PsychologyRocks!: The Psychology of Happiness

Research has shown that about half of individual happiness comes from our genetic predisposition to feeling happy. About ten percent of our happiness is due factors such as our age, race, gender, health, personal history, and how wealthy we are. However a whopping forty percent of our happiness is down to our choices. This means that we have the capacity to increase our level of happiness by the way we chose to behave.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”~Dalai Lama

If we have no control over our genetic “happy point”, and if we have little control over our circumstances, then it makes sense to focus on those things that we can do to make ourselves happy. According to James Montier who has written a paper on this subject, these activities include sex, exercise, sleep, and close relationships.

Montiers top ten tips for happiness are:

Not to equate happiness with money. (This seems sound as we know from our own experience that people can be happy with no money and miserable with millions. However as we know having money makes it easier to be happy (see first paragraph above!))
Exercise regularly. Taking regular exercise generates further energy, and stimulates the mind and the body. (This also makes sense as exercise produces the 'feel good' endorphin hormones and improves our health which again is in the category of other things that affect our happiness)
Have sex (preferably with someone you love). Sex is consistently rated as amongst the highest generators of happiness. (Again.... produces endorphins ..... happy hormones!)
Devote time and effort to close relationships. Close relationships require work and effort, but pay vast rewards in terms of happiness. (Yes, but sometimes close relationships can have the opposite effect as I am sure you know! On balance choosing the people you have close relationships with carefully and not investing in relationships that make you unhappy or stressed is good advice)
Pause for reflection, meditate on the good things in life. (This is what I would call, counting your blessings. Recently in the Oklahoma tornado disaster people who lost virtually everything reflected on the fact that they still had their lives and their futures and helped those who had lost even more than themselves. ) You can make this even more effective by using NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programing) Where you anchor or use a very happy memory as a sort of mind mantra repeating it over and over to yourself. It has been shown to greatly increase your sense of wellbeing)
Seek work that you enjoy. This in turn is likely to allow you to flourish at your job, creating a pleasant feedback loop. (This is probably one of the more difficult things to accomplish as of course our jobs are a way of us feeding our families and the job we would enjoy doing may not be the job that can pay us enough to live comfortable. On the other hand there are a lot of happy people on minimum wage. The trouble is once you get used to a certain standard of living it is hard to adjust to a drop, however, you will adjust and if your new job makes you happier then it is probably going to be worth it)
Give your body the sleep it needs. (This is VERY important, sleep is restorative both for body - so for health, but more importantly for psychological health. Sleeping regularly for 7 -8 hours a night will make most people feel healthier and happier. So go to bed earlier and you should increase your level of happiness!)
Don’t pursue happiness for its own sake, enjoy the moment. Faulty perceptions of what makes you happy, may lead to the wrong pursuits. Additionally, activities may become a means to an end, rather than something to be enjoyed, defeating the purpose in the first place.
Take control of your life, set yourself achievable goals. (Much research has focussed on a person's perceived level of 'control' and its effects on psychological and physiological health. People who have an internal locus of control i.e. that they feel in control of their lives and environments are less stressed and more mentally healthy than those who have an external locus of control and feel that their lives are controlled by others. So taking control of your life could be instrumental in improving your level of happiness)
Remember to follow all the rules. i.e do all of the above!

Would I add anything to this list other than what I have added already? Well, yes. Happiness to every person is probably something different, after all we are all very different and things that make one person happy may not necessarily make us all happy.

So my own top tips would be about personalising your happiness.

1. Next time you feel really happy notice what is making you feel that way and strive to reproduce the situation as often as you can. Greet each day with one 'happy' aim, for example this evening I am going to have a bubble bath with candles and listen to Seth Lakeman (one of my happy aims!).

2. Do things more slowly plan to do less (this is my particular stumbling block, I always try to cram too much into my days) Take time to "smell the roses" my husband is always telling me - and he is right! Just plan one thing that you need to get done in a day and if you do more it is a bonus.

3. Smile! Research shows that just smiling can make you feel happier - so do it! An easy way is to have a happy memory that makes you smile that you can revisit often when you feel in need of a boost.

4. Love yourself - You are the person who should love you the most after all if you don't look after yourself you cannot look after others, if you don't love yourself how can you expect anyone else to love you?

5. Get a pet - research shows that people who have pets are happier and healthier. Just look at my pets - how could I not be happy with these two adorable fur balls!