Rules for a Happy Life: 7 Simple Habits to Boost Your Well-Being
7 Rules for Happiness
I have been blessed in my life to experience both poverty and wealth; and I am full of gratitude for what each has taught me. Through my suffering in poverty, I learned what no textbook can teach. Through my freedom in wealth, I learned what no amount of money can buy. One thing that I can tell you is that true happiness has nothing to do with the external world: a large bank account, a big house, fancy clothes, and luxury cars. True happiness has everything to do with what is in your heart: love, family, friendship, hope, gratitude, adventure, and dreams.
Without further ado, here are my 7 Essential Rules For A Happy Life:
1. Live with gratitude. I discovered the power of gratitude when I was living in poverty. Every time I started to feel bad about my situation, I would focus on how lucky I was that things were not worse. I would focus on everything that was going right in my life (instead of everything that was going wrong). I eventually trained my mind to count my blessings in life every time I started to focus on negativity. Often, it would snap me out of any negative energy I had and it made me feel blessed and lucky. Happiness became immediately accessible to me even in the toughest moments of my life. Despite my poverty, I had so many blessings like my health, my acceptance into Harvard, my work ethic, my loved ones, my true friends, my martial arts training, and so forth. When things are going bad in your life, it is easy to focus on all of the bad (instead of how lucky you are that things are not even worse). For me, gratitude has become my magic fountain of happiness.
2. Fill your life with love. We all have 24 hours in a day. For me, one of the recipes of happiness is to fill as many of those hours with love, be it work, people, passions, or even pets. Love fearlessly. I try my best to do what I love for as many hours possible every day. I love entrepreneurship. I love martial arts. I love my loved ones. I love my friends. I love my dogs. I love movies. I love reading. I love traveling. It is no surprise that you will find me doing all of those things in a given year with people I love. We cannot control many things in life, but we can control how much love we embrace in our lives.
3. Find your purpose. I didn’t find my true purpose in life until I was 37 years old when I retired as a global hedge fund manager. Everyone I knew thought I was crazy to pursue my dreams in martial arts. When you find your true purpose in life, everything starts to make sense. You stop living for the weekends. You stop thinking about what you are going to do after work. You stop getting the Sunday night blues. If you examine the happiest people in the world, there are no artificial boundaries between their personal life and their work life. Life is just life. There are no boundaries. There are no limits. For as long as I can remember, I have always had two true great loves in life – martial arts and entrepreneurship. I love investing in the stock market too, but it was not a true great love. That being said, I found purpose in different situations at different points in my life. When my parents lost everything in life (including their home and life savings) and we were barely surviving, my purpose in life was to bring my family out of poverty. When my father eventually abandoned us, my purpose in life was to take care of my mother and younger brother so that their futures would be secure. Today, I have a very clear personal mission in life and it is one that ignites my soul. My mission in life is to unleash greatness in everyone through the power of martial arts and to alleviate the inequalities of income, gender, race, and education throughout the world. Deep in my soul, I know that I have been put on this Earth for this mission. Martial arts changed my life and took me out of poverty. Martial arts helped me to achieve the life of my dreams. And I know that it can unleash greatness in everyone.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others. When I was much younger, I would often compare my level of success with my friends, with people I knew, or even with my heroes and role models in life. I am embarrassed to admit it today, but it is the truth. I would compare how much money I was making, how happy I was, how much my net worth was, how prestigious my job was, how fast I was progressing, and everything else. I will tell you that it brought me nothing, but misery. You see, I have learned that what others are doing in life has absolutely NOTHING to do with YOUR happiness. True happiness comes from unleashing your true greatness in life by doing what you love with people you love. It is evolving into the best version of yourself. Each person has a different destiny. We are all on different paths. We all have our unique gifts, talents, and opportunities. And we are all alone in the quest for our truths. Happiness stems from living an authentic life that truly ignites your soul. Everything else is meaningless. Happiness cannot be measured by bank accounts, big houses, or fancy cars. Happiness is within, not without. Chase your greatness. Live your life.
5. Practice forgiveness every day. As I get older, I realize that inner peace is one of the greatest treasures in life. For me, forgiveness is the elixir of the soul. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all fall down. We all fail. Forgive. It takes strength to forgive. Only the weak cannot forgive. Ironically, when we carry negative energy in our hearts towards others, we can never fully be happy. Let go of everyone who has wronged you. Let go of everything that has brought you misery. Let go of those negative emotions. Embrace the lessons and look toward the future with hope.
6. Surround yourself with happy people. It might sound harsh, but I quickly eliminate negative people from my life. We all know people who complain about how unlucky they are, how they have been wronged by someone, how the world is unfair, or how their life is horrible. I am sorry, but I have zero empathy for negative people. Negative people find a way to blame others for their problems. And 99% of the time, they are their OWN worst problem and the direct cause of their problems. Negative people do not belong at my companies and they certainly do not belong in my life. Life is too short for negative people who cause you problems. I believe in the Law of Attraction. If you allow negative people in your life, you will become negative and attract more negative people in your life. The opposite is true too. Surround yourself with happy people who live with gratitude and you will see that your life will be happier too. When you are happy, you attract other happy people. Happiness begets happiness. Positivity begets positivity.
7. Never lose your inner child. As children, we are full of love, innocence, wonder, dreams, goodness, and possibilities. Nothing is impossible to children, and no one is evil. Yet, somehow when we become adults, we lose that magic. My close friends and family will tell you that I am still just a kid at heart. I made a conscious decision a long time ago never to let life’s problems and woes change me or my inner child. I love pranks. I love adventure. I love dreams. I believe in the goodness of people. I believe nothing is impossible. To be sure, I have had more than my fair share of bad luck, horrible people, misfortune, and failure. However, I choose to protect my inner child and live as freely as possible. It would be sad if we all let the bad things and bad people in our lives destroy our inner child and belief in the goodness of the world. Life is beautiful.
