Have you consumed a lot of content about how to be a happier person but still seem to be in the same ol’ mood? 

You are not alone. And there are good reasons for this. 

In this post, I am going to share my top tips on happiness from not only consuming a mountain of research, articles, podcasts and videos – but also from my personal experience.

Happiness Set points

Let’s start by talking about set points.

We all have a happiness set point. This is a level of happiness that we always return to. Unless we put in some hard work.

For example, if right now if I gave you a large cash prize or a reward you have always dreamed of. Initially, you would be exceedingly happy. But eventually, you would return to your happiness set point. 

It also works the other way too. If you were unfortunate enough to experience something devastating. Things would be definitely tough for a while but you would slowly rise back up to that set point again.

Now, although it is relatively easy to boost happiness immediately in your life. (Think of eating your favourite food or buying yourself that special something.) It is tough to make yourself a generally happier person on a consistent basis. 

Said another way, in order to raise your happiness set point, you are going to need some dedication and effort.

Controlling Happiness

When it comes to your happiness set point – a lot is beyond our control. 

About 50% of your general happiness is contributed to genetics. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how important you are, whatever you do, you are stuck at this level thanks to your DNA.

The next component that contributes to your happiness is circumstances. You have some control over this – but not really. It is estimated that circumstances could account for as little as 10% to as much as 40% of your level of happiness.

This means that we can only influence around 25% of our happiness.

How do we maximise our 25%? 

There is a lot of information out in the world to help you increase your happiness with thousands of recommended exercises and activities. So much, that it could make you feel overwhelmed and unhappy…

So, below are my top tips to help you select what works for you so you can boost your happiness permanently. 

Some happy things will make you unhappy

It will be no surprise to you that different things make different people happy. So, remember this when selecting your exercises to boost your happiness. 

It is most likely you will have a gut reaction to the activities that don’t resonate with you.

For example, research shows that writing and sharing forgiveness letters can give you a lasting boost to your mood. But for me, a historically unforgiving soul, just the thought of writing a forgiveness letter makes my neck tense up and my brow furrow.

Some happiness won’t fit 

The right activities for you will need to fit into your daily routine. 

As much as you might want to take up a regular mediation or exercise program, in reality, it may be a challenge for you to carve out the time on a regular basis.

In these circumstances, you may be better off committing to gratitude exercises or random acts of kindness that you can benefit from doing just once a week.

Some things will make you happier than others

It is obvious that some activities will make you feel happier than others. 

Research can give us important feedback on what works on a significant amount of people, but that does not mean it will work for you. The only way you will know is by trying them. 

Being a happier person takes trial and error

The more activities you try, the more you will discover about what resonates, works and fits into your life.

You can also tweak recommended exercises and frequencies to find what suits you best. The more activities you can find that boost your happiness – the more options you have to utilise.

Many options are good because variety is also an important component of any happiness program you build into your life.

Habits are key to being a happier person

The key to increasing your happiness set point is to adopt the activities that work for you into your everyday life. They need to become habits.

This will take a while, but once you put in the hard and consistent work, your life will have a permanent happiness boost. And isn’t that worth putting on your hard hat and gloves for?