End off the year with some happiness tips
How are you choosing to end the year?
As we end off another year with no sense of light from the pandemic, we have to come to learn that true happiness comes from within. In order for us to truly grow from this experience, it takes will and it takes vigour.
As South Africans, we are definitely resilient in nature, we pick ourselves up even when we feel we have had enough. So that alone should push us to end this year off on a positive note. A note of happiness.
An expert shares her top tips on happiness and we wanted to share them with you...
Natalie Dattilo, PhD, licensed psychologist professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who focuses on positive psychology and behaviour change, shares her tips for ringing in the new year with a sense of happiness.
Happiness doesn’t just happen. Routine and planned activation of the pleasure and reward centers of the brain is required to feel good and to preserve our ability to feel good in the future.
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Her words run deep because we often attribute happiness to be a destination that we want to reach, but it's not about the destination, it's about enjoying the journey. And happiness should be an ongoing thing we get to experience.
One of the things she shares is starting a routine of repeating a positive affirmation to yourself. Anything from writing it on your bathroom mirror, to a post-it note on your laptop, just remind yourself to speak positive things into existence. Research shows that this helps with a better well-being.
This one is a great way of setting out what you want for the new year. She suggests asking yourself about your values, and assessing these in detail. Asking yourself questions like:
- "What type of parent do I want to be?
- What type of romantic partner do I want to be?
- What qualities do I value most in my friendships?
- What’s most important to me about my education or career?
- What contribution would I like to make to my community?
- What does it mean to value self care?" (Well and Good)
Dr. Dattilo goes in deep when she suggests that we always bring in the 'why' when it comes to the tasks that we prioritise. So merely asking, why is it important to me to complete this task, may just help you find the motivation to complete it.
It is likely you won’t always feel motivated to do the things you need or even want to do. Reminding yourself that you are worth the effort may help motivate you.
The last two suggestions are things that we know already, it's got to do with self acceptance and practicing gratitude for what you have today. The reality is that if you are not happy with what you have now, the illusive concept of attaining happiness once you have so and so in your life, will forever be unattainable.
So be happy in the now, and show gratitude for all that you have now. Practicing gratitude daily helps you attain happiness from inside, and that will definitely reflect on the outside, just start and you will see the difference.
We hope that no matter what you are going through, you can try these tips out and end this year off on a positive and uplifting note.
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