Top 5 Tips to be Happy
Being happy can mean vastly different things from person to person: it could be having a great set of friends, a close family, a successful career, being financially stable, having an amazing life partner or simply being at peace with yourself – maybe it’s a combination of some or all of the above. Whatever version of happiness you aspire to, there’s some good baseline rules to achieving it. If you’re not currently feeling quite as happy as you think you should be, try giving the below five tips from Fit Squad DXB personal trainer Daniel Wells a go…
1. Stop comparing yourself to others: There is always going to be someone that is better looking than you, smarter than you, fitter than you, have more money than you and appear to be happier than you… and good for them! It’s important that you focus on you and stop comparing yourself to others. Social media has a lot to answer for here, and it’s important to mange your usage if you feel that it’s having a negative impact on your life. Try setting a daily usage limit for social media apps, remove them from your phone to make access more difficult, or even give yourself a month away from social media completely, you will notice a huge difference in your happiness levels.
2. Get outside: It has been proven many times that people who spend more time in nature are happier. A 2019 UK Government study found that: “spending at least 120- minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing,” and further gains were found for those were spending between 200-300 minutes outdoors. This advice is especially important for those people that work inside in an office, make time to go outside on your lunchtime or for a ten-minute break and rack up those minutes for a happier, healthier life.
3. Do more exercise: Investing in your health and wellbeing using exercise is a no-brainer, but did you know that it also helps to make you feel happier and more content? The neurotransmitter chemical dopamine as well as ‘happy hormones’ called endorphins are associated with feelings of achievement, invigoration and give us a natural high, and levels of both are increased through physical activity. Many studies show that as you age your natural dopamine levels decrease so it’s important to seek out activities such as exercise that help it increase.
4. Decision making: There are two types of people when it comes to making decisions: satisfiers and maximisers. Satisfiers make decisions when they find a product, experience or even potential partner that has the qualities they want and they’re satisfied with. Maximisers want to make the best possible decision that they can and even if a product, experience or potential partner meets their criteria, they exhaust every line of investigation before committing. Satifiers tend to make better choices than maximizers and are in turn happier, maximizers expend more time and energy making decisions, and they’re often anxious about their choices. So don’t bide your time to make the best possible decision, have a clear idea in your mind of what you want and make a decision based on that. Remember that sometimes, somethings are just good enough.
5. Sleep more: Getting enough sleep results in a better standard of life, it’s a natural stress reducer, can help lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure and promote a healthy weight. A good night’s kip can also help you have a more happy, positive day, through heightened alertness, focus and interest in what you’re doing. So, how can we increase our hours and quality of sleep? It’s important to have a schedule so that you go to sleep and wake up at the same time, this routine will help ensure that you get the correct amount of sleep, help you fall asleep quicker and should increase the quality of your sleep in general. Next, avoid bright lights before bed (including the blue light of your phone) - this is very important in allowing you to wind down. And finally, avoid caffeine after midday, caffeine in the afternoon can attribute to a racing mind. Finally try to exercise daily so that you’e body feels tired when the end of the day comes, this will help make sure that you’re primed and ready for bed.
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