Friends in curlers

7 Ways to Be Happier Now

Happiness is about the journey, not about destination; it’s about how you live your life each day. Some articles you may have missed with a few ideas for adding a little more gratitude, mindfulness and joy into your usual routine.1. Practice self-nurturingTake a yoga class, dance in your kitchen to favorite music, get a mani/pedi or go for a walk in nature. Actively investing in your physical well-being can make your thoughts about yourself more nurturing, too. Learn more ways to focus on being the best you.2. Have a values check-inDo you have a feeling of meaning and purpose in your life? This quiz will help you find out. If you don’t like your score, you might want work on nurturing your relationships, being compassionate and giving back to others—all of which have been shown to have an impact on our own wellbeing. Take the quiz now.3. Look at Mondays in a new wayWhat would your day look like if you felt fabulous at the end of it? What project can you tackle on Monday to start your week super-charged and set the tone for a wonderful week? Don’t dread Mondays, show ‘em some love instead. Put the fun back in your Monday now.4. Call in the superfoodsCertain foods like olive oil, nuts, sweet potatoes and kale have been shown to contain mood-boosting nutrients. Not to mention these ingredients are incredibly healthy for you, and taste delicious when cooked with a little finesse. Four easy-to-make recipes.5. Tap into hopeIn order to be truly happy, you need something to hope for. We have 31 ways you can rediscover a greater sense of hope in your life.6. Find a happy highlight of the dayTake a few minutes every day to write down one positive experience that occurred over the past 24 hours. Enjoy the positive emotions from reliving that event, and look for patterns you can repeat to bring about more happiness. Read more on achieving happiness despite everyday challenges.7. Wake up happyTune in to experts’ advice on how to start your day happy. Don’t get stuck ruminating on negative thoughts. Take responsibility for your own happiness by putting yourself in situations that bring you great joy and choosing love over fear. Try this positive mantra: “You are doing your best.” Sign-up for our free Wake Up Happy! series.
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Mom and child in falling leaves

8 Easy Practices to Enhance Gratitude

We have read it over and over again in positive psychology research, from Martin Seligman to Shawn Achor: If there is a one-word answer to the secret of happiness, it is gratitude.Gratitude may just be the strongest tool in the kit when it comes to pulling ourselves and others out of a funk, or rebooting a terrible blue mood. Here are some simple exercises that can enhance your sense of gratitude and all year round.1. SavorSlow down! Stop, breathe, take notice, and delight in the present moment. Let yourself get excited about little things. Cultivate tiny moments of joy, and notice those times when they spontaneously happen.2. Plan experiencesWhat can you plan this season that will make your holidays more memorable? Be purposeful about planning and creating special experiences, and you will reap the rewards.Is there a tradition you can renew? An activity you can plan with your family in town that will create a cherished memory? It could be as simple as taking a photo of extended family or tossing a football together in the backyard.3. Play musicListening to music can make us feel more alive. When you play music that resonates with you, it heightens your senses and gives you a greater feeling of awe and reverence for life.Create a playlist that you feel deeply connected to personally. Tune into it when you need a gratitude lift or a shift in perspective.4. Write a letter to your younger selfHappiness researcher and author Shawn Achor suggests writing a letter to your younger self with the wisdom you have today. This simple act can transform your past (by showing yourself compassion) and can transform your present. Read your letter and you will likely find advice you can still use today.5. Make a highlights listWhat are your stand-out experiences for each month of this year? Capture those in a simple list. You will experience more gratitude as you recall special experiences, trips and treasured memories. Sometimes time moves so fast we miss the gratitude that comes from reminding ourselves of how fulfilling our lives already are.6. Fall asleep to gratitudeIn a journal, write down what you feel thankful for each day. Capture specifics and small details. Make this the last activity you do before you fall asleep. Not only are you immersing yourself in all that brings you joy, you are putting your mind in a thankful and positive place before you drift off to sleep.7. Make a resilience listWrite down five tough times and how you made it through. We all need reminders that we are stronger than we think. When you know you can cope with what comes your way, you can put worry down and more fully live in the present moment.8. Take the focus off youDo something nice for someone else that is totally unexpected. Leave a happy note for your waitress, pay it forward and buy that eggnog latte for the car behind you in line at Starbucks, or call someone you haven’t talked with in a while. Happy acts for other people give you a sense of contentment, too.
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Why Self-Care Isn’t Selfish

