6 Tips for Being Happy & Thriving in Life!

If you’re looking for tips for being happier and thriving in life…you’ve come to the right place.  If you’re feeling crappy and depressed, I might just piss you off.  So, read this post at the risk of being happier (or more pissed off).  Your choice.

As a huge fan of Abraham Hicks, a student of Law of Attraction and all things that lead to greater happiness I gotta tell you I think I’m on to something.

What I’m up to in my life is being the happiest I can be.  I was going to say being the happiest person I know, but I think we all need people in our lives to inspire us to be better every day. If I tell myself my goal is to be the happiest person I know I’ll stop growing.  However, at this very moment I may very well be the happiest person I know. [hmmm…note to self: find ecstatic people and make friends with them immediately.]

Let me refocus for a moment.  Where was I? Happiness.   Yes…got it.

I’m not here to tell you I know or have found the secret to happiness.  Seems kinda cliche to say that.  What I can tell you is I keep finding myself texting my friends and telling people I know how crazy happy I am all the time!

So, cliches aside.  What I’d like to do is tell you that I’ve sort of turned myself into a student of happiness these past few moths. I’m into watching and studying what makes people happy (including yours truly) and what doesn’t.  I’m a wee young student in this area, but I think my results speak for themselves.  And I’ve decided it’s time I shared about it.  I’m excited to spread the happiness bug with you, my friend, so you can be as happy as you can be, too!

Happiness Research Findings

I’m no scientist, but I did re-watch the movie Happy again last night. Pretty good flick.  What I thought was worth sharing with you is the findings they quote in the movie about what our level of happiness is made up of.  Here’s what they say creates our level of personal happiness:

50% = genetics (yes, our genes have a lot with determining our set point of happiness in life)

10% = external things/experiences (money, relationships, cars, houses, trips, clothes, weather)

40% = actions and thoughts (intentional happiness – deciding and focusing on happy feelings)

Some people might read that chart and go downhill fast.  They’d say “holy crap, half of my happiness is determined by my parents and they’re miserable!” Yeah, I could easily go there having parents who have “issues”, but I choose to see this as a very empowering insight.

The fact that 40% of my happiness is up to me – it’s in my hands to choose is HUGE!  If I factor in the other 10% that are things, I’d say at least 50% of my happiness ultimately is my choice.  I’d say that’s a very good thing!

Don’t get me wrong. If you’re not intentional about setting your emotional and vibrational tone and you allow the external or the genetic things become your dominant vibration, then yeah you could possibly go downhill fast.  But, I’m an optimistic person (by choice) and so I see this glass as half empty and it’s one I have decided I’m going to fill to overflowing every day I possibly can with more and more things that make me happy.

I hope if this is new information to you you’re starting to get excited.  I sure was when I saw that chart. I realized right there and then how much control I had over my personal happiness!  So freeing!

Get on A High Flying Disc

So, let me give you a little back story before we go into those 6 tips for being happy and thriving in your life. [scroll down if you’re like me and you just want the goods.  For the rest of you who have some time to hear how I got here, then let me continue…]

As a student of Abraham’s teachings I listen to a video on YouTube at the very least once a day, sometimes 2, 3, or 10 a day.  Yeah, I’m on an Abraham kick!  What can I say…it makes me happy! (Abrahams’ advice to Get Happy)

Several years ago Abraham taught about the importance of our Vortex and getting into the Vortex where everything you want is (I even created my own Vortex Pinterest board and here’s my very favorite rampage about the Vortex).  Then they talked about setting your grid and allowing the Universe to deliver everything you wanted to fill in.  But, lately they’re teaching about the power of getting on your high flying disc.

The idea of getting on your high flying disc resonated for me more than anything else.  I felt I could actually understand how to do it and practice it daily.  I conceptually understood the other ideas, but I wasn’t a master at them.

Now that I’ve been practicing getting on my high flying disc every morning like they recommend I think I’ve mastered how to do it.  And it’s making every day happier and happier.

I’ve actually started texting my friends before I meet up with them that I’m really, really happy just so that they know what to expect (some ya gotta get warmed up so you don’t totally piss ’em off).  Not that my friends aren’t happy people, but I have to admit when I run into people who are not feeling as great as I am they can either be uplifted and happy for me or sort of crawl away and it accentuates how not-happy they’re feeling.

As I’ve moved up the scales of happiness to where I am today where I wake up each day and shout to the Universe “I’m so happy I can’t stop smiling!” I started to notice what I was doing and focusing upon that caused me to feel better with each passing day.  Thus, the purpose of this post – to share with you what I’ve been doing so you, too, can be happy and thrive in life.  So, let’s get to that list of tips, shall we?

