11 Habits Of The Happiest People

Making just a few simple changes, to your daily habits could mean a world of difference.
Getty Images

When it comes to happiness, the study of habits, outlooks, and traits that glowingly happy people possess is a process of discovering which ones they seem to have in common.

Some of the most powerful, supportive habits and traits are not what you'd suspect. Yet they're simple and profound. When you read them, you may be glad to notice you already have some of these habits naturally, and some may pop out as areas you'd like to cultivate while continuing to build your happiness foundation.

Don’t feel like you have to be or do all these things at once. Developing new habits, retraining your brain, and shifting mind-sets take time and dedication before the magical change happens and they become second nature. It’s an ongoing process, and the key is willingness and dedication to doing the work.

Here are the 11 habits of the happiest people to get you started on your journey toward lasting happiness:

1. Be Deliberately Optimistic

Some people are naturally optimistic, but just because they're natural optimists doesn't mean they always carry a positive attitude. Just like positivity can become a habit, so can negativity. Even naturally optimistic people sometimes have to make an effort to be positive and do it deliberately.

The happiest people know an optimistic outlook is imperative to emotional wellness, quality of life, and even the outcome of some situations. As a result, they put added deliberate effort into being positive and encouraging others to be positive as well. Even if you're not optimistic by nature, you can change that nature by doing the daily work of mindfully shifting to a positive point of view about what each day may bring and any situations that come up in your life.

Living with a positive outlook and seeing the best in every situation is something we can choose. It's also contagious. When you're optimistic, you will elevate the energy of the people around you, creating a cycle of positivity that lifts everyone up.

2. Prioritize Mindfully

Happy people have trained themselves to align their choices, intentions, and actions with the highest priorities of love, happiness, and health. They put joy, love, health, and passion first; the rest follows. They dismiss what's unimportant, and they largely ignore trivial minutiae. Focusing on these 17 positive habits is a great way to start, but remember that happy people keep an inner flow of mind-sets and priorities that positively support them (while saying no to what's out of alignment). Happy people focus on what is wholly aligned with the life they truly desire and freely let the rest fall away without guilt.

This includes regularly examining and spotting even small joy drains they might be tolerating in their lives, and quickly making edits. With awareness, you can train your mind to do this, and you'll notice yourself not caring or being bothered by the little stuff that used to annoy the hell out of you, because your thoughts and energy are way too valuable to be spent on those things any longer.

Your top priorities in life should be your health and happiness and making sure everything you do and every choice you make comes from a place of love. If you do this, everything else falls into place. Life becomes much easier and more peaceful. Every thought or action you have should somehow, in some way, circle back to one of those three fundamental priorities.

3. Keep Resources on Hand to Create an Instant Uplift

Happy people are highly aware of the specific things that lift them up, and they naturally and frequently use them when they need a physical and/or emotional boost.

Everyone's different, but we all have those little spirit-lifters that instantly make us feel lighter, happier, and more energized. These resources cost very little or nothing at all and don't take a ton of effort, but they provide noticeable results. It's all about creating the habit of reaching for them much more often.It does take effort to create this habit, because it's so easy to ignore the little stuff that brings us joy when we get busy or feel crappy. But this is when we need them most.

READ: Meditation accoring to Kate Hudson

4. Put Yourself First

The word selfish is unfairly vilified. The truth is, sometimes being a bit selfish is actually the best thing we can do for the people we care about. The happiest people frequently tune in to their own needs—without hesitation—and make their own happiness a top priority, which then helps them bring their absolute A game to the people and projects in their lives.

If you were taking radical, incredible care of yourself more of the time how would the way you show up in the world change? Think about how your life, certain relationships, and parts of your work might improve dramatically.

When taking care of yourself first, you're also taking care of everyone else who matters in the process, and knowing this will make it so much easier to focus on. Radical, loving, enthusiastic care of your body, mind, and spirit should always be number one. It's the way to be your most incredible self on every level.

5. Be a Prolific Seeker

In the same way a bee buzzes around seeking pollen from flowers, the happiest people resourcefully seek beauty, joy, adventure, pleasure, growth, and powerful meaning in all areas of life. They're constantly in search of opportunities to marvel, even at the smallest things, and they view life as a classroom packed with lessons and chances to flourish emotionally and spiritually. They drink it all in. This is a quality that can be cultivated and practiced until it becomes second nature, and it's a major part of overall happiness.

To nourish and grow the seeker within you, try these simple exercises that will help awaken your inner seeker and train your mind to always look for light and wonder:

1. In the room you're in now, take a few minutes to look around at the everyday objects surrounding you. Think about the people involved in bringing those simple objects to the world. Begin to look at everything in the world this way, from the smallest objects to the tallest buildings. This way of looking at objects around you will make beautiful things like visual art, music, and nature seem even more magical and amazing.