Here’s a common scenario: You are exhausted and overwhelmed by responsibilities, and the only way you’ll get it all done is by working harder and longer, sleeping less, and cutting out the “nonessential” things you do to take care of yourself. We’re Americans—taught to power through and not complain. But if we do not take time to recharge, we inevitably burn out, causing even more problems than we started with. What exactly is self-care? The term “self-care” refers to anything we do intentionally to care for our physical, mental and emotional/spiritual health. If we first make our own health and happiness a priority—if we start by resting adequately, exercising, and adding a little fun and joy to our schedules—we actually become better, more effective workers, partners, parents and friends. If you feel you need to justify these acts of self-maintenance, to yourself or anyone else, think of it this way: Take care of yourself in the following important ways, and you will, in turn, be able to take better care of everything and everyone on your list. Eat Skipping meals deprives your brain and body of the fuel it needs to function and focus throughout the day. And while there is room in a healthy diet for the occasional indulgence, turning to take-out too often will wreak havoc on body and brain, making you less effective at work and possibly more irritable and impatient. (Not to mention the fact that processed foods have been shown to contribute to depression and weight gain.) Move Get into gear by dancing with your kids, hitting the gym or even just taking walks in your neighborhood. Physical activity has a positive impact on body and mind. In fact, exercise has been shown to boost your mood, to increase creativity, and aid concentration and focus—all of which makes you more productive and a lot more fun to be around. Rest According to studies, lack of sleep contributes to obesity, heart disease, and a host of other ailments. It also leads to slowed, foggy thinking,which is not exactly how most of us want to show up for work, parenting, or life in general. It’s not just nighttime sleep that makes us more productive. While we are working, taking an occasional break to meditate, go for a walk or take a short nap keeps us firing on all cylinders. Longer periods of rejuvenation, such as vacations, have also been shown to increase productivity, creativity, fitness levels and overall health and happiness. Enjoy You’ve heard the saying, “laughter is the best medicine,” and now science has proven this to be true. Who knew that giggling with girlfriends or cracking up at a comedy show are great ways to take care of ourselves? Relax and be in the present One way to slow down and add more joy to our daily routines is by being mindful and present each moment we can. Practicing mindfulness—whether that means meditating, journaling, doing yoga, taking some deep breaths, or a mental mini-break—has been shown to have incredible positive impact on physical, mental and emotional and spiritual wellbeing. We need to plan for these breaks or they may never happen. Add a weekly yoga class or an occasional massage to your schedule if you can. Start small You only have five minutes to meditate? That’s OK, you will still reap the benefits. And just taking a moment or two when you wake up in the morning to make a mental gratitude list will set the stage to appreciate blessings big and small throughout the day. Keeping healthy snacks on hand at home and in your gym bag or desk drawer and/or making a meal plan for the week will help ensure that you always have nourishing options available. We all know how easy it is to fall into the trap of overscheduling. But before you take on more work, more volunteer and kids’ activities that will drain you and keep you tied up for hours, remember that you have the power to say “no.” Setting aside time for a little self-care will make you healthier, more energetic and efficient at work, and more effective at caring for all of the important people and things in your life.
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Man and woman getting married

The Truth Behind 3 Happiness Myths

Myth: Achieving goalsleads to all-but-inevitablehappiness. Truth: Happinessshouldn’t hang onachievement—happinessshould encourageachievement. “If happiness and positivity are created first,then the chances of achieving desirable goalsare significantly enhanced,” says Tim Sharp,Ph.D., of The Happiness Institute in Australia.This allows us to experience the “wonders ofpositive emotions before, during and aftersuccess, rather than just after,” he says. Myth: Realized dreamsequate to happiness. Truth: Dreams serve asthe motivation to continuepursuing happiness. “You can use that experience [of pursuing yourdreams] as the building block for a new future,” saysLaura King, Ph.D., professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri Columbia andeditor of the Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology. “You acknowledge that that dream may not come true, but start thinking, ‘What skills did Igain from that experience that I can use in someother way?’ The great challenge is to move that joy to a new context….If you will invest in a new futurewith that same optimism, everything that happensinside that new life is much richer. It puts a differentcontext on your current experiences. And that lifethat you thought of as your second choice oftenturns out to be amazing.” Myth: I'll be happy if I marry the right person. Truth: True happiness isn’t determined bysociety; true happiness is personal. “Marrying the perfect person is not the answer to true happiness,” says Stacy Kaiser,a Live Happy columnist, best-selling author, psychotherapist and relationship expert. “Rather, the cliché that happiness comes from within is actually true: Happinesscomes from feeling emotionally, psychologically and spiritually satisfied andsupported in the life you’re living. It comes from feeling fulfilled, productive, caredfor, safe and secure, no matter if you’re single or you’re married.”
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About Wake Up Happy Speakers – January 2015

