5 easy-to-apply happiness hacks that actually work.

Have you had a day when things just don’t seem to go your way? When you seem to hit all the red lights? When people don’t seem to understand you?

Do you get upset? Or,

Do you manage to stay happy regardless?

What if staying happy and enjoying life was in your control all the time? Yes, all the time. After all, you’re the one making the choice to get upset or to not get upset.

You are the one who decides who has more seniority over your mental space – you, or the circumstance(s) around you.

Ultimately, you can be in full control of your emotions. You can make a conscious decision to stay happy nonetheless, despite whatever mess is going on around you.

Think of a mountain that remains composed and collected through years even though seasons and winds change around it all the time. How wonderful would it be if you had this super ninja power of being in control, of being happy, regardless of your life!

Staying happy isn’t hard at all though, contrary to how it starts to feel as we grow up. As kids, our basic nature was to find joy in all mundane things. In fact, the only thing we focussed on was having fun even if no one around us was. Ask any parent. They’ll give you plenty of examples.

Somehow by the time we become adults, we lose this inherent quality of staying happy and blissful. Happiness is simply relearning what we already know deep inside.

All we need is just a bit of conscious effort. I can assure you that no matter how your life is, you can be happy right now. Even better, the more you decide to stay happy, the better you’ll get at being happy.

So with that introduction, let’s look at how you can stay high-vibe even if things aren’t exactly working out for you. I assure you that none of these steps are hard, they are all easy to do. Still, all of these are super-duper powerful.

1) Decide to be your own best friend throughout the day.

A lot of times, we are disturbed because someone said something we didn’t like, or because someone isn’t saying something we’d like to hear. Basically, all external factors.

Imagine what would happen if we took this power back in our own hands?

So maybe your friend was hurtful or your father never tells you that you are a great son. Instead of letting the absence affect you, you can decide to say all the good words to yourself.

You can tell yourself things like. “I’m a great mum, I’m a good person, I am proud of myself, etc.”

But why affirmations? You see, your mind registers everything it hears it very literally. So it is important to feed your mind thoughts that will make you feel better about yourself.

A lot of times, we are our own worst critic. We say we’re stupid because we didn’t do something right or scold ourself for not being on time etc. How about loving and supporting ourself instead?

Tell yourself soothing words that you know you want to hear deep inside. Tell yourself that you are an awesome human being, tell yourself that you are a wonderful partner/friend, tell yourself, tell yourself that you are getting better and better each day.

2) Listen to happy inspirational music that is surely going to lift up your mood.

We all know music is wonderful therapy. A lot of great minds have been known to listen to tracks that inspire them as they push themselves and take on new challenges.

You can listen to whatever makes you feel good, whatever makes you smile, because that’s the whole point, right?

Some of my most favored are:

• A Million Dreams by P!nk
• I’m On a Roll by Stefano
• Brave by Sara Bareilles
• Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys
• Like a Champion by Selena Gomez
• Bulletproof Picasso by Train
• Fight Song by Rachel Platten
• High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco

The added bonus is that catchy songs can stick to our mind even when we don’t hear them. Your subconscious will be running the motivating lyrics in the background.

3) Every day, decide that you’re going to be happy no matter what.

Yes, it can be this simple. Just decide that today, you will do your best to stay as happy as you can.

Keep going with your aim of staying upbeat the whole day. If something happens, remind yourself that happiness for the rest of the day is still in your control. Today, you’re not going to let the circumstance affect you.

Sure, it might not be possible to stay happy the whole day, but surely, you can give happiness a damn good try every single day.

4) Reward yourself at the end of each day for that day’s journey.

At the end of the day, it is time to reward yourself for how well you’ve done. You begin the day reminding yourself that you love yourself and end on the same love note, celebrating your growth.

Your reward could be anything simple or big, depending on your triumphs during the day. It could be reading a favorite magazine, watching a well-loved show, a relaxing bath, a chocolate or drink, anything that delights you.

As you savor your reward, pat yourself on the back for how well you’ve coped with the day’s challenges, how wonderful you’ve been at work and at relationships, etc. Tell yourself that you get your reward for doing the best that you could do today.

Refrain from counting what you missed or what you didn’t do. The aim is to applaud yourself for what you accomplished. Praise motivates all of us deeply.

As you go through your days giving yourself enough compliments, you’ll find yourself being less and less dependent on the outside world to fill in. You’ll become less needy and more self-sufficient.

5) Recount all great things that happened during the day and express your gratitude.

Gratitude is one of the highest vibration emotions and one really easy way to start feeling happier.

Recollect a few great things that went well during the day. Did you have more green lights than usual? Was your lunch delicious? Did you enjoy any particular conversation?

Even if you have not had a particularly good day, there is still lots to be thankful for. You can be thankful for your eyes that help you read this article and see other things. You can be thankful for clean drinking water that comes into your home. You can be thankful for some strangers’ smile.

Once you start thinking about it, you’ll realize that there is so much more to be thankful about than we usually remember to give credit for. So much is going our way, even if it feels nothing is.

Plus, how can you be really sure that things are not working out for you? We only know what is, we have limited sight of how our life is going to be in the future. Who knows what’s happening tomorrow?

Just because life has thrown us a curve ball, it does not mean that we are not going in the right direction. Look back at your life and remember all your hard times. Each of those taught you to be wiser and shaped your life significantly.

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So what do you think?

What works best for you to stay happy and bubbly? What are your favorite feel-good songs? Do have any of your own rituals for inner peace?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!

With love,

Kanika