How to Be Happier in 2015

Wow! It's 2015! How did that happen??? I remember when it was 2000, I was thinking "...in 2015 I will be so grown up and the world is going to be completely different". And it is... Time flies and we all wish we could stop it, but we can't. Days pass, months pass and eventually years pass just like moments, so we better get on track and enjoy every moment life has to offer. I was thinking about the new year, new goals, new dreams, new directions and of course.. resolutions. I don't believe in setting definite or restictive goals as new year's resolutions. We all know that we work hard the first couple of weeks of the new year and then simply forget about them. Instead, I try to introduce little changes in every day life and stick by them. My current list is: - eating a little healthier (avoid sugar and alcohol when possible); - working out more (instead of watching two movies in one day like I sometimes do, I can actually watch one and work out for one hour instead of the other one); - reading more (I mean actual books, versus magazines, online news and all that... I am a strong believer in books as a main source of knowledge, motivation and self development); - and overall be happier... But how can you be happier? My belief (and it's also a well known fact) is that happiness comes from within. I have been preparing for this resolution for quite some time last year and, after reading several books and articles, I couldn't find a better formula than Mr. Shawn Achor. Here are the main 5 things he suggest to do to become a little happier.

1) Write down what you are grateful for. Each day write down three things you are grateful for. Make sure, it's three new things every day - that way your brain will hunt for the positive every single day. Research shows that it will even improve your success rate significantly. Not bad for simply being grateful! 2) Focus on the positive. Journal for two minutes a day about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours. Write down every detail you can remember, this causes your brain to relive the experience, which doubles the positive impact. 3) Exercise. Exercise for at least 15 minutes a day. Can you believe that this is enough? Research shows that even short 10-15 minute exercises have a powerful antidepressant impact (even stronger than pills!) in the long term. 4) Meditate. Nothing fancy, just stop all activity, relax and focus on your breath for two minutes going in and out. This trains your brain to focus on where you want it to, and not get distracted by the negativity in your environment. 5) Praise others. Shawn specifically suggests praise as a random act of kindness for a day. He suggests to send a quick email to someone you know praising them or thanking them for something they did.

Shawn is confident that if you do any of these things (note, not even all of them at once!) every single day, it will eventually become a habit, that will eventually rewire your brain to see the world in a different way and therefore be happier! After you've created one "happy habit", you can start working on the other one, and so on. If the above is not enough, here is the list of other simple things to do if you want to be happier, that I gathered from various books and magazines: - spend more time with friends - live in the moment - smile more - relax more - appreciate what you have - stop overthinking - remember your true worth - be kind to yourself and others - practice forgiveness - give more - listen more, talk less I personally picked being thankful and praising others as my main directions towards happiness this year. And what are you going to practice to become a little happier in 2015?

Dress: Moschino. Sneakers: Isabel Marant. Shop the post and similar:
// !function(d,s,id){var e, p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? 'http' : 'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)) {e = d.createElement(s);e.id = id;e.src = p '://' 'widgets.rewardstyle.com' '/js/shopthepost.js';d.body.appendChild(e);}if(typeof window.__stp === 'object') if(d.readyState === 'complete') {window.__stp.init();}}(document, 'script', 'shopthepost-script'); //
P.S. It's not my regular type of content, but I hope you like it. Let me know if you do, and I'll have more motivational posts in 2015 ;)