Turiel. Her current position at the University of Texas at Austin started in 1999, and she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006.During Kristin’s last year of graduate school in 1997 she became interested in Buddhism, and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically.She has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. The program, co-created with her colleague ChrisGermerat Harvard University, is called Mindful Self-Compassion. Her book titled "Self-Compassion" was published by William Morrow in April, 2011. Kristin was recently featured in the best-selling book and award-winning documentary called The Horse Boy, which chronicles her family’s adventure with autism.Darrin M. McMahon is a professor of history at Dartmouth College. He is the author of Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (Oxford University Press, 2001) and Happiness: A History (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006), which has been translated into twelve languages, and was awarded Best Books of the Year honors for 2006 by the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Library Journal, and Slate Magazine. McMahon has just completed a history of the idea of genius and the genius figure, Divine Fury: A History of Genius, published in late 2013 with Basic Books, and his writings have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.ShaniRobins, pioneered the field of Wisdom Therapy in 1998. He is a licensed Psychologist and the founder and director of the Wisdom Therapy Institute since 2000. He is an instructor at Stanford University Medical School’s Health Improvement Program, and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Robins received his B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from UCLA in 1989, his M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Experimental Psychology from U.C. Santa Barbara in 1996, completed a 2-year National Institute of Mental HealthPostdocat U.C. Irvine in 1999 and a Ph.D. re-specialization in Clinical Psychology in 2002. He has published and has given numerous clinical workshops, invited talks, scientific conference presentations, and corporate consultations nationally and internationally on Wisdom Therapy and its relationships tocognitions, emotions, stress reduction, relationships, work place effectiveness, coping, emotional intelligence, performance, and organizational consulting.He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and has won many honors including inclusion inStrathmore’sWho’s Who. In his spare timeShaniplays racquetball, chess, and GO,rollerblades, salsa dances, runs marathons, and watches sun rises.BarbaraFredrickson, earned her undergraduate degree from Carleton College and her doctorate from Stanford University. She is currentlyKenanDistinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with appointments in Psychology and theKenan-FlaglerSchool of Business. She is also Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory.Fredricksonis a leading scholar within social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology, and has received more than 16 consecutive years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health.Her research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honors, including, in 2000, the American Psychological Association's inaugural Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology, in 2008, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology's Career Trajectory Award, and in 2013, the inaugural Christopher Peterson Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the International Positive Psychology Association. Her work is cited widely and she is regularly invited to give keynotes nationally and internationally.Fredrickson's2009 book, Positivity, describes the relevance of her 20-year research program on positive emotions for a general readership. Her 2013 book, Love 2.0, offers a fresh and practical perspective on this most vital human emotion.SeniaMaymin, Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford,is a consultant and executive coach whose clients include Google, Intel, and VMware.Mayminruns a coaching network that provides coaching for upwards of 30 managers at a time to large technology companies in the Bay area. When entrepreneurs and executives seek far-reaching productivity improvements, they call onMayminas an executive coach and workshop leader.Mayminis the coauthor of the business bookProfit from the Positive(McGraw-Hill Professional, 2013), and the co-business columnist forLive Happy Magazine.Mayminhas been featured in the media—includingPBS’s This Emotional Life, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal’sMarketWatch, andUSA Today—primarily for her work as a positive psychology executive coach.Mayminfounded and is editor in chief of a research news website featuring more than 1,000 articles by over 100 authors. She has worked in finance on Wall Street and in technology ascofounderand president of two start-ups.Mayminholds a BA in Math and Economics from Harvard, a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA and PhD in Organizational Behavior from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She speaks Russian, French, and Japanese. She lives with her family in California.
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Live Happy magazine cover with Kristin Chenoweth

The December Issue of Live Happy Is Available!

