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How To Be Happier
One of the most searched questions is this: how to be happier. And understandably so. Us humans are set up to take action depending on how we think it will make us feel. We either do something to feel more of something or we don’t do something so we won’t feel something. Further, one of the most desired feeling states is happiness. Go ask most moms out there what they want for their kids and they’ll say they want their kid to be happy.
Which leads me to the topic of the show. While many of us want to know how to be happier, most don’t know how to actually feel happier on a consistent basis. We are up some serious ad dollars too as the capitalist culture wants us to think that external things make us happy. The new car, the fancier jeans, the better face cream. Yet, these external things have a very small impact on our overall happiness.
Have you ever experienced that? Maybe you get a new car, the fancier jeans, the expensive face wash. Chances are you do feel happier for a bit. Your level of life satisfaction seems higher. Days do feel brighter and lighter! Yet then, after a brief period, you go back to your original feeling state. Your original level of happiness. This is called your happiness set point.
Your Happiness Set Point
Do you know that we have an internal happiness set point, like we have a thermostat in our house? Pay attention because this internal gauge is how to be happier. Imagine a little gauge inside of you that is set on a happiness level that external factors don’t touch. They can influence us to feel better or worse in the moment but we eventually settle back to this set point.
The good news is that we can influence our set point similar to how we can change the thermostat setting in our house. Sure, there’s a limit, we can’t turn our AC to -10 degrees or our heat to 110. But we can influence it up or down in a very wide range. We have that power with our happiness too!
Studies show that our happiness set point is 50% genetic, 10% external circumstances (like vacation or COVID), and 40% because of our habitual thoughts and behavior. As a cognitive behavioral coach, this is great news! What this means is we can influence 40% of how we feel with our daily habits, behaviors, and thoughts.
Listen in to the How To Be Happier Episode
Today on the Love Your Life Show, I explain the first three steps on how to be happier. Listen in to learn:
- How to determine your current happiness set point,
- Why using this feeling chart will help,
- What Susie means by our brain’s comfort zone,
- How knowing about the human brain helps us feel happier
- Which action steps will help us,
- Much more!
Next Steps on How to be Happier
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