Can Positive Psychology Teach You How To Increase Happiness?

I was looking at my doctor’s website yesterday and in particular the statistics on what they have treated. Ten per cent of patients are treated for depression.  How many more people are not yet at the stage of clinical depression, but are very unhappy?

Are you happy? If not, what can you do about it. Positive psychology  believes that it has the answer to happiness. Research has shown that 40% of happiness is under your conscious control. The other 60% is due to our circumstances, where you live, the family that you are bought up in and so on.

Happiness has two main components. You can asses yours by asking yourself the following questions:

• How satisfied are you overall with your life and are you progressing in your life goals?
• How often do you feel positive emotions and how often do you feel negative emotions?

If you are unsatisfied with your life then you are not happy. If you experience more positive than negative emtions, then you are generally a happy person. Authentic happiness is not about being happy all the time – this is an unreal goal. It’s more about feeling that life is good and that you feel a sense of well-being.

If you are not happy then how do you go about increasing your levels of happiness?

Positive Psychology says that thee are several activities that you can do to increase happiness. These include:

• Be grateful for some of the small things in your life such as a cup of coffee in the morning, your morning shower, taking your dog out for a walk .  Pay attention to these experiences, savour them, be thankful that you can enjoy them.
• Practise kindness and compassion for other people. Do someone a favour or a kind turn.
• Learn how to forgive those who have harmed you.
• Create goals for your life  and commit to achieving them.
• Maintain a fit and healthy body.
• Stop comparing yourself to others and being jealous of what they have.
• Learn how to manage stress

For  in depth information read the  The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want

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