Happiness is truly the best measure of personal growth. Making other people as happy is the highest expression of success, but it’s almost impossible to make others happy, if you are not happy yourself.
Keeping this in mind, here are Top 10 changes that you can make to your daily routine that will immediately make you feel happier in life:
1. Begin each day with expectations.
If there’s any big truth about life, it’s that it typically lives up to (or sometimes down to) your expectations. When you get out of bed every morning, make your first thought: “something wonderful is going to happen today.” Guess what? You’re probably right. If you take your mind out of the gutter, your dreams will come true and you will be able to help others.
2. Carefully plan and prioritize.
The most common source of stress is the perception that you’ve got too much work to do and there’s too little time to do it. Rather than whine and get angry about it, pick one thing that, if you get it done today, will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do this first. You are only human and you can do so much in one day. You cannot be a renaissance man/woman.
3. Give a gift to everyone you meet.
I’m not talking about a formal present that is wrapped up in a boy. A gift can be a smile, it can simply be a thank you or some words of encouragement. A gesture of politeness and even a friendly nod can go along way to help others feel good about themselves. And never pass beggars without leaving them something. Peace of mind is worth more than a couple of change.
4. Deflect partisan conversations.
Arguments about politics and religion never have a “right” answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can’t control. When such topics surface, bow out by saying something like: “Thinking about that stuff makes my head hurt.”
5. Always assume people have good intentions.
Since you are not a mind reader, you don’t really know why people do what hey do. Imputing evil motives to other people’s weird behaviors adds extra misery to life, while assuming good intentions leaves you open to reconciliation.