Three Steps To Speed Us On The Road To Happiness

We’re on the road to happiness. Our journey begins with a single step toward getting happier, not with trying to achieve happiness in one giant leap. We get there step-by-step, mile-by-mile, getting a little bit happier each day. Or, at least, that’s our goal. Science has shown that 48% of our happiness level is hard-wired into us.

So, the good news is that we can control the other 52% of our happiness, even if we were given some gloomy genes.

Gloomy? Read our article on the 7 reasons you aren’t happy.

Let’s look at how taking some incremental steps speed us along our route to the ultimate goal: happiness. Three steps will get you moving in the right direction:

1. Be Grateful
2. Be A Friend
3. Be Mindful

Three Steps On The Road To Happiness

Be Grateful. You’ve heard all the pop-psychology mumbo-jumbo about how having a positive outlook makes all the difference in one’s life. Well, science has proven it. Practicing gratitude rewires your brain, reduces depression and provides you with an increased feeling of well-being. How do you go about being grateful? Here’s a list of 25 things you can do to practice gratitude.

I’ll tell you what I do. Each morning, I write in my journal three things for which I am grateful. In the evening, I write three great things that happened that day. One of the things this does is to get you to redefine the word “great.” Just having dinner with the family can become great if you look at it that way.

Your thoughts control your reality. If you think it’s great, it is. If you think it sucks, it does. As the saying goes, “When it rains, look for rainbows. When it’s dark, look for stars.” Having trouble thinking of things for which you are grateful? Let me get you started with some of the items on my list, which may also be on yours:

• My wife.
• Family.
• Friends.
• Grandsons.
• Senses — vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch
• Sunrises and sunsets
• Ability to read