help determine which job options will bring you happiness.

Do things you love. Maybe you can’t skydive every day or take vacations every season, but as long as you get to do the things you love every once in a while, you will find greater happiness. In my experience, many people define happiness as the feeling of intense joy, which may make it harder to feel like we’re happy in our everyday lives. In fact, there are many levels to happiness, starting from a sense of contentment, and ranging through to exhilarating jubilation. Wild, Barefoot & Free Scentsy Bar: Throw caution to the wind, soak up the fresh air, and feel the grass between your toes with the aroma of wild ivy.Following on from point 1, the second downside to pinning happiness on external goals is that you may fall into unhelpful thinking habits. By placing your happiness onto something external, you may forget that feeling happy is something that comes from inside, and can be found by looking inward, rather than waiting for an external action to trigger it. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York, NY: Hyperion. To answer this question, philosophers and psychologists have been turning to neuroscience to better understand what happiness looks like in the brain. Dopamine, otherwise known as the “feel-good” hormone, is a key feature of the brain’s reward system and associated with pleasure. Dopamine can be triggered in many ways, including through exercise, a healthy diet, sufficient sleep, listening to music, meditating, and ensuring you get a little sunlight each day (Breuning, 2015; Hansen, Stevens & Coast, 2001). This broader, more psychological conceptualization of hedonic pleasure argues that happiness can flow from behaviors that promote mental stimulation, stress relief, feelings of social connectedness, positive mood, and more (Arnold & Reynolds, 2003).