Appreciate the fact that you can glean from past experiences and do things differently. You should not remain rooted like the Sphinx statue, licking your wounds and feeling sorry for yourself. Get up, get out and go do something about it. Not giving up is the hallmark of a happy person. Avoiding the pitfalls of self-pity is the sinewy stuff of champions.

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Rather than complain about anything, be grateful that you have not lost everything.

Learning to appreciate these things and moments play a huge role in creating a peaceful and happy life. Although the things themselves may be small, failing to appreciate them has really big ramifications! Rather than seeing and experiencing the perfection of a divine plan, most of it is largely disregarded by people. The wonder and awe of life is diminished, the feelings associated with appreciation and gratitude are missed, and, perhaps more than anything, you will be sweating the small stuff all the time. The reason this happens is that your attention is not on what is right, beautiful and special. It is on what is wrong, what is irritating, and what is missing. Your focus of attention will encourage you to be “on edge” and on the lookout for problems instead of the small things that bring big joy and are right there in front of you. When the bulk of your attention is on what’s right with your life, what’s precious and special, the payoff is enormous. You’ll re-experience the feeling that life is magical and every moment is to be treasured. Instead of complaining about the litter on the side of the road, you’ll notice the colors of the trees and plants. Again, your attention will feed on itself and, over time, you’ll notice more and more things to be grateful for and your habit becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of happiness.

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To claim your values, it is helpful to have a list to work from. After you have a list of values to choose from, set a timer for three minutes. Read through the list of values and circle every one that your gut says fits you. When the timer goes off, copy all the circled words down into a shiny new list. This list will be the perfect place to really dig into what your heart tells you about which values are truly yours.

This clarity around my personal values has assisted me in making decisions more quickly, and better yet, I’ve found a greater satisfaction around the decisions I make. This has created a domino effect of goodness in my world. These values have led me to better decision making and has led me along the path of greater confidence in myself, and generated an overall feeling of happiness around my day-to-day life.

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Listen to your body. Listen to the way it reacts to certain decisions that you make. Pay attention to your energy. Do you come alive and energetic after carrying out any specific activity?

Gardening… bungee jumping… video games… photography… whatever it might be is fine. You do not have to be an expert. Who cares if you suck at it, what matters is that it gives you true bliss. It is not for the money, it is simply for the pleasure that it brings. Most people know what they need to do in order to become happy.

They are just not lion-hearted enough to take steps and get it done. Dare to be different. Be bold, find your joy zone and experience happiness.

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We all need goals to motivate us and these things need not only be challenging enough to excite us, but also achievable. If we try to attempt the impossible this brings unnecessary stress. Choosing ambitious but realistic goals ushers our lives into direction and brings a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when we achieve them.

Get set. Get yourself a notebook and a pen (or use your computer). Make sure you can have at least twenty minutes undisturbed. Now imagine yourself in the future - say 5 or 10 years from now. Think about all aspects of your life - your home, work, relationships, leisure activities etc. Start writing. Keep going for 20 minutes or longer if you want to. Remember - there are no rules to this, just start to describe what comes into your mind about your dreams for the future. No need to try to “get it right”.

Do it for three days. Then reflect on what you have written. A little less conversation and a little more action works. Once you’ve decided on a goal to achieve, it feels amazing! Make progress, even when it sucks, and let the satisfaction of accomplishment be your reward. Life gets in the way of our biggest goals sometimes, you already know that a break is allowed but quitting is not. Always come back to the goal.

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There are so many ways you can brighten someone’s day, and you should make it a habit of regularly performing random acts of kindness.

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Isolate the positives in your situation. Change or add to the activity to make it more enjoyable. Let’s say you are drinking a cup of tea while working on an assignment for class. You should remember to ask yourself if you are enjoying the moment, and you should realize if you are not.

