From early childhood, our brain is being trained and programmed by the experiences in our life. We learn that there are people we can trust and others that we can not, we learn that it hurts when we touch something hot and we learn that it feels great when we are in love and we feel sad when we lose someone.
Our brain training doesn’t stop as we get older and we can take positive steps towards training our brain for happiness. Generally speaking brain training happens naturally as we go through our lives, however, there are certain ways we can influence our brain training and make sure that we steer it towards the positive.
Research shows that approximately 80% of our thoughts are negative and only a mere 20% is positive as our brain is trained for survival and saves happy hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin for situations when we really need them in order to survive. The good news is that we have the power to train our brain to be more positive and enjoy happiness.
Here are our TOP 10 techniques to train our brain for happiness.
#1 Observe Your Thoughts
The first step towards training our brain for happiness is to observe our thoughts, even if it’s just a few minutes a day. We are creatures of habit and you will quickly notice that most of our thoughts are the same day in and day our and as we said earlier, 80% of our thoughts tend to be negative. Are you stressed out about work? Are you upset about a fight with your best friend? Are you anxious about an upcoming event? Observe your thoughts and figure out which ones are bothering you the most. Then start to work on resolving the problem.
#2 Don’t Compare, Be Inspired
Inspiration and comparison have two completely different vibrations. Comparison is negative, inspiration is positive and uplifting. Rather than comparing yourself to someone else, get inspired by those who are more successful than you. Research has proven that people who make it a habit to compare themselves to others who are better off than themselves, tend to be more unhappy in life. But if you look at the other person as an inspiration, figure out where he or she was coming from and how it was possible to achieve his or her dreams and become successful, you will increase your happiness because if you use another’s life story as an inspiration you will realize that you, too can break through and achieve big dreams.
#3 Practice Gratitude
Just 10 minutes of daily gratitude can tremendously change your life. Research shows that there is a direct link between gratitude and physical as well as psychological well-being and that includes happiness. A recent study even found that people who practice gratitude on a daily basis could increase their happiness by 25%. So train your brain to look for the positive and the good in life. It doesn’t matter if you count your blessings over breakfast or write a gratitude journal before going to bed. Make it a point to find three things every day that you are grateful for. It could be the smallest things like watching a dog roll around, being paid a compliment, watching an amazing sunset or having lunch with an old friend. Scan your day and find the positive.
#4 Look after Your Body and Mind
Research has shown over and over again that self-care is the foundation for happiness and taking care of our body and mind will over time train our brain to be more positive. Eating healthy can boost our spirits, exercise improves our mood, mindfulness and meditation brings positivity and balance into our life. If you are new to meditation, try this simple mindfulness exercise first. Set an alarm on your phone three times a day and when it buzzes, simply stop for one second and take a breath. Even this small break in your day will help you to train your brain to be more balanced.
#5 Make Time to Do Something You Love
One of the easiest and most effective ways to train your brain for happiness is to make time to do something that you absolutely love. It doesn’t really matter what it is, just make sure that you truly love it. Whether that’s playing a sport, learning to play the guitar, having lunch with friends, going to the movies, reading, cooking, gardening, dancing, painting or writing, set aside an hour a day and free up the time to do what gives you genuine happiness.
#6 Reassess Your Past
The way you write your own life history, affects your life today. Instead of focusing on all the things that went wrong, concentrate on the good that has happened and with that train your brain to focus on happiness and achieve a more positive outlook on life. More often than not we look for the worst moments in our lives when we revisit the past. Instead, reassess your past until you find the good that eventually came from your mistakes.
#7 Use Positive Words
Words have the power to reprogram our brain. Focus on your speech and make it a habit to use more positive words all day, every day until you will automatically start to feel happier. Empowering, positive words can change the wiring of our brain for positivity. However, don’t just say and think positive words, mean them and believe them, only then will your positive affirmations work their magic and make you vibrate good, positive energy that has the power to make miracles happen.
#8 Unplug Completely
While the happiest, most successful people on the planet have the ability to fully engage in whatever they are doing in this very moment, they also make it a point to periodically completely disengage, unplug and seek renewal. Turn off all your electronic devices when you get home after work and enjoy complete downtime to recharge for the next day to be able to fully engage again.
#9 Carry Out Random Acts of Kindness
Carrying out random acts of kindness can dramatically improve our happiness, so make it a point to show some kindness to others every single day. Pay for someone’s coffee, carry your neighbors groceries up the stairs, write a thank you note for your co-worker who helped you make your deadline. Several studies show that showing kindness to others makes you feel good about yourself and leads to higher levels of happiness and research proves that random acts of kindness are the single most reliable sources of producing momentary well-being.
#10 Move More
Research shows that the more physically active we are, the greater our general feelings of enthusiasm, excitement and happiness. We all know by now that working out isn’t just good for our body, but can also activate our happy hormones and make us feel better inside and out. You don’t have to spent hours every day in the gym. Simply walking briskly for half an hour three times a week can do the trick already. A recent study showed that three walks a week can even help you recover from clinical depression. So use the power of exercise to train your brain for happiness.
We all want to be happy because being stressed, frazzled and miserable is no way to go through life. The good news is, we can be happy from the inside out and make a conscious choice to train our brain for happiness. Keep in mind, happiness is not a destination we arrive at when something in life is awesome. Happiness is what we do to make everything in our life awesome.
GET YOUR BRAIN IN SHAPE
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked