How To Increase Your Happiness In One Easy Step

Happiness. Wouldn’t it be great if we could wake up, happy every day, and just ride that lovely wave of things feeling easy, breezy and lovely! Being human, that is not the way our lives are every day. We have moments of unhappiness, we have moments of frustration, we have moments where we just feel the day is going south. Many of us are not sure how to get out of this state of being and many of us find it tough to change any of these states of being. How can we increase our happiness when we feel the day is just not going the best it can be?

Thankfully there is a way to break a bad, challenging, or just off day. And I challenge you to try this. This one thing can break a state where you are not feeling happy, and actually bring happiness in! No goofing around, this works. The super cool thing is, if you do this every day, you will find happiness will poke its head into your life more often, and help you break an unhappy state when it comes your way.

Just One Action Can Help Your Happiness

It is simple. Give. What does that mean? Give what?

When you complete one small act of giving, or if this helps, one small act of kindness, happiness is going to shine down on you and (get this) whoever you gave to. One step, lots of benefits.

But what is a give and who do I give to?

That to is easy. A small act of giving means just that, a small act that gives to another person, our planet or an animal. Here are some great examples of a small act of giving:

1. Smile at someone else spontaneously. This could mean someone you don’t know on the street, someone else shopping at the grocery store, a co-worker you are passing in the hallway.
2. Take a friend or colleague for a coffee. Sharing a coffee for a few minutes, sharing that time, is a great give. If you want to treat them to the coffee, even better! If you don’t want to leave the house or the office, make a fresh cup of java for someone else and bring it to them. Share in a quick coffee break together.
3. Give a compliment. This is always a great give. Compliment someone on their outfit, on how they dealt with a situation, on something they made. You can also compliment a pet (they know what you are saying), and they will respond with kindness as well.
4. Share gratitude with someone. Thank someone for being a friend, thank a family member for being a great sister/brother/mother/father. Show gratitude to a teacher, a co-worker, your work out partner, a neighbour.
5. Show our planet some kindness. Reduce your use of single use plastics, buy a house plant and raise it in your office or house. Recycle more, walk more, waste less.

Check In After You Give – How’s Your Happiness Meter?

Take a deep breathe and give. Now check in and see how you feel. How did completing this single and easy act of giving make you feel. Did that dark cloud hanging over your head lift a little? Did the mood you started out with this morning start to fade? Check in and see what changed. If you not sure, try it again, or try another give. Research shows that giving is great at changing our state of mind and bring us closer to happiness. If we give every day and make it a habit, happiness hangs around for longer, positively effecting our happiness levels every day.

Watch The Reaction of Others!

Now this is the fun part. When you give, watch how others respond. Do they smile back? Do they share that you just brightened their day? Did they smile and say thanks! in a cheery and happy voice? It is impossible to look at someone and say ‘Hey did my give make you feel better?’ but we can see how they respond to your give. That is going to let you know that you made a difference and increased their happiness today! Even an animal give will give you a reaction!

Giving Does Increase Happiness! Give It A Try

Check out the science on Happiness and see how our brains react to giving. We are actually hard wired to give to increase our happiness.

If you are looking for giving ideas, we have a suggestions that give to others, to animals and the planet. Our giving ideas will keep you busy all year long but make it easy to give daily if you find this happiness strategy works! have fun with it and see how you feel! Remember, the more you give the more happiness you will have, so give once a day and let happiness in!