Now…let me clearly say that you WILL NOT be happy all day, every day for the rest of your life. As we all know, being happy 24/7 is impossible. You can, however, be happy most of the time with some conscious effort. There are things that happy people do a little differently than the rest of us. Let’s take a closer look at the 10 habits of highly happy people.

First and foremost, you might want to start by figuring out what makes you truly happy. For some…it might be spending time with their family, while for others that could send them into a deep depression! Think back to when you were a child…what brought you the most joy? It could be something as simple at coloring, going swimming, dancing or reading.
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You might think that happiness depends on accomplishing long term goal like becoming financially free or owning your own home but finding true happiness can happen now. Gratitude helps to create since of happiness in the moment. We can all find something to be thankful for even if it’s miniscule. Fundamentally, putting yourself in a positive frame of mind can help you to feel happier regardless of how long it takes to achieve the “thing” that you think will ultimately make you the happiest. Having healthy habits that help you to be more content or “happy” are definitely worth cultivating.
Your behavior, attitude and choices directly impact your happiness, and you might not even realize it. External factors and genetics do play a role…however, you can control most of the things that directly impact your own happiness. Other people DO NOT make you happy…you do! Although sometimes we think that a certain thing or person or situation will make us happy; typically, it will not. It is ok to go after whatever it is that you think will “make” you happy and then change your mind when you realize it doesn’t. Let me say it again…that’s ok! It will allow you to actually find what brings you true happiness, which ultimately lies within us the majority of the time.

