Everybody wants to achieve happiness in life. However, only a few really manage to attain it. Dr. Travis Bradberry, author of "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" and president of TalentSmart, said so many tips on happiness have been floating around that people's heads cannot help but spin because of them.
"In the face of so much contradictory, and often subjective, advice, what are you supposed to do if you want to live a happier life? Just forget about all that subjective advice and focus your energy and attention on science-proven facts," he wrote in an article for The Huffington Post.
Bradberry then offered a couple of tips of his own that are sure to work for everyone. First, he said gratitude creates happiness, so people should embrace a generous spirit. "The real neural antidepressant is gratitude. Gratitude boosts levels of serotonin and dopamine — the brain's happy chemicals and the same chemicals targeted by antidepressant medications," he said.
Next, Bradberry said people should try labelling their negative feelings so they will be able to dilute its power. "This effect doesn't just work with your own emotions; labelling the emotions of other people calms them down, too, which is why F.B.I. hostage negotiators frequently rely on this technique," he said.
Third, Bradberry said it helps the overall wellbeing of people if they lend a hand to those in need. Making other people happy makes the givers happy themselves. Studies have even showed that those who consistently provided social support to others were the most likely to be happy during times of stress.
Fourth, it helps for people to communicate emotions via touch. "Humans are social animals, to the point that our brains react to social exclusion in the same way that they react to physical pain, with activity in the anterior cingulate and insula," he explained. "Similarly, our brains are hardwired to interpret touch as social acceptance."
Lastly, Bradberry said people should make it a point to make "good enough" decisions. People who stress over making perfect decisions are bound to be unhappy, but when they settle for "good enough," people activate the dorsolateral prefrontal areas of the brain, calming emotions down and helping them feel more in control, he said.