This month, we give you none other than Broadway powerhouse/adorable holiday sprite Kristin Chenoweth! Check out our in-depth feature stocked with stunning photographs—we've captured Kristin at her best. She explains how a little girl with a big voice from Oklahoma was able to power her way to happiness and success in the toughest business around. Also in this issue, as we get closer to the holidays, we focus on themes of Gratitude and Giving. Actress Danielle Fishel shares her happiness journey. Our 'Sage' this month is comedy impresario Caroline Hirsch, of Caroline's on Broadway. Gretchen Rubin explains how planning ahead can increase the peace over the holidays. Get inspired with gift ideas that are sure to make your loved ones happy. Yoga expert Chrissy Carter shows us how to stay mindful over the holidays. Read about a former corporate lawyer who followed her heart and created a business making and selling artisanal lollipops! Learn the ground-breaking science behind gratitude. Plus all the regular features you've come to expect, including stunning color photos and illustrations throughout the issue. Find Live Happy at selected Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Food City, Shaw's, Hudson News, Target and other locations—or purchase a print subscription, and get the digital edition for free!
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Discover Genius

Discover Your Genius

In May 2012, Shawn was invited by the royal family in Abu Dhabi to give a talk. He was so excited about the opportunity to go dune-bashing in all-terrain vehicles and ride camels that when it came time for his lecture about how to change realities for women in the Middle East, he wasn't thinking straight.As he usually does, he kicked off the talk by partnering people up and having one person try to control his or her face to show no emotion for seven seconds. Then Shawn had the other person smile warmly and genuinelydirectly into the eyes of the first person. (Trust us, this is more difficult than it sounds.) It wasn't until midway through that he realized his mistake: Half the people in the room were wearing veils.Smiling through the veilIf Shawn had thought about this, he might not have tried the experiment. But, incredibly, the experiment still worked. The women in the audience said they could see the smiles in their partners' eyes. Even behind the veil, these unseen smiles were contagious.The point we want to make is that no matter what seemingly insurmountable barrier is in our lives, we can create a positive reality. In fact, sometimes the greatest opportunities to do this are the ones that are slightly hidden.Tap into the unconscious mindAccordingly to Yale psychologist Scott Kaufman, the unconscious portion of your brain works on problems using different processes than your conscious brain. And as Adam Galinskyfrom Columbia Business School explains, "Conscious thought is better at making linear, analytic decisions, but unconscious thought is especially effective at solving complex problems. Unconscious activation may provide inspirational sparks underlying the 'aha' moment that eventually leads to important discoveries."But the key to unlocking these unconscious processes is taking time to not think about your challenge or problem. In other words, to engage all our brains and achieve those "aha moments," sometimes we need to shut a portion of our brains off and stop working.That's because once you have fully embraced and built a positive reality, that reality becomes embedded deep in your unconscious brain processes. Thus the skills of positive intelligence can become second nature, allowing you to harness all your intelligence without consciously trying, or even being consciously aware of it.Use the unconscious to think differentlySo, what problems and obstacles are you trying to solve in your life? How are you going about solving them?Instead of beating your head against a wall or spending 80 hours a week thinking about these problems, just stop. Take a break for a week or two, and work on other parts of your life. Play a musical instrument, read a fiction book, look at old vacation photos--whatever it is, do something that will engage your brain and keep it from consciously thinking about your problems.Take a few moments from your daily stream of life and let your unconscious take over.You may also consider planning a mini-vacation each week. It doesn't have to be long--15 to 30 minutes will work as long as you're doing something out of the ordinary that allows your conscious brain to refocus and your unconscious brain to start being creative. Have fun with this: Go sit in a coffee shop to journal, go to an art museum, take a yoga class, go fishing. We're not encouraging you to retreat from your problems or turn a blind eye to them, but to instead let the creative part of your brain help you build much more powerful positive realities.Find a new solution to old problemsThe greater the complexity of your problem, the greater the need for a positive reality that transcends consciousness. Success on a massive scale requires a reality in which, even if our conscious minds can't see a solution, our unconscious minds know one is possible.Many brilliant people never feel this kind of inspiration that leads to life-changing discoveries or achievements because they never let their unconscious brains work. So, take a break from the ordinary and let your unconscious get to work--it could just lead to the answer you've been searching for.Shawn Achor, author ofThe Happiness Advantageand the newly releasedBefore Happiness, is one of the world's leading experts on human potential. Shawn is the winner of more than a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University, where he delivered lectures on positive psychology.Michelle Gielanis an expert on the science of positive communication and how to use it to fuel success. She works withFortune500 companies and schools to raise employee engagement, productivity and happiness at work. She formerly served as the anchor of two national newscasts at CBS News.Together, Shawn and Michelle createdGoodThink, a positive psychology consulting firm.
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Get Involved