There is a lot of information online about “how to be happy,” but you might need some real-life examples on how to form these habits. I will expand on this further down the road (as the list is massive).
Here are 10 habits of happy people that you can start practicing today:
- Understand that you create your own reality- Reality is just an interpretation by your brain (watch this Big Think video that explains this). You can guide your thoughts in a positive direction. Conversely, you also have the power to sabotage yourself. Try to stay in a frame of mind that benefits you the most. Attempt to understand that saying, “what others do or think does not concern you.” You are the only person you can control. Check out my blog post about taking back control of your life, here. Even in every bad situation you can find a silver lining or find lesson to be learned. Let’s say you just had a bad breakup…the positive lesson you can take home is that hopefully now you know what you do not want in a partner. The lesson that keeps on giving! It also helps to be grateful for the good times you spent with that partner, and DO NOT dwell on the bad.
- Choose your attitude and responses wisely- You have a choice in everything that you do. Those choices can have positive or negative effects. You cannot change a person or situation, you can at very least, change your own attitude and responses. If something won’t matter a year from now, is it worth spending any energy on now? If you feel like you have to express some negative energy regarding whatever it is…give yourself a time limit of 10 minutes and set a Happy Time timer if needed. After those 10 minutes are up, move on and put that negative energy into something productive like a goal or positive like playing with your children.
- Think and act in a positive manner- Speaking of positivity…your thoughts and actions not only impact your character, but they also directly impact your mental health. You must actively work on thinking, speaking and doing things in a positive way. This is not easy, especially at first. Our entire society is like a big fishbowl full of negativity. Start by being mindful of what you tell yourself on a daily or minute by minute basis (write it down if you have to). Next, think of ways to re-phrase the negative thought(s) in a more positive way. For example, you might say, “I want to lose weight,” which doesn’t sound too bad, but often your focus is on the word “weight.” Instead change it to something like, “I want to be healthy and strong.” You can clearly see the difference. Books about the basics of the law of attraction like, “The Secret” can shed some light on this concept. Creating new pathways in your thinking can lead to long term benefits.
- Love yourself- You might notice that most of these habits involves thoughts and choices. Loving yourself is another thing you have to actively work on. You might think, “yeah, I’m awesome,” but do you really believe it? If you aren’t quite feeling yourself or need to truly believe what you’re already telling yourself, you might have some things to work on. Start by focusing on things you like about yourself, no matter how small they are, and start expanding on that. Affirmations can help you get on the path to believing the thoughts you tell yourself. Let go of the negative thoughts with follow-up thoughts like, “nobody is perfect” or “this frame of mind does not benefit me.” Recently, I saw a TikTok post about a teacher (@sarathecounselorus) who teaches her students to name their negative self-talk something silly so they can start to better identify when they do it and let it go (i.e., my silly twin is trying to make me feel bad again). This helps to remind you that you are not what your thoughts say you are. It takes a lot of practice before you can think more positively most of the time, but do not get discouraged…practice makes perfect.
- Forgive and move on- Forgiving people and situations helps you more than it actually helps anyone else. Forgiving helps you accept what happened, deal with it and move on. Holding negative thoughts and energy can be detrimental to your mental health. Forgiveness can help you heal past wounds. What’s most important here is that you learn to forgive yourself as well. Everyone makes mistakes and you inevitably will. Stop beating yourself up about everything. Truly think about who really cares if you don’t do something perfectly…nobody! For instance, I forgive myself for not being the Pinterest mom I had hoped I would be, and I embrace being the TikTok mom that actually I am.
- Self-care and Self-love is a priority- As I mentioned in a previous post about 10 of The Easiest Ways to Practice Self-Care, if you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot take care of others well. I’m guessing like most people, you have a job, children and possibly your parents to take care of. Who takes care of you? How often do you take care of yourself as much as you take care of everything else? You could use your love language to treat yourself. If you don’t know what your love language is, click here to read the book or you can download The 5 Love Languages app on the App Store to take a quick quiz. Once you know what you need to feel loved, you can treat yo self accordingly. This might look something like a pedicure, a hot bath, reading a chapter in that book you got for your birthday or simply saying “no” to attending the parent teacher conference (so long as it’s not pertinent that you attend). I expand more on The 5 Love Languages in this post.
- Be grateful- Having gratitude for what you have in your life can not only enhance your overall perspective, but it also reminds you that you are already very fortunate. By understanding that you likely have more than most people in the world (shelter, fresh water, air conditioning, etc.) …you can be a humbled and help reinforce the thought that you ARE doing well in life and should be happy. Being grateful for the little things in life can help you realize that happiness is something you get from within, not from material items. Even being thankful that you woke up this morning can start your day on a positive note. Personally, I am grateful for the touch of my partner, the smell of rain, listening to good music on a long drive and hearing my children’s laughter.
- Don’t blame others- This might be one of the hardest things to do on this list. If you are not used to owning your own “shit” or issues or accepting your contribution in difficult situations, this will not be easy for you to wrap your head around. By blaming others, you become a victim and allow others to have power over you. That doesn’t sound like fun at all. When you accept responsibility in your own life, you start to realize that things aren’t as important as you once thought. This can be extremely liberating. It just takes some courage and time to get used to doing this. The good thing is…by accepting responsibility, you will then be able to resolve situations more easily and possibly realize how to prevent unfavorable situations from happening in the future. A good example of this is when you ask your kids to fold the laundry, but they don’t quite do it the way that YOU want. You need to realize that if you want it done YOUR way; you either need to do it yourself or give them exact instructions and possibly some coaching on how you would like them to do it.
- Detox from negativity- This is something I encourage my patients to do often. Evaluate what is negative in your life and purge it…like immediately! It is possible that some of your family or friends might be part of that purge (I call these people energy vampires). This doesn’t mean that you shut them out forever, but maybe take a break from being around these people for some time. You can control when you let them back in…and for some, that day may never come. That is ok! If people or things are not financing you, loving you, supporting you or bringing you joy in some type of way, get rid of them!
- Know you have a purpose- If you don’t know what your purpose is or have no direction in life…find it! In another blog post, called “The 10 Best Ways to Find Your Passion,” I provide some ideas to help you find what you are passionate about, which should help you figure out your life purpose. Having a purpose will help you create goals and have something to work towards. Once you’ve accomplished your goals, start something new. Your purpose could involve your children, your relationship, your career or a combination. This workbook has helped me figure out what I’m passionate about and what my life purpose is.

As you can see it doesn’t take a lot of money, time or effort to start creating these habits. You can be happy even when life is not exactly where you want it to be. By using these techniques, you can start to work on other things that bring you even more happiness. It’s like a big happy cycle!

Things Always Get Better - I have truly lived. I’ve had good times and bad times. I’m a mother, a daughter, a sister, a psych nurse and a soon to be wife. I love writing about my passions, what interest me, what interests others, and sharing all of my thoughts with my readers. I want everyone to have the chance to live their happiest life. This blog is truly my own little passion project, gaining more and more traction each day. I hope you enjoy browsing my site and all of the unique content I have to offer. Take a look around; perhaps you’ll discover what fuels you as well. Read on and enjoy!
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So many people want to be happy but we don’t put the effort in. It’s probably the best investment we can make by doing what works for us and looking after ourselves
I agree completely! Thanks for taking time to stop by. 🙂
Wonderful tips❤ keep it up.
It took me a while to realise what actually makes me happy in life. Sounds silly but it is something that needs to be carefully considered. I think the tip about remaining positive is excellent! Positive thinking in my life more recently has brought me som much joy 🙂
These tips are amazing!
These are great tips on how to be happy. I especially like the one that says don’t blame others. I feel like people do that too often and forget that they have the power to be happy, it doesn’t rely in others