Actively build and maintain strong relationships by checking in on friends and family, sharing worries, and joining groups or activities to consistently meet people. This combats loneliness, mitigates stress, and is considered a key to a happy life.
Counter your inner critic by practicing self-compassion using a three-step break: be mindful of the moment, recognize common humanity (you are not alone), and direct kindness to yourself (talk like a good friend, hand on heart). This makes you more effective, better able to reach goals, and helps re-engage with habits after setbacks.
Develop presence by starting a small meditation practice (even one minute daily-ish) or deliberately connecting with your five senses in daily life. Notice bodily sensations, name emotions, and gently return attention when distracted to gain self-awareness and revitalize yourself.
Combat the addictive design of technology by auditing your screen time, changing your phone to grayscale, or pausing to ask ‘What do I need right now?’ or ‘What else could I be doing?’ before grabbing your phone. This helps identify underlying needs, recognize opportunity costs, and make conscious choices about phone use.
Instead of avoiding negative emotions, view them as valuable ‘dashboard lights’ indicating something needs attention or change. Allow yourself to feel them, observe their physical and mental components, and schedule time to process them constructively, recognizing they are passing storms.
Combat feelings of helplessness and anxiety by taking action locally or helping others, even if unrelated to the source of your worry. Volunteering or small acts of kindness can provide a sense of purpose, feel good, and serve as a free, non-addictive anti-anxiety medication.
Systematically get comfortable with discomfort by engaging with tiny negative emotions or fears through small, carefully calibrated experiments (exposure therapy). This builds resilience and ‘muscles’ to better handle larger challenges when they arise.
Make a deliberate effort to engage in small, in-person social exchanges, such as talking to a sales clerk or a neighbor, as these micro-interactions provide real boosts in happiness and combat social isolation.
Engage in physical activity like dance parties, hula hooping, or walking (especially outside in sunshine) to get endorphins flowing, manage stress, reduce anxiety, and promote better sleep. This helps get you in your body and uses energy in a helpful way for overall well-being.
Contain rumination and make worry constructive by scheduling a specific time (e.g., 30 minutes with pen and paper) to address concerns. This prevents worries from taking over your entire day and allows you to be in a mental state to deal with them constructively.
Utilize showers or baths as a tangible way to ground yourself and visualize negativity and worries washing away down the drain. This helps manage difficult emotions by allowing you to sense the water around you and symbolically cleanse yourself.
Give credence and space to the anxiety you might be experiencing, recognizing that it’s a normal and common feeling in current times, especially post-pandemic. It is okay to feel that anxiety you might be experiencing.
Cultivate a quick sense of well-being by acknowledging blessings and practicing gratitude for the good things in your life. This helps shift your perspective to recognize that things are good and there are blessings out there.
Recognize that happiness is not an unalterable factory setting but a skill that can be practiced and improved through various methods like meditation, getting out in nature, more sleep, exercise, and social connection. Pick one or two methods that appeal to you and start there.