Instead Of Paying For Therapy, Here Are 20 Ways You Can Be Happier In 2020
You're never going to regret trying to improve yourself or make yourself happier, and yet so few of us actually make ourselves a priority. There are plenty of ways that you can improve your mental and physical health and overall happiness, but it can be hard to know how to start.
Therapy is expensive and your friends give terrible advice, so we've got you covered with 20 ways that you can be happier this year, and every year moving forward.
Stop Going To Bed At 2AM
You've been hearing it for years from doctors, teachers, your parents, but this year should be the year you actually figure out your sleep schedule because it'll help you in the long run.
"Catching up" on sleep on Saturdays isn't actually a thing. You can't run on five hours of sleep every day and then sleep for 12 hours straight on the weekend and consider it fixed. Establish a consistent routine that works for you and you'll feel better in a matter of just a few days.
Pick One Fear Or Anxiety You Have And Face It Head On
If it were easy for you to accomplish you wouldn't be afraid of doing it, but that also means you're going to feel even better about it once you actually move past your fear.
Psychologist Forrest Talley said the best thing you can do is single out an anxiety you have, set a reward for yourself for when you've conquered it, and then figure out how you're going to do it. You don't have to face all of your fears, but even just one can make a big difference.
Make Sure You See The Sun
Even 10 minutes a day outside can drastically change your mood and help to relieve anxiety or stress. Take a walk at lunch or tag along with your coworkers when they go to buy an afternoon pick-me-up, even if you don't drink coffee.
The more time outside, the better you'll feel, but it can seem daunting to commit to 30 or 40 minutes, so start with 10-15 and work your way up from there.
Slim Down Your Social Media Use
We all know that this is something we should be doing. We know that we spend too much time scrolling through Facebook or watching former friends' Instagram stories, but why? How is it benefitting you?
You don't have to delete all your social media accounts and cut yourself off from the world, but you can use it less. As well, try to remind yourself when you are using it that social media is a highlight reel. Don't get sucked into someone's best moments thinking that they don't have low moments as well.
Establish A Cleaning Routine
You may hate cleaning with every fiber of your being, but having a clean home really is going to make you feel better.
Try to develop a "clean as you go" mentality so you prevent things from piling up. When you leave your room, pick up a couple of pieces of laundry and put them in your laundry hamper. Wash your dishes as you're cooking dinner. Having a clean home helps you have a more clear headspace.
Be Sad, Sometimes
There's nothing wrong with being sad, and it's not attainable if you set the goal of never being sad. Happiness isn't the only emotion we experience, and it's healthy to embrace all of your emotions, whatever they may be.
Next time you're feeling sad, try to focus on why, and then see if it's something you can have influence over. Even if it's not something you can change, you'll still have a better idea of why you're feeling like you are.
Figure Out An Exercise Routine That Works For You
Establishing a daily or weekly exercise routine may sound like the epitome of hell to you, which is why you need to focus on figuring out what's going to work best. Your best friend might be the person who gets up at 6 am every morning to go to spin class, but if you're not a morning person that's never going to work long term.
Find an activity that you love to do, whether it's dance, lifting weights, running, or even walking, then figure out how to fit it into your schedule.
Drink More Water
Have you had eight glasses of water today? Probably not, but you should because drinking water helps your body mentally and physically, which leads you to feel happier overall.
The easiest way for you to drink more water is simply to have it near you. Use that Amazon Prime membership you convinced yourself you needed, order a water bottle and always have it with you. You'll start drinking more without even thinking about it because you always have the option.
Try Eating Intuitively Instead Of Absent Mindedly
Putting yourself on a super restrictive diet in order to reach a weight loss goal isn't healthy, it's probably not going to be effective, and in the end, you're going to feel disappointed in yourself.
Instead of going on a fad diet, focus on eating intuitively. Eat slower than you normally do and listen to your body. Eat when you're actually hungry, not when you're bored, and stop eating when you're full. Intuitive eating will help decrease the stress you might feel around eating and help reduce your overall stress.
