(Below from the book, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson)

If health comes first, happiness is right on its heels, because once you start practicing simple daily disciplines that increase your levels of happiness you’ll find it feeds every other aspect of self-improvement you’re trying to implement.

Remember: success does not lead to happiness – it’s the other way around. Greater happiness is what leads to greater success. And creating greater happiness is a lot simpler, a lot easier, and a lot more accessible than most people think.

The first step to increasing your happiness is to understand what positive psychology research has been telling us for the past fifteen years: the most significant factors in your day-to-day, moment-to-moment level of happiness are not circumstantial. They’re not heredity. They’re not dictated by your genes or caused by outside events. The most significant factors in your happiness are your actions. What you do every day.

You can break down the bulk of happiness research into three areas. Your happiness is affected by:
1) your outlook, that is, how you choose to view the events and circumstances of your everyday life;
2) specific actions with positive impact – things like writing down three things you’re grateful for, or sending appreciative emails, doing random acts of kindness, practicing forgiveness, meditating, and exercising; and
3) where you put your time and energy, especially investing more time into important relationships and personally meaningful pursuits.

The most important thing to know about increasing your happiness is that it is something you can consciously, intentionally do – but it doesn’t happen automatically or just by saying, “ I resolve to be happier.” Happiness is like health. There are concrete steps you need to take to make it happen.

~Evolution of Self
#happiness #steps #actions #motivation