It’s not enough to simply do something on your list so you can cross it off. You must do it and be immersed enough in the activity to enjoy it thoroughly. If you didn’t enjoy doing it, then it doesn’t count. Be honest with yourself. Don’t put something on there because you want to enjoy doing it. Only put something on your list if you know that you actually find that activity pleasurable. Take your time here, because this exercise will only be effective if your list truly reflects your own desires. You should regularly update it with new items as you think of them.

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Close friendships display strong support and affection. A good friend plays the invaluable role of a confidant and someone who listens, pays attention and is always willing to help as well as shares similar interests. In other words, the ability to make friends will make you happier.

if you’re eager to make friends but find it tough: take Woody Allen’s lead that “80% of success is showing up,” a big part of friendship is showing up. Whenever you have the chance to see other

people, take it. Go to the party. Stop by someone’s desk. Make the effort. You can leverage on social media tools. But do not make them a permanent habit for relating with people and making new friends.

Wear a smile.

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Your intentions for the day will determine your direction for the day. It is your attitude that defines your altitude. What you desire is what you would eventually get coming to you. Before you go anywhere or get your day started, position your intentions properly and make it clear that nothing is going to soil your day. And this will ensure that happiness tags along with you, all the way.

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If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. Put your gym clothes right over your alarm clock or phone when you go to bed: This technique sounds rather simple, but has been one of the most powerful ones I have ever used. If you put everything the way you want away for the gym before you go to sleep and put your alarm under your gym clothes, you will have a much easier time to convince yourself to put your gym clothes on. Secondly, track your exercises and log them at the same time after every exercise: When you try to exercise regularly, the key is to make it a habit. One way to achieve this is to create a so called “reward”, that will remind you of the good feelings you get from exercising. Try out Fitocracy or RunKeeper to log in your work-outs. Try to have a very clear logging process in place. Log your work-out just before you go into the shower or when you arrive home from the gym. Think about starting small and then start even smaller: Here is a little secret.

Try no more than 5 or 10 minutes if you are getting started and increase your workload gradually.

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Eat whole food, fruits and vegetables. Limit eating carbs. Dark chocolates are good – elevates mood.

Cooking is easy too but a lot of people are scared to do it, we've got a generation now of parents who do not really cook and they have no confidence that it's something they actually want to do. Cooking is best left to the culinary professionals, those who actually get paid to do it. Sadly, ready meals and takeaways are really of poor quality, made with the cheapest ingredients and designed to store well. They are rarely as nice as something made at home with a bit of time and effort.

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When we avoid feelings, fear unconsciously drives our behavior. We organize our lives to avoid feeling difficult emotions. We stay stuck. It’s so normal yet so unhelpful.

The “yes” allows you to open up your life to the inevitable and by extension more happiness. How to say “yes” even when you do not really feel like it? Here’s help! The next time you struggle with an unpleasant emotion, instead of pushing the feeling away, lean into it. This involves going into your body and noticing what the emotion feels like physically. As much as you want to turn away from this feeling, get to know it. Learn as much as you can about it. Use adjectives to describe the feeling in great detail- its color, shape, movement, texture, location, temperature.

.To say yes is to accept your life completely, with all of its richness and complexity and messiness. In the words of Jon Kabat Zinn, it is like “putting out the welcome mat” and allowing everything to come in. Being human is a guest house. Every morning there is always a new arrival. It could be joy, the great depression, a momentary lapse of concentration anything can waltz into your life as an unexpected visitor. It does not have to ring your doorbell, so prepare for it. We are only human; it will set us back a bit. But you need to pick up the pieces and recover.

Start your day off on the right foot. Choose to spend your breakfast time with an optimistic influence for example a book, a blog or your mom. Or talk to someone early in the day that most often supports and cheers you up like a co-worker or a friend in school. When things have been standing still for while or you hit a road bump it is easy to always back down. To shrink. To give in or give up. But a better way is to say yes and find the bright side in those situations. Keep going. When you fail or make a mistake do not give up. Reconnect with optimism. Find inspiration from books and blogs and the people around you. Do not beat yourself up. Instead nudge yourself back on track once again.

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