Eliminate One Of Your Bad Habits
It's not realistic to say that you should wake up tomorrow and decide to quit all of your bad habits cold turkey. You're setting yourself up for failure if that's your goal, but what you can achieve is giving up or cutting back on one unhealthy habit.
Think about your daily habits — how many cups of coffee do you drink in a day? Do you always scroll through social media while lying in bed? Now think about how you can alter those habits.
Say No More Often
But you before you go full hermit-mode, you should say "yes" more as well. The point is, be more mindful about what you spend your time doing.
You're allowed to say no to activities or experiences that you don't think are beneficial to you. Instead, focus on spending your time with people who you enjoy being around, and participate in activities that will make you happy or that you love to do.
Find A New Hobby
Life is busy, and whether you work full time, go to school, or both, you probably come home at the end of the day and want to sit on the couch doing nothing until you go to bed. And that's okay — but only sometimes.
Find a hobby, something that you're passionate about or something that gets you excited. Learn a new language, join a recreational dodge ball league, sign up for guitar classes. Anything that gets you out of the cycle of work-Netflix-sleep that you're stuck in.
Talk About Yourself The Way You Talk About Your Friends
We're all too hard on ourselves, and it's easy to speak negatively about ourselves even though we'd never allow our friends to talk to us — or about us — the way we talk to ourselves.
This year, focus on speaking positively about yourself, whether it's talking about your appearance or talking about a job opportunity you applied for. Thinking negatively about ourselves is too easy, so challenge yourself to think positively and you'll be happier for it.
Practice Gratitude
While you're working on not questioning every good thing that comes your way, you can also work on thinking about all the things you're grateful for in your life.
We are all guilty of getting hung up on one bad thing that happened and letting it annoy us for the rest of the day, skimming past all the great things in our lives. Whether it's right when you wake up or before you go to bed, take a few minutes to think about all the things in your life that you're grateful for.
Stop Questioning The Good
Many of us are guilty of questioning when something good happens to us, or waiting for the other shoe to the drop, but we should be focussed on enjoying the moment that's in front of us.
Embrace whatever good things are happening in your life and try not to worry about what could be coming along to ruin it because often worrying is the thing that is responsible for ruining the moment.
Accomplish One Task A Day
You're thinking "but I already accomplish 100 tasks a day!" right? And while that's true, that also shows that you can accomplish one more thing every day too.
Every day, give yourself one task that you're going to accomplish. It doesn't have to be something monumental, it can be as simple as removing the garbage from your car. One goal outside of your regular daily tasks can help you feel more purposeful in your daily life.
Turn Your Phone Off — Completely
Before you start thinking about all the reasons that you couldn't possibly turn your phone off or put it on airplane mode, think realistically about what would happen. Nothing, right?
More than just taking time away from social media, taking time away from technology and constant communication is important for everyone. If you go to the gym, try putting your phone on airplane mode, or turning your phone off for an hour when you first get up so you're not bombarded with messages and notifications first thing in the morning.
Help Others Whenever You Can
You could start volunteering at a local organization, or maybe you offer to walk your neighbor's dog because they work opposite shifts to you. Helping others and helping other people feel happier will make you feel happier as well.
It might seem selfish to help other people in order to help yourself feel good, but the point is that in the end, it benefits everybody. There's nothing wrong with trying to help as many people as possible, including yourself.
Establish One Self Care Practice
It's easy to read an article about self-care practices and tell yourself that you're going to implement all of them in your life starting tomorrow, but how often does that actually happen?
Instead of trying to change your sleep schedule, start a gratitude journal, buy 6 new plants, and implement a whole new skincare routine in the span of one weekend, pick one thing you're going to change and master it. Once it's part of your routine, then you can look at adding another element.
Acknowledge That Failing Isn't The Worst Thing
The fear of failure is one of the biggest things that stops us from progressing ourselves and our lives. If you're afraid to do something, think about "why?" Is the main reason that you're afraid of how you'll look or how you'll feel if you fail?
Failure is a part of life, and if you're failing it means you're taking risks and working to develop yourself. No one is going to fault you for trying new things or trying to better yourself, even if you fail a couple of times along the way.