2. Always look for meaning and ways to grow. Lessons are everywhere if we choose to see them. From dreams we have at night to challenging situations we face, there are messages throughout. Seek them out and let them fill your heart with wisdom and appreciation.

6. Don’t Make Things Personal

Here's a fact that can be hard to accept, but when we do, it’s life changing. Ready? Absolutely nothing others say or do is about you. Ever.

Isn't that a huge relief when you really think about it? Here's the thing. It's their stuff. When others talk about you, do things you feel are against you, or try to wrap you up in unnecessary drama, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with their own interests and junk. By resisting the temptation to make things about us, we increase our own happiness and peace while at the same time finding more compassion and understanding for the plights and motives of others.

The happiest people have the habit of going straight to this inner knowing that it's not about them anytime a relevant situation comes up, and you can even engage in a quick meditation for compassion that'll reignite your positivity.

Speak, act, receive, and perceive from a place of love and compassion, and many of the things that used to seem negative or personal will transform into opportunities for progress, forgiveness, and illumination.

READ: How to get well and happy with Chelsea Parsons

7. Examine the Worst That Can Happen

Yes, at first this sounds negative, but here's a thought: We tend to think that the "worst that can happen" in many situations is much worse than it actually is. This can cause us to make decisions based on fear instead of reality. In many situations, if we really take a moment to ask ourselves, "What's the worst that can happen here?" the honest answer we receive will be much different from the scenario we were tempted to base decisions on.

The happiest people know how powerful a careful examination of consequences can be. This can offer an entirely new perspective that can change many outcomes and greatly assist us in making more empowering decisions.

Many of the limitations we're placing on ourselves aren't real— they're illusions. Instead, try to conquer your biggest fears and notice that the habit of taking the time to examine "the worst that can happen" when making decisions or going after our dreams can bring us to an incredible place of fearlessness, peace, and personal power.

8. Practice Loving-Kindness

It sounds simple, but consistently practicing loving-kindness is not as easy as it sounds. Of course, we make an effort to be kind and loving toward others, but the pressures and distractions of daily life can sometimes take energy from that focus.

The happiest, most successful people are in the habit of allowing kindness to be one of the driving forces behind much of what they do in the world. After all, few things amp up happiness like the feeling of doing something kind for another being, human or animal, and loving all the animals in your life is just step one.

Focus on expanding the energy of loving-kindness in your life, and you'll expand the way you experience your life in beautiful ways.

9. Be Aware of Your Energy

We are very intuitive and energetically sensitive beings. The vibes in our space can affect our joy and energy the same way a dimmer on a light switch can change the brightness of a bulb. You get to decide on the quality of the energy you create and allow into your life, which is huge.

Be careful of what kind of energy you allow others to bring into your space (steer clear of negative or heavy energy as much as possible). This also goes for energy created by television, social media, and your surroundings.

Tune in frequently, evaluate, and examine the quality of the energy within and around you, noticing what needs to be adjusted or abandoned, then shift accordingly. A great way to begin creating this habit is to regularly ask yourself, "How is my energy right now?" or "Is the energy within and around me the best it can be right now?"

READ: 5 best natural energy boosters

10. Let Life Move You

French author and philosopher Albert Camus once said, "Live to the point of tears." The happiest people stay so open to the beauty of life, they receive rushes of awe and complete wonder on a regular basis on multiple levels.

Tears can be wonderful, and never underestimate the benefits of a good cry. We typically associate tears with sorrow, but there are also tears of joy, compassion, relief, and gratitude. When was the last time you can remember shedding tears other than tears of sorrow?

Opening up and allowing the kinds of emotions to emanate from within that can inspire the levels of positive emotions that move us to tears is a skill worth practicing.

Give yourself permission to experience all things more deeply and fully, to allow passion to live in everything you feel, and to be perpetually amazed and moved by life. It's a beautiful way of being.

11. Be Aware of the Media You’re Consuming

Social media is here to stay, as is the idea of literally millions of choices of what to watch, listen to, and read. Negativity, violence, an exhausting overload of hyped-up news, and offensive click-bait headlines are everywhere, draining our naturally positive energy. Our minds must have room to wander to stay healthy and vibrant. We're literally losing our ability to allow our minds to simply wander freely for more than a few seconds at a time, but a few changes can help slow down time using modern hacks.

We must begin to adapt and change our habits in this area. We have to be more vigilant than ever about mindfully choosing media that lifts us up and contributes to our highest quality of life, while at the same time filtering out much of the negative.

This article originally appeared on rodalewellness.com

Discover: 4 apps that help you hack the big health plan

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From Conditions