In this month’s guest blog, our wonderful and valued Paycare Partners, Kaleidoscope Plus Group, have shared 10 top tips for happiness, along with 5 actions to improve personal wellbeing.
What is Happiness and why is it important?
Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts.
Happy people are more successful in multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. Happy people smile more and are healthier all around and more likely to be healthy in the future.
Here are our top tips for Happiness…
- Focus on positive thinking.
Retrain your brain from a negative mindset to a positive mindset. Spend one to two minutes per day looking for positives in your life. Do this three times a day for 45 days, and your brain will start doing it automatically.
Choose a positive mantra for the day
- Celebrate little victories.
Life is full of ups and downs, but in between we have a lot of little victories that go unnoticed. Take a moment to celebrate these small wins.
Take pleasure in little achievements. They add up!
- Find your work–life balance.
Work takes up a lot of our day, but it shouldn’t be the only thing we do. It’s important to pursue activities and interests beyond our job. Creating balance in your life will reduce stress and give you other outlets to express yourself and have fun.
- Accept imperfection.
Many of us strive for perfection. But in order to be a truly happy person, you must embrace the imperfection that is part of daily life. Perfection is impossible, we will always end up feeling let down. Accept that life is imperfect and recognise that there is beauty and grace in that imperfection.
- Nurture gratitude.
Giving thanks and being grateful for all you have will make you happier and more content. When you spend time each day acknowledging all that is good in everyday life, you’ll see there is more good than you realise, and you’ll find that sadness, anxiety and depression are diminished.
- Give back.
Be generous with your time. Give to those you love and care for and those in need. Those who give back have a sense of selflessness and giving has a feel-good effect that lowers blood pressure and stress.
- Practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness mediation works by bringing your awareness and attention to the present moment. Practicing mindfulness means being present, aware and curious. Through mindfulness, we can find peace and affirmation in ourselves.
- Be creative.
Studies show that engaging in creative activities on a regular basis actually helps foster a happier mindset. Those who spend time using their imagination and being creative have more enthusiasm and are more likely to have feelings of long-term happiness and well-being.
- Hang out with happy people.
Moods can be contagious. Feelings can be transferred from one person to another, and the more we share experiences with one another, the more our emotions and behaviours become synchronized. One secret to long-term happiness is surrounding yourself with others who also have a happy mindset.
- You do you.
One of the best things you can do to boost your happiness is to just be yourself. That means not being dependent on the approval of others, but accepting yourself for who you are. Spend some time getting to know yourself. What defines you? What do you believe in? Who are you, underneath it all? Search for ways to be comfortable in your own skin.
Did you know, evidence also suggests there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing? Trying these things could really help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life.
Here are 5 actions to improve personal wellbeing…
Give – do something nice for someone, give your time, give kind words, volunteer
Connect – with others, the people around you, family, friends, invest in these connections
Keep learning – try new things, join a class, learn to play an instrument, set a challenge
Keep active – go for a walk, cycle, dance, increase your physical activity
Take notice – Be curious, notice new things, the changing seasons, be aware of the world around you.
Thanks, Kaleidoscope Plus Group!
Kaleidoscope Plus Group have a goal to champion mental health and wellbeing, driving real change and providing crucial mental health support services to the community, wherever they are needed.
For more Paycare News and Health Tips, head to our blog page 😊
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Sources:
New Economics Foundation (NEF)
Entreprenuer
NHS