People make all sorts of resolutions at the beginning of the year. You swear to yourself you’re going to work out more, get on top of your schoolwork, and keep your room clean. We believe that by achieving these goals we will be healthier, smarter, more successful and above all happier. But what if we skipped over all these resolutions and focused on what’s driving them—the simple goal of being a happier person. People tend to think that happiness is out of their control, but there are actually a number of ways that you can achieve the goal of being happier without making any of the dramatic, difficult changes you may have planned on making this year. And once you’re feeling a little happier, making a few of those changes might not seem as challenging. Here are a few, easy ways to make 2013 your happiest year yet.
Fake it ‘Till You Make it
There have been a number of studies that show that the simple act of smiling can actually make you feel a bit more positive. When you make yourself act in a way that is opposite to how you actually feel, the negative emotions become a little less powerful. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project writes, “By acting as if you feel a certain way, you induce that emotion in yourself.” She argues that when you act as if you’re feeling the way you wish you were feeling, you begin to feel that way a bit more. This doesn’t mean that you should cover up all negative emotions. Sometimes everyone just needs a day to feel sad. But on the days you wish you felt better, acting as if you do can make a difference.
Help Somebody Else
On days when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and wallow in self-pity, sometimes helping someone else with his or her problems can make you feel better. Helping someone can mean anything from volunteering with a group to listening to a friend vent for a while. Helping someone makes you connect with another person, and takes you out of your own head. Knowing that you helped someone can also make you feel good about yourself, which is related to how happy you feel.
Try Something New
Trying something new doesn’t necessarily mean trying something particularly hard. It can just mean switching up your routine. If you always get your coffee from the same place in the morning, or always sit in the same chair in class, it’s likely you won’t feel very differently than you did doing that the previous day. When you do something you’ve never done before you have no choice but to be aware and in the moment. Walking a different way to class or buying a different sandwich for lunch might not be particularly exhilarating activities, but doing so can be just exciting enough to make your day a little bit better.
Reach Out to Friends
This might seem like an obvious way to make you feel better, but it’s important enough to mention anyway. Research shows that people who say they have ten good friends are happier than those who say they have five or less. Building and maintaining friendships is crucial to feeling happy, more important than sticking to any diet or study schedule. Luckily, asking a friend to have lunch is also a lot easier than a grueling trip to the gym.
Happiness isn’t something that can only happen when you’ve checked everything off your to-do list, or when the weather is nice. Becoming happier doesn’t have to be any more unpleasant than calling a friend or walking a new route. When you feel happier, things feel easier and less overwhelming, which makes you even more capable of accomplishing your goals.