Find What Works for You

Have you ever had a friend or family member eagerly tell you about their latest favorite song? They are so excited about how awesome it is and can’t wait to see your look of wonder when you hear it. As you listen, you are wondering – wondering what they like about the song. The moral of this story is – we are all different. This is exactly what scientists are finding as they investigate various practices and strategies designed to improve our wellbeing and overall happiness. Some approaches work better for some people than others and what works for us now may be different from what works for us later in life. One of my favorites right now is to decide to look for little things to be grateful for in the moment – the green light, the ability to see the blue sky, living on Happy Hill Road!

So I encourage you to consider different practices related to areas like expressing gratitude, savoring, cultivating optimism, nurturing relationships, taking care of your body and others (you can look through my tips or start with the link below) and try a couple on for size. Run your own experiment to see what best fits your personality and your lifestyle. If something doesn’t feel right, try something else, but don’t give up. As with so many things in life, finding your most useful happiness tools is a process.

http://designinghappiness.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/person-activity-fit-diagnostic.pdf