6 Tips for Being Happy and Thriving in Life!

Here’s what I’m currently practicing regularly (daily or nearly every single day) that’s helping me be happy and thrive in everything I do be it work, dating, spiritually and with friends and family:

1. Morning appreciation (5 minutes) – Each morning before I get out of bed I find an Abraham Hicks video that inspires and uplifts me.  Following that 10-15 minute energy boost I set a timer and focus for the next five minutes on the things in my life that I have to appreciate.  Sometimes they’re small and close to home (like my bed, my home, my kitties, my healthy body) or they’re bigger and more global/community/family related (my mom, close friends, business associates, community I live in, people making a difference in the world that I admire, etc).  Find anything that makes you feel love and appreciation in your heart for those five minutes.
2. Going general – when I find something that seems to want to take me off my high flying disc during the day I step back and remember to go general.  For me, that means looking at things through a different lens.  I know as a human it’s natural for me to have my set of goggles I see life through and they distort or filter how I see the world and situations/people.  When something “looks” upsetting, I remember to step back and say things to myself like “this too shall pass”, “where’s the gift in this?”, “everything is always working out for me” or “I have really good karma” or “everything happens for a reason and that reason is there to serve me” or “God, let me get the lesson quickly and move on”.  Sometimes I just breathe and forget about it as fast as possible.  The trick is not dwelling or sitting in that situation very long. If I can break up or relax away from the energy/situation within 17 seconds I’ve mastered it.  Abraham says it takes 17 seconds to build momentum and give that thing I’m focused upon more energy to create more of that in my life. If I can let it go (or get off it) quickly, then it’s sure to pass much faster.
3. Notice your happy feelings – I’ve come to notice that my happy feelings seem to come from my mid or upper chest.  For me, feelings of worry, doubt or insecurity tend to sit lower in my body – more like my gut.  When I notice I’m experiencing an emotional state or feeling from my upper chest I call it happiness and focus upon it.  Sort of turning the volume up on the feeling.  It’s sort of the opposite of what I do just above.  Instead of shifting my focus away from a negative feeling or distracting myself with those statements I mentioned, I focus intently on the happy feeling.  I dive into it and allow it to put a smile on my face and flow throughout my body as quickly as I realize I’m experiencing it.
4. Talk about being happy!  There’s no greater gift I can think of to give the people in my life than an expression of my happiness.  When I’m happy I’m changing the energy in the world. I’m being personally responsible for who I am when I show up to be with other people.  When I’m happy and I know it, I enjoy telling friends.  I don’t think people are used to being told (unless when asked “how are you?”) that someone’s feeling happy, but I’m setting a new standard.  My hope would be that if I start a trend by telling the people in my life when I’m happy that they’ll know that I appreciate it and will tell me when they’re feeling happy so we can uplift each other.  It also reminds me that I am feeling happy, so more reinforcement.
5. Look for & do more of what makes you happy – setting an intention at the beginning of each day to look for and feel happy as much as possible is one of my favorite ways to go about my day.  I have a whiteboard in my office and each morning when I start out I write on my white board something that aligns with what I feel that day.  It says “today is a _______ day”.  Some of the things I often write there are: outstanding, joyous, fun, happy, loving, exciting, crazy happy, and fantastic.  Again, just more reinforcement in my outer environment of what I’m resonating with in each day and want to focus upon.  In addition, I suggest looking for things that make you happy and making sure they’re on your to-do list that day.  Whatever makes you happy…work it into your day even if it’s just a few minutes.
6. Set an intention from within – all of the things I mention above are activities and I think the biggest one is to set the underlying intention or tone for your life that you WANT to be happy.  A lot of us fall prey to the vibrational tone of the world around us, society or our present circumstances.  If I looked at my present circumstances day-to-day and then decided what I felt about them I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am.  I never look at my circumstances any more and allow that to tell me how I feel.  We all have things we’re dealing with that are there to grow us and teach us something.  I’m going through a really costly divorce right now and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.  Just goes to show ya gotta put the circumstances aside, focus on your vision/story of your life and allow your attitude to be bigger than your circumstances.  Circumstances will drag you down if you get wadded up in the details.  Take care of the details, of course, but then focus on being crazy happy.

Now Your Turn to Practice Being Happy

Now that you’ve seen what I’m up to these days and how amazing happy it has me each day…what will you take on?  Will you practice the 5 minutes each morning?  Will you remember some of my mantras to help you through those challenging moments?  Or…will you try all six and really commit yourself to a life where you thrive and feel as happy as you deserve as much as possible?  Gosh, I hope it’s the last one!  Keep in mind, these evolved for me.  You might take on one for 30 days, develop the habit and come back to this post and add one each month.

Living this way really could make you happier…if you’ll take it on.

Please share your comments below and remember….

“clap along if you’re living like a room without a roof!” (from video below called Happy)

Type in your comments below and let me know if you’re experiencing more happiness in your life or how you plan to take what I’ve taught you and put it into practice.

I look forward to hearing from you!