We Were Wrong About Happiness. Here’s the Real Deal

By Nataly Kogan

Some people just seem happier than others, and those of us searching for contentment are often at a loss to understand what makes that guy whistle while he works while we dread Mondays and find ourselves surrounded by half-empty glasses.

We might even convince ourselves that when it comes to happiness, what we don’t have and don’t know how to get must be unattainable anyway. But it turns out that despite many a myth about happiness, disposition is not destiny and moods are malleable. Once you bust common myths about mood (which we do below with a little help from scientific research) you can follow our straightforward steps to turn these findings into a real-life, make-yourself-happier-now practice.

Myth: You’re either born happy or not—it’s not something you can change.

Actually, only about 50 percent of your mood “set point” (our natural emotional baseline in the absence of stimuli) can be traced to genetics and research shows there are plenty of ways to train our brains to be more positive [1]. (Yes, this means you’ll have to stop blaming mom and dad for your crankiness!) Study after study has shown that regardless of a person’s starting disposition, there are simple behaviors that will increase happiness and overall feelings of well-being.

And the good news is that these behaviors don’t have to be huge changes. Simple things like appreciating a few things every day, performing small acts of kindnesses for others, trying new things, or even spending money on other people have been shown to increase the feeling of happiness you experience [2] [3]. Feeling positive more often is accomplished simply by making the choice to spend less time focusing on what isn’t great and more time appreciating the good moments (no matter how small or fleeting they might be) and awesome people in your life.

Get happier now: The next time you’re grabbing coffee, pay for person behind you. The feel-good mood bump will be worth every penny!

Myth: You can control how you act, but you can’t control how you feel.

Just as feelings can influence actions, it turns out actions can also influence feelings. Humans may be complex socio-emotional beings, but in some ways, we’re a fairly predictable set of interconnected systems—and that extends to the relationship between our physical actions and our emotions. You know how people suggest you “keep your chin up” or “grin and bear it?” It may sound crazy, but these simple physical actions (i.e. mimicking a more positive affect than you feel) can induce a correlating emotional response.

Studies have shown that even fake smiles reduce overall stress. And get this: People whose ability to frown is hampered by Botox injections are less negative [4] [5] What this means from a practical standpoint is that the old adage of “fake it ‘til you make it” applies to happiness; pretending to be …read more

Source:: Greatist