Everyone wants to be happy in life. While
individuals may define success or measure
happiness differently, there are some basic
qualities of a happy life that seem to be
universal. Studies have shown that no matter
where you begin in life, how you consciously
live through your adult years will determine
your overall lifelong happiness more than your
financial situation, or even your happiness at
an earlier age. [1] Learning how to live better
and feel more positive about the world around
you can help you live a happy and meaningful
life.
Method One of Four:
Living a Healthier Life
Reduce negative self-talk. Everyone
engages in negative self-talk at some
point or another. While some people may
find it motivating, studies show that it
actually contributes to stress, depression,
and poor coping skills. [2] Learning how to
identify negative self-talk can help you
catch yourself when you're thinking poorly
of yourself, which can make it easier to
then consciously engage in a more positive
way of thinking. [3] Some common forms
of negative self-talk include:[Image:Live A
Happy Life Step 7.jpg|center]]
Filtering - this behavioral problem
involves ignoring or "filtering out" all
the positive aspects of your life or a
given situation, and instead focusing
on only the negative aspects. An
example might be overlooking
everything you accomplished at work
and instead focusing on the one
problem you were unable to
successfully resolve.
Personalizing - this entails blaming
yourself for everything that happens.
It can also involve interpreting any
situational criticism as something
that you are or should be blamed for.
An example of this might involve
hearing that your friends can't make
it to a party and assuming that they
canceled their plans to avoid seeing
you.
Catastrophizing - this means
automatically preparing for or
expecting the worst possible
scenario. An example of this might
be assuming that the rest of your day
will go wrong because of one minor
setback early in your day.
Polarizing - this involves seeing
things, people, and situations as
always good or always bad. An
example might be assuming that
because you had an off day at work,
you are automatically a bad
employee.
Engage in positive thinking. Thinking
positively does not mean that you
ignore the bad or unpleasant things in life.
It simply means that you approach every
situation in life, both good and bad, with a
positive outlook and a productive mindset.
[4] You can work on engaging in positive
thinking in little ways every day. To start
thinking more positively, try to:
identify the things you think
negatively about, and recognize why
evaluate your thoughts and feelings
throughout the day
seek humor in everyday situations
and allow yourself to smile or laugh
even when you're upset
live a healthy lifestyle
spend time with positive people (and
avoid negative people as much as
possible)
be gentle with yourself - a good rule
for yourself is to avoid thinking things
about yourself that you would not say
to another person [5]
try to find the positive aspects of
negative situations
envision a more positive future for
yourself, and determine what you'll
need to do to make that vision a
reality[6]Being a More Loving Person
Practice gratitude. Everyone has
countless things to be grateful for in
life, but in the chaos of day-to-day life, it
can be easy to forget to practice
gratitude. Increasing your gratitude in
every situation and circumstance in life
can help you feel better, and may help you
find a greater sense of purpose.


Try to use the problems in your life
to motivate you. Perhaps living with a
medical condition might give you the
opportunity to join others in raising
awareness of that condition, or even
working towards finding a cure.
Know that even if a given problem
doesn't work out favorably, you'll still
have grown as a person and
developed more confidence as a
result of facing your problems and
trying to learn from them.