According to a recent study published in the journal Experimental Psychology, researchers found smiling — even a fake smile — can have a positive impact on mood. Essentially, triggering certain facial muscles by smiling can “trick” your brain into thinking you're happy.
Serotonin. Serotonin is another hormone that affects mood, appetite and sleep. It is also a neurotransmitter, which means that it transmits messages between nerve cells.
The happiest among us actually do exercise and take care of ourselves. Choose happiness in whatever you do. Strengthen your closest relationships. Take care of yourself physically, financially and emotionally.
They found three distinct sources of happiness: Pleasure, Challenge and Meaning. These are the ingredients of all things that make us happy and they can be combined in different ways. Ideally we would spend most of our time doing things that include one, two or even all three sources.
Scientists have found that the three things that make people most happy are PLEASURE (doing things you enjoy), ENGAGEMENT (feeling interested in your activities and connected to others), and MEANING (feeling like what you do matters).
1. Take care of your body. There is an overwhelming amount of research that deems exercise a vital key to happiness and well-being. A Yale study conducted on over 1.2 million Americans concludes that exercise is more important for our mental health than money.
Negative thinking has many different causes. Intrusive negative thoughts can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or another mental health condition. Negative thinking is also symptomatic of depression ("Negative Thinking and Depression: How One Fuels the Other").
Just stepping away from something stressful for a few minutes or taking time away from your normal routines and thoughts can give you enough space and distance to feel calmer. Read a book or a magazine, even if it's only for a few minutes. Run yourself a bath, watch a film, play with a pet or try out a new recipe.
Happiness, he says, isn't just about feeling good, it's about the joy we feel while striving after our potential. ... Achor recommends these five simple habits to follow every day:
