How To Use The Happiness Prescription To Transform Your Life

The Happiness Prescription is your ticket for living a great life. Based on modern happiness research and my 36 years of experience in the mental health field, this simple and easy, sure-fire formula will help you to be happier and more fulfilled . . . and to find more satisfaction in all you do.

Happiness is a skill anyone can master. I've combed through hundreds of so-called happiness secrets, to find five of the most powerful and effective skills to ensuring your life-long happiness. The five top happiness skills listed below offer you important ways to maximize your personal happiness. Learn these happiness skills and apply them to your daily life, and you'll lead a happier life.

Happiness is elusive and often fleeting. Thus, The Happiness Prescription keeps matters simple for maximum effect. By simplifying your focus, and streamling your efforts, you'll soon see a difference in how you think, feel, and act. 

Top Five Happiness Skills:

1. Develop good relationships, stay engaged socially and serve others

2. Think optimistically and look for the positive aspects in every situation

3. Engage in work you love -- work you find meaningful, challenging and fulfilling

4. Take care of your health and get medical attention when you need it

5. Enhance your mental health and grow your emotional intelligence

A happy life is a balanced life, and rests upon your ability to do invest in several areas of your life well. A workaholic isn't as happy as he could be because his addictive behavior (work, work, work) keeps his life in a constant state of crisis, or imbalance. The Happiness Prescription requires you to master the five top skills in attracting happiness, and use them together to bring more happiness into your everyday life.

On the other hand, a balanced life consists of a good mix of individual time, family time, work time, etc. Taking care of yourself, paying attention to relationships and engaging in work you love will result in a strong degree of balance. 

Social Life

Relationships are the key to happiness, since we are all social animals, and we need social interaction. Islands and loners are not really happy, so invest in your relationships to gain authentic happiness. Keep in mind that interacting with others stimulates your brain and gets your endorphins flowing.

Optimism

Hardly anything is more important than your cognitive style, when it comes to creating and maintaining happiness throughout the life span. Those who are pessimistic find problems everywhere they look, and they tend to feel badly more often than positive people. Yet, those who think positively and seek to find the good in every situation, tend to remain happier and more fulfilled than negative thinkers. So cultivate an optimistic thinking style to avoid depression and anxiety, which are fueled by negative thought patterns, and make The Happiness Prescription work for you.

Enjoyable and Fulfilling Work

If you hate your job or don't believe it's worthwhile, you surely will be miserable. Many folks are under-employed and are not reaching their potential. To be happier, seek more meaningful and enjoyable work. If you are doing what you love, you will be much more likely to be happy than someone who is struggling to go to work everyday. To reach your potential in life, find work that will allow you to use your unique set of talents, skills and interests.

Take Care of Your Physical Health

Eat a healthy diet, exercise, get plenty of sleep and go to see your doctor on a regular basis. Never ignore your health, or a specific a health problem, and act to get medical attention when necessary. Most of us could benefit from getting more exercise, and by eating more strategically, taking care to choose the most beneficial foods, and increasing self-discipline to avoid eating those addictive comfort foods. The most common and deadly diseases in the United states, for example, are often preventable, such as, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Make lifestyle changes to improve your health and well being. Illness and disease can put a damper on happiness. Keep in mind: exercise reduces stress, strengthens the mind and body, and promotes the growth of new brain cells.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

Many people ignore their psychological health, which can deteriorate when a person is under stress, or is suffering from an addiction or some other emotional problem. As a companion to an annual physical exam, I recommend getting a mental health check-up on a regular basis, or see your counselor when you need a second opinion on a big decision.

Depression and anxiety, relational problems and work-related distress can affect anyone, and have a derogatory impact upon overall mental health. So why not get a little counseling when you need it? Benjamin Franklin said, "Only a fool cannot be counseled."

When we seek counseling to help us correct and prevent problems, we are taking a step that can increase our happiness and longevity. For example, a healthy marriage can increase your lifespan by six to seven years. So when your marriage is in trouble, why not put the work in to save it. For help in applying The Happiness Prescription to your marriage, go to my page on marital problems here. 

The Happiness Prescription is my simple way of ensuring happiness, delight and joy, in a stressful, confusing and often difficult-to-navigate sea of obstacles and complexities. By keeping it simple, and focusing on a few really big points, we can ensure that we don't get caught in a web of hopelessly complex and convoluted happiness principles. 

In Sum

Remember, the art of happiness is elusive, so it pays to keep it simple and to pay attention to a few critical principles. How can you apply the Happiness Prescription to your life? Simply keep your relationships strong, stay positive, do work you love, take care of your physical health, and enhance your psychological and inner well being. These five skills are the keys to my Happiness Prescription.

Don't forget to sign up for my Electronic Newsletter, which will keep you in touch with the latest research findings on happiness and relationships, and self-help strategies that you can use to reach your all-important goals and dreams. You may sign up below. Thank you for reading about my Happiness Prescription. 

If you liked my article on The Happiness Prescription, you may enjoy reading more about happiness (subjective sense of well being) here.


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