How to Be Happy Everyday Routine: 12 Habits
Habits matter. If you’ve ever tried breaking a bad habit, you know all too well how ingrained they can be.
Well, good habits are deeply ingrained, too. Why not work on making positive habits part of your routine? Remember, though, everyone’s version of happiness is a little different, and so is the path to achieving it.
If some of these habits create more stress or just don’t fit your lifestyle, skip them. With a little time and practice, you’ll figure out what does and doesn’t work for you.
Daily habits
The following daily habits may help you achieve more happiness in your life.
1. Exercise
Exercise isn’t just for your body. Regular exercise can help balance brain chemicals involved in stress, anxiety, and depression while boosting happiness and life satisfaction.
The trick is to avoid overexerting yourself. If you suddenly engage in a strenuous routine, you may just end up frustrated (and sore).
You can start small, such as a walk around the block or 5 minutes of stretching. In time, you’ll notice the added benefits and may want to step it up a gear.
2. Get plenty of sleep
Most adults need at least 7 hours of sleep every night. If you find yourself fighting the urge to nap during the day or just generally feel like you’re in a fog, your body may be telling you it needs more rest.
No matter how much our modern society steers us toward less sleep, we know that adequate sleep is vital to good health, brain function, and emotional well-being.
3. Practice gratitude
Simply being grateful can give your mood a big boost, among other benefits.
They don’t always need to be big things.
For example, it could be something small, such as a co-worker offering you a cup of coffee or a neighbor who waved to you. It could even just be the warmth of the sun on your skin.
Over time, you’ll find yourself noticing more and more positive things.
Weekly habits
The following tips include weekly habits that may help you feel happier.
4. Declutter
Decluttering sounds like a big project, but setting aside just 20 minutes a week can have a big impact.
Set a timer on your phone and tidy up a specific area of one room — say, your closet or that out-of-control junk drawer. Put everything in its place and toss or give away any extra clutter that’s not serving you anymore.
Keep a designated box for giveaways to make things a little easier (and avoid creating more clutter).
You can use this trick anytime you feel like your space is getting out of control.
5. See friends
Humans are largely considered social beings, and it’s generally thought that having social relationships can make us happy.
In adulthood, it can feel next to impossible to make new friends. But it’s not about how many friends you have. It’s about having meaningful relationships — even if it’s just with one or two people.
If you don’t know where to start, you could try getting involved in a local volunteer group or taking a class. Both can help connect you with like-minded people in your area. And it’s likely they’re looking for friends, too.
6. Get into nature
Spending 30 minutes or more a week in green spaces can help boost your mood.
Your green space could be anything, such as your neighborhood park, your own backyard, or a rooftop garden — anywhere you can appreciate and enjoy nature and fresh air.
Better yet, add some outdoor exercise into the mix for extra benefit. The same aforementioned study found that people who spent time in green spaces were also more likely to exercise more frequently and for longer each time.
Monthly habits
You might want to give these monthly habits to improve your happiness a try.
7. Give back
Some people find that giving back to the community can help boost their mood.
Maybe that’s helping out at a food bank on the third weekend of every month or offering to watch your friend’s kids one night per month.
If that isn’t something you have time for currently, you can always try giving small compliments to people to spread the joy. People often feel benefits from small acts of kindness.
8. Take yourself out
No one to go out with? Well, what rule says you can’t go out alone?
Consider going to your favorite restaurant, watching a movie, or taking that trip you’ve always wanted to take.
Even if you’re a social butterfly, spending some deliberate time alone can help you reconnect with the activities that truly make you happy.
9. Create a thought list
You arrive for an appointment with 10 minutes to spare. What do you do with that time? Pick up your cellphone to scroll through social media? Worry about the busy week you have ahead of you?
Trying to take control of your thoughts during these brief windows of time can offer benefits.
You might try making a short list of happy memories or things you’re looking forward to on a small piece of paper or on your phone.
Yearly habits
Try following habits once a year or more to reflect and plan for happiness.
10. Take time to reflect
While the start of a new year is a good time to stop and take inventory of your life, you can set up yearly habits at any point in the year. Try setting aside some time to catch up with yourself the way you would with an old friend:
- How are you doing?
- What have you been up to?
- Are you happier than you were a year ago?
But try to avoid judging yourself too harshly for your answers. You’ve made it to another year, and that’s a reason to celebrate.
11. Reevaluate your goals
People change, so try thinking about where you’re heading and consider if that’s still where you want to go. There’s no shame in changing your plans.
Let go of any goals that no longer serve you, even if they sound nice on paper.
12. Take care of your body
You’ve likely heard this before, but your physical and mental health are closely intertwined.
As you build habits to improve your happiness, it’s important to follow up with routine appointments to help take care of your body, such as:
- seeing a primary care physician for an annual physical
- seeing a dentist for an oral cleaning and dental exam, and follow-up as recommended
- getting your vision checked
Takeaway
There are many habits you can try to boost your happiness, from exercise to seeing friends or just getting out in nature for a moment.
You might also want to try certain monthly or yearly habits that you can incorporate into your life. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If something doesn’t fit, don’t feel you have to force it.
If you’re experiencing persistent feelings of unhappiness that don’t seem to shift, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor. It could be an underlying condition, such as depression, that a doctor will be able to help you with.
Data Source: chatrisityodtong.com/healthline.com
