We are all looking to be happy and it’s even written in the bill of rights, we have the right to pursue happiness. The question is, how do we pursue and find happiness and is it even possible?
A lot of research has been done and the findings are encouraging. Turns out, we can all be genuinely happy and can increase our overall life satisfaction and it doesn’t take us winning the mega millions or some dramatic changes. All it takes is that we change our attitude and perspective and the good news is that this is something that is accessible to all of us.
Generally speaking, people who are positive live much happier and fulfilled lives, but we all know that being positive isn’t always as easy as we’d like it to be. In fact, it can sometimes be incredibly difficult, especially when we have to deal with disappointment, challenges and stress. However there are some simple ways to trigger positive emotions in our every day life that help us in our pursuit of happiness.
Here are our TOP 10 ways to trigger positive emotions.
#1 Reframe Your Goals
Your energy flows where your focus goes. For example if you goal is to lose weight, your focus goes on being overweight and creates negative emotions. However, if you reframe your goal and focus on living a healthy lifestyle, you reframe you goal in a positive way and create positive emotions. This techniques works for any goal you can imagine. Make sure that you create positive goals to create positive emotions and visualize it the way you say it.
#2 Follow Your Passion
Passion is what drives us and frees us from limiting beliefs. Engage in those areas that excite you and fuel your passion, inspiration and curiosity and you can fill yourself up with enthusiasm and positivity. Find ways to incorporate more of your passion and excitement into your daily life for a huge boost in positivity. We create positive emotions by engaging in experiences and activities that trigger positivity within us. So dig deep and become aware of what brings you happiness. Uncover what gives you meaning, determine your strengths and express love and compassion towards others and you will burst with positive emotions.
#3 Laughter Therapy
Make it a point to laugh every day for at least ten minutes. When we laugh, we change our facial expression and our physiology and with this, we change our inner state. Even if you force yourself to laugh, you will feel immediately better. Listening to others laughing can also work to change your state. Laughter creates positive emotions and the more you laugh, the more positive emotions you create. So if you are feeling down, find a funny video on YouTube to lift your spirits.
#4 Challenge Your Believes
It really is true. You are what you believe! So if you believe something negative, you will find the evidence to support that belief. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Challenge your beliefs and think about all the positive things in your life you already accomplished. Focus on the skills, talents and character traits that make you feel good about yourself and live your positive beliefs. This change of beliefs can turn your whole world upside down and things fall magically into place in an incredibly positive way.
#5 Cultivate Courage
Overcoming our fears and anxiety opens us up to possibilities and our life expands. If we face our fears and overcome them, we establish a feeling of pride that we have accomplished something. Think about situations in the past when you were able to overcome a fear or when you conquered your anxiety. Make personal growth a priority and step outside your comfort zone and you will be able to expand what you are willing to try and create positivity by showing yourself what you are capable of.
#6 Turn Up the Beats
You can change your state of mind instantly with music. If you listen to upbeat music and turn up the volume, you can beat negative emotions in a heartbeat. To increase your positivity and motivation dance to the music like nobody’s watching, because dancing changes your physiology and a change in your physiology creates a change in your state. Have an upbeat playlist ready for any time your emotions and feelings take a downturn and switch to positivity immediately. Like Friedrich Nietzsche already said… ‘Without music, life would be a mistake.’
#7 Nurture Your Relationships
One of the biggest sources of happiness are our relationships. Studies have shown over and over again that the happier a person is, the more likely it is that he or she has a large, supportive group of friends and family as well as a thriving social life. So make an emotional investment into nurturing your relationships. If you put in the effort to cultivate your connections with others, you will soon be able to gain the rewards in the form of more positive emotions. And it’s like a virtuous circle, the happier you become, the more you will attract positive people into your life and create high quality relationships, which in turn lead to even more positivity and joy. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
#8 Exercise
Emotions are energy in motion, so the more you move your body, the more energy in motion you create and the better you will feel. We all know that exercise will make us feel good because of the release of happy hormones. But it’s not just that. Exercise makes us healthier and helps us deal with stress better, it also changes our physiology and exercises our body as well as our mind. You can see working out as a form or moving meditation that will allow your mind and thoughts to wander freely and you will find many aha moments without having to obsess about any given situation.
#9 Power Posing
It’s amazing how a change in our body language can have an immediate change in our state. When we assume a power pose, meaning a posture that takes up a lot of space, we feel a lot more confident, lower our stress levels and increase our levels of testosterone (a brain chemical associated with being dominant). So stand up tall, plant your feet firmly, lift your chin, slide your shoulders down the back and bring your chest out. If it’s not possible to stand up and strike a power pose – for example when you are in a meeting – sometimes you get the same effect by making a fist. A study from Norway found that participants significantly boost their confidence level just by forming a fist for a few moments.
#10 Look for the Bright Side of Life
To trigger positive emotions, you need to adapt a glass half full attitude. In every situation, no matter how challenging it may be in the moment, find the positive and take an optimistic point of view. There is always something positive in any situation or circumstance that can brighten your day and the more you choose to see the bright side of life, the more this will become a deeply ingrained habit that will help you to naturally be more positive. The more positive we see in life, the more positivity we attract like the law of attraction describes.
Changing the way we think and feel can be tricky, especially when life throws us a curveball. But keep in mind, in order to be truly happy we don’t need to chase external things like wealth, success, power, fame, good looks and everlasting love. All we need is to change our focus and perspective to see the good things in life and believe that better things are yet to come. If you try our positive emotion exercises, you will be able to boost your confidence and lift your mood, deepen your relationships and increase your will power.
TRIGGER POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND FIND YOUR PATH TO HAPPINESS
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked