Happiness Rituals: 5 ways to increase happiness instantaneously

I have dedicated my whole life to researching happiness, and over the course of my career and personal growth journey developed and discovered unique ways to increase happiness and quality of life despite the unpredictability of life and social pressures. So today I provide a toolkit for finding joy regardless of external circumstances.

Why increasing happiness matters?

Growing up can be messy and it can be very discouraging and frustrating at times. I know that from personal experience and from working with countless 20-sometinges on regaining control of life and state of mind.

Maybe you just have graduated, find yourself in a very changing period of your life or saw your building blocks for happiness taken away from you by external circumstances or simply the demand of society to finally grow up.

I have been there. When I graduated college I felt super lost and restricted not just by what was going on in this world but by the pressure I felt from society. I felt the need to have it all figured out, to start a real job, to grow up and take life seriously. I felt the urge to do things I didn’t want to because I had to… But most sadly I felt like I wasn’t in control of how I felt anymore. I had the impression that society and other people where in charge of whether or not I would be happy again, whether or not I could continue living my dream life. I hated it and it made me deeply unhappy.

But eventually I realized that I needed to take back that control and stop seeing myself as the victim. After all I knew exactly how to be happy, I had researched it for years and I knew I had all the tools.

It took the decision to make a change.

You deserve to be happy!

In this post, I want to share a few ways in which you can increase happiness despite how external circumstances look like. I give you a tool kit that you can use to stay in control of your state of mind and increase your quality of life anytime, anywhere.

Because truth is… YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY.

Imagine what it would feel like to be in total control of your state of mind. To know that no matter what everyone else says you will get there, you will make it happen.

Imagine you can do what you want and make money from it. You no longer have to worry about how to make it happen because you have a plan and you know nothing can get in your way.

You are so confident and grounded that you will always be happy with where you are and what you have no matter if the things that make you happy are available to you or not.

5 ways to increase happiness and quality of life

The thing is, we build our happiness upon certain building blocks like other people, material things, experiences, hobbies, … But once those things aren’t available to us anymore for whatever reason, we turn unhappy – meaning we are not in control of our experience of life.

But that is about to change… READY?

Disidentify yourself from your building blocks & Society:

The first way in which you can increase happiness is by disidentifying yourself from your building blocks, meaning, you need to understand that whatever you thought makes you happy isn’t everything. Also, it is really important to let go of social pressures and the expectations you feel. The sooner you come to understand that you are in control of your life and that no matter what others say, you get to decide what to do with it the sooner you will be able to pursuit the action necessary to increase quality of life and do what you love.

Choose happiness:

Sometimes life can give us shit, I totally get that and we have all experienced it. BUT there is still a way in which you can find joy in those moments. All you need to do is choose to be happy. I know that sounds easier said than done, but it is possible and a really easy practice of choosing happiness is to accept what is as it is – without judgment – and then see the opportunities within it. Another thing you can try is to just say it out loud or in your mind “I choose happiness despite xxx” and see what rises within you.

Create flow:

Maybe you have heard of the term “flow state” or “being in the zone”. Many people describe this as the ultimate state of happiness, and it is. When we are in the zone we are super present and focused on the here and now and all other worries, problems, thoughts get pushed aside. We are fully emerged in the activity at hand and that makes us feel blissful and joyful. It takes some time to learn how to get into flow state but it essentially is about doing something you like, that is a bit challenging but achievable, that you can improve in and learn from and that keeps you fully engaged and no space for mind wandering. Playing sports, reading or art are perfect examples for that. Discover your flow activity and do it as often as possible.

Understand how your mind works:

A crucial component of increasing happiness is to understand how your mind works and how that affects your emotions. Every emotion or feeling you have has its origin in your mind in the form of thought. A circumstance triggers a thought in your mind, that triggers an emotion that results in your feelings. So understanding that thoughts are just products of the mind, interpretations of circumstances but not the truth helps us to understand that by changing the way we thing/see things or not paying attention to those thoughts we can ultimately control how we feel about things.

Switch your perspective:

Lastly, when it comes to improving your quality of life and finding joy then you need to switch your perspective in the long run. Seeing the glass always half empty won’t do you any good. You need to learn to see the good in everything, to understand how the bigger picture works and that it will all eventually take you to where you need to be. Once you can find comfort and contentment within the present moment and the situation at hand then you will be able to find more happiness as well.

And now, if you want to read a few more tips about happiness you should check out my interview with Thrive Global.

Also – I want to see how you practice happiness every day. Share it on IG and tag me.