7 Aug 2020 · 6 min
Lewis AI walks through six science-backed steps to boost happiness: gratitude, kindness, mindfulness, exercise, sleep, and routine. The advice comes from Dr. Laurie Santos, a Yale psychology professor who studies what actually makes people happy.
This is Five Minute Friday. I want to start this episode with a quote from author Margaret Lee Runbeck who said, Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. Now, a couple months ago, I interviewed Dr. Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale and an expert on happiness. And I've been spending a lot of time researching and reflecting on the keys to feeling content. But Dr. Santos really gave me a life changing prescription. So I wanted to dive in with six keys to happiness. As I know it's been very challenging for so many of these people this year to be happier with so much uncertainty, stress, overwhelm, news, politics, COVID, all this stuff that's happening right now. Uncertainty in the job market, the housing market, the stock market, what's happening, it's hard to be happy. Here are six things you can do every single day to increase your happiness, even in spite of chaos and uncertainty. Number one, this is from research. This is from Dr. Laurie Santos studying this on a daily basis at Yale who said, number one, spend time and energy in the right way, which means getting off social media and watching stuff all day that's consuming and numbing your mind without a purpose. stop worrying about perfect grades or that big time job. Stop worrying about all these different things and make real connections. Don't spend hours and hours on day on your screen, on your phone. I'm sure if you looked at your screen time, it would say four, five, six, eight hours a day that you spend on the phone. Now, obviously, if you're working or if you're doing stuff on social media to help build something, that's okay, but you got to find that time to enjoy leisure time. Also, get outside, spend quality time with friends, play some games. do something, listen to music, dance, laugh, enjoy, connect. That's what this is all about. It's not about doing the stuff that's going to make you worry more. It's about doing things that bring you more joy. Number two is to express gratitude. The science is in this now, guys. Gratitude is not just some fluffy personal development catchword. It is science now. Gratitude has proven to increase happiness and decrease depression. It will automatically make you a happier person when you express gratitude more. Plain and simple. Number three, random acts of kindness. This can be so simple. It can be smiling at a stranger. It can be saying a compliment to a stranger or a neighbor or a friend. It can be doing something for someone else, picking something up for someone, opening the door, buying a cup of coffee, donating money to charity. It's all proven to improve your happiness. I used to do this when I was broke all the time. When I didn't have money, I couldn't pay for things but I would just do courteous things and say nice compliments and try to create a smile on someone else's face. And if you walk around every day saying, How can I make someone else smile? you are going to feel so joyful about the act of kindness. So find ways to help other people. Number four, be mindful. Meditating for just five to 10 minutes a day makes a huge difference based on science in your level of happiness. Dr. Santos likes a loving kindness meditation, which is a type of meditation where you think about love and kindness in the world. world and for yourself. It brings you more peace in your heart and takes you away from suffering and stress. Number five. Exercise and sleep. The science is proven that those who move their body, those that sweat, those that stretch, those that run around, jump, lift weights, when you do something with exercise, you bring so much more joy to your life than when you sit stagnant on a chair, on a couch, sitting around doing nothing all day. Your body is designed to move. It's designed to have some physical stress on it in a limited amount of time. so exercise is huge. And also sleep. Sleep debt is a real thing. And when you are sleep deprived, you are moody, you are cranky, you are angry, you are more triggered. Sleep gives you the energy you need to be happier throughout the day. And number six, a routine. When you do all five of these things every single day and you make it a part of your daily routine, not just do it once a month, but do this consistently seven days a week, you will be a happier person overall. Repeat all five steps over and over and make it a habit and watch your life transform into a happier person every single day. And if you enjoyed these six steps, please let me know. Leave me a message over on social media, on Instagram, or you can text me the word podcast to 614-350-3960 to get on my weekly inspirational and motivational texting list. And you can send me a message there where I'll see your comments and feedback as well. If you enjoy this podcast episode, please share it with a friend, post it to a text group, a WhatsApp group, social media. You can just copy and paste the link where you're listening to this on any podcast app. But make sure to go to Apple Podcasts right now, click on that subscribe button and leave a five star review and rating if this inspired you and helped you in any way. And I want to leave you with this quote from the Buddha. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Share your joy, share your love, share your vulnerability. The more you do that, the happier you will become and the happier you want to influence other people to become as well. If you haven't been reminded anytime lately you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. So grateful for you. You know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.
