Daily Habits That Will Make You Happier

Happiness is the only true
measure of personal success.
Making other people happy is
the highest expression of
success, but it's almost
impossible to make others
happy if you're not happy
yourself.
With that in mind, here are nine
small changes that you can make
to your daily routine that, if
you're like most people, will
immediately increase the
amount of happiness in your
life:

1. Start each day with
expectation.
If there's any big truth about life,
it's that it usually lives up to (or
down to) your expectations.
Therefore, when you rise from
bed, make your first thought:
"something wonderful is going
to happen today." Guess what?
You're probably right.

2. Take time to plan and
prioritize.
The most common source of
stress is the perception that
you've got too much work to do.
Rather than obsess about it, pick
one thing that, if you get it done
today, will move you closer to
your highest goal and purpose
in life. Then do that first.

3. Give a gift to everyone you
meet.
I'm not talking about a formal,
wrapped-up present. Your gift
can be your smile, a word of
thanks or encouragement, a
gesture of politeness, even a
friendly nod. And never pass
beggars without leaving them
something. Peace of mind is
worth the spare change.

4. Deflect partisan
conversations.
Arguments about politics and
religion never have a "right"
answer but they definitely get
people all riled up over things
they can't control. When such
topics surface, bow out by
saying something like: "Thinking
about that stuff makes my head
hurt."

5. Assume people have good
intentions.
Since you can't read minds, you
don't really know the "why"
behind the "what" that people
do. Imputing evil motives to
other people's weird behaviors
adds extra misery to life, while
assuming good intentions leaves
you open to reconciliation.

6. Eat high quality food slowly.
Sometimes we can't avoid
scarfing something quick to
keep us up and running. Even
so, at least once a day try to eat
something really delicious, like a
small chunk of fine cheese or an
imported chocolate. Focus on it;
taste it; savor it.

7. Let go of your results.
The big enemy of happiness is
worry, which comes from
focusing on events that are
outside your control. Once
you've taken action, there's
usually nothing more you can
do. Focus on the job at hand
rather than some weird fantasy
of what might happen.

8. Turn off "background" TV.
Many households leave their TVs
on as "background noise" while
they're doing other things. The
entire point of broadcast TV is to
make you dissatisfied with your
life so that you'll buy more stuff.
Why subliminally program
yourself to be a mindless
consumer?

9. End each day with gratitude.
Just before you go to bed, write
down at least one wonderful
thing that happened. It might be
something as small as a making
a child laugh or something as
huge as a million dollar deal.
Whatever it is, be grateful for
that day because it will never
come again.
Have a blessed weekendy