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Find Your Happiness Habits
Boost your happiness with small daily practices
The pursuit of happiness is one of the best investments you can make. While our happiness is heavily shaped by the hand we are dealt (e.g. our genes, and socioeconomic rank), our fates are far from sealed.
Thanks to centuries of philosophy and psychology research, we have a solid understanding of how to make the most of the hand we are dealt.
This article shares a menu of simple, science-based happiness boosters. The fun part is trying them out, and figuring out which ones you can weave into your daily life. You can also keep this list in your back pocket and double-dip when you’re having a low day. As a bonus, many of these strategies provide broader mental and physical health benefits.
Defining and measuring happiness. Happiness researchers use a variety of different metrics. Some focus on more holistic measures like life satisfaction and a sense of flourishing (eudaimonic happiness). Others focus on in-the-moment feelings, and seek to enhance hedonic happiness (feelings of pleasure and enjoyment) or curtail negative feelings (like sadness). It’s generally well accepted that a multi-pronged approach is needed to be our happiest selves.