Get involved and help us make the world a happier place. When you claim responsibility for your own happiness, you also become a catalyst for positive change in the lives of others. That’s what the happiness movement is all about. Imagine a world filled with optimism and compassion—it’s possible, if we do it together. You can join the happiness movement today and start making the world a happier place. Here are some of the ways you can spread happiness: Learn—information about happiness delivered to you. Live Happymagazine gives you the tools and information you need to make changes and live a happier life. We offer simple, science-based steps to support your happiness and positively impact your health, success and relationships—your whole life. Buy the latest magazine today! Receive our email newsletters to get the latest information and articles on the website, plus announcements of upcoming events and special product offers. Come back to this siteoften for quick tips, tools and ideas to help you live happy every day. Like us on Facebook,follow us on Twitter,InstagramandPinterestfor happiness quotes, facts and news stories, as well as to engage with a community oflike-mindedpeople sharing happiness. Participate—help us make the world a happier place. Listen to our popular podcast Live Happy Now brought to you by the editors ofLive Happymagazine. Bringing you scientifically proven facts and ideas to live a happier and more meaningful life through interviews with positive psychology and well-being thought leaders. Spread Happiness—one small act can change the world.Take our #HappyActschallenge, do a #HappyActand tell us about it Celebrate happiness with us at one of our Happy Acts Walls on March 20 for theInternational Day of Happiness. Share—become a catalyst for positive change in the lives of others. Bring smiles all around by wearingLive Happy clothes and gear! Smile! It’s a gift that people will instantly reciprocate! The more you share happiness with others, the happier you’ll feel. Sharing articles from livehappy.com on Facebook, Twitter,Pinterest… everywhere!
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Happy woman and little girl

Top 10 Tips to Boost Your Happiness

1. Set boundaries at work. If you are feeling frustrated, stressed or overwhelmed at work, your boundaries might be too porous. Practice identifying, asking for and keeping important boundaries. 2. Become a happiness broadcaster What you put out comes back to you. The next time someone asks you how you are, instead of just saying 'fine,' why not respond with something positive and meaningful? It's a way to build a stronger connection to that person. 3. Invest in your own wellbeing Quick wellness tip: If you want to feel more energetic and motivated, try going to bed one hour earlier. Many Americans are sleep deprived, and don’t even know it. 4. Create a new tiny habit If you want to read that book on your desk but feel overwhelmed by the thought, scale back to something very small. Start by reading just 10 pages a day, every day. Simple tasks require far less motivation and willpower to follow through. 5. Make a success list We all have patterns in our lives. The key is to identify, create and repeat the patterns or behaviors that continually lead to success. 6. Spruce up your workspace Prevent a monthly pile-up of paperwork and files by decluttering your desk on a weekly basis. It will give you an inner sense of calm. 7. Be aware of what’s going on with your teenager If you see your teenage son or daughter behaving differently than usual, it’s a red flag. Learn how to identify the hallmarks of depression, and to discern the difference between a serious disorder and normal teen angst. 8. Ease stress for the whole family American families today are time-starved and stressed. Try to establish schedules and routines, and stick to them. Consistency and predictability help control your home environment and can ease stress for the whole family. 9. Talk back to 'the voice' Use positive self-talk to combat self-doubt and the nagging negative voice inside your head—the one that tells you you're not good enough. 10. Take happiness seriously If you want anything in life, you have to study it! Become a student of happiness by reading one of our top-10 recommended books on the subject.
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Woman thinking about her life

Do You Have Enough Meaning in Your Life?

No recipe for happiness is complete without meaningand purpose. In fact, when we engage in activities that serve ahigher calling and help others spread positivity, we not only get a warm,fuzzy feeling, but also increase our overall satisfaction with our lives.Now, thanks to modern research, the meaning in your life canbe measured via the Meaning in Life questionnaire. If you receivea high score, you're on a very positive track! You probably know your life’s mission, which contributes to a sense of happiness and peace.If you measure on the low end, don’t worry—here are a few ways that have been shown to add meaning to your life:• Nurture your relationships.• Make positive connections with others.• Mix in altruism and compassion.• Be open to new experiences.Log on to AuthenticHappiness.org and take the Meaning in Lifequestionnaire to find out how strong you are in this area.
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