Want to Feel Happy Everyday? Here are 7 Tips and 14 Resources You Can Use Immediately!
Gratitude isn’t just a buzzword.
2020 seems to be building an intimate bond with humanity. Unlike normal relationships, where the bad stuff is reserved for later… 2020 opened with the crazy.
It’s a hugely frustrating time. Data shows a 37% increase in mental health problems since the lockdown began. Let’s face it — it’s easy and completely natural to be unhappy.
But what if there was one “hack”, to overcome ALL of this, and get into a happy state, without fail — every. single. day.
That hack of course, is Gratitude.
Skeptical? Understandable.
How about we start with a small thought experiment?
Set aside your inner skeptic, for just 5 minutes.
Because gratitude is powerful. If there’s a single habit that guarantees daily happiness for me, it’s this. Regardless of the current state of my life.
And Gratitude isn’t positivity. It’s the level 10 upgrade. Like a happiness guarantee. With money back.
The gratitude fan club — Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pratt, Matt Damon, Shahrukh Khan, Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson
Look, if you try this: Worst case — nothing changes. Best case — you gain a new superpower!
Dramatic? Maybe. But I speak from experience. Gratitude has been transformational for me. But if you don’t believe me, believe these guys — Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pratt, Matt Damon, Jerry Seinfeld, Gary Vaynerchuck, Shahrukh Khan, Dwayne Johnson, Tim Ferris, the Dalai Lama… are just some of the people who vouch for gratitude and its magical properties.
But what is gratitude? Simply put — it is the art of rewiring your mind, to focus and be thankful for things you have. Thankful to who? Energy, god, universe, luck, random chance, any of these. All of these. You choose. It makes NO difference.
Gratitude is the art of rewiring your mind, to focus on what you have, and rather than on what you do not.
How to be grateful? The 7-step approach
Practical tips you can adopt to get started today!
1. Keep it small
There will be many days when you’re just not in the mood. Also called the “ugh, not today” zone. You may believe you have nothing to be grateful for…
Spoiler alert — you do!
The easiest way to overcome this — lower your standards. (Shocking, I know) Think of the smallest possible things that you could be grateful for. Some days, I’ve literally forced myself to be grateful for ridiculous things, like the lazy, comfy feeling you get after waking up, or the great night’s sleep I’d had. Or even the feeling of the warm sunlight on my face.
I know this may be cliched, but think about it… the things we take for granted are things that SO many of us don’t have…
150,000 people will sleep tonight & not wake up tomorrow.
For instance —
- At least 30% of the world population has insomnia or struggles to sleep. If you’re not one of them — thank your stars.
- The odds of you being born, are a staggering 400 trillion to one! Put it this way — your odds of winning the lottery are way… way higher. Basically the fact that you are here reading this article, is in itself a bloody miracle.
- 150,000 people will go to sleep tonight and not wake up tomorrow. If you get up tomorrow, congratulations!
- About a billion people in the world are specially abled. If you have fully functioning legs, hands or even minds, you’re one lucky person.
We never get everything we want. And the key is to focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t.
2. When you practice this, don’t just think it, feel it
Imagine (yes take 30 seconds and actually do this now) that the one thing you’ve been wishing for — actually happened. Do it! I’m waiting….
Done? Do you notice that euphoric ‘I can’t believe I’m so lucky’ feeling? Remember that. Every time you practice gratitude, recall this emotion, and let it wash over you…
I promise you, with practice, there aren’t many things in life that compare to this feeling.
3. Anchor it to a daily activity
Gratitude is one of the first things I do in the morning. It makes for an amazing start to the day. Whether after brushing, or bathing. Later in the day may work for some, but it doesn’t work for me. Later turns into never.
4. Turn negatives into positives
You can also be thankful for something unpleasant that happened to you. Say you had an argument with your parents, or you had a challenging day at work, the next day — try spinning this into a positive. like “I’m grateful for that challenge because it helped me grow, or it pushed me to grow, to become stronger than I was yesterday, etc.” you get the gist…
5. Take yourself to zero.
This is for those low-motivation days.
Imagine you possess nothing. No home, no clothes, no family, no friends, no dog, no country. Focus on the uncomfortable feeling of emptiness. And then…start noticing the things you do have in life — a home, family, things, friends, etc. How grateful are you to actually have those?
6. Decide your future
You can also be grateful for things you’d like to happen in your life. Imagine as if they’ve already happened, see the magic this does. It’s an exercise that magically develops self-belief.
7. Be patient!
Most important — gratitude is not a quick fix. It’s a lifestyle that you build over days, weeks and months. The key is to make it a habit. Start easy, start small. But, persist.
So how do I overcome my inertia and actually get started?
The key to starting, is to build momentum, so much momentum that you have no choice but to take action. The best way to do this is to immerse yourself in the universe of gratitude. Read, listen & watch podcasts, blogs & videos on gratitude. Understand other people’s habits. Adopt their thought process.
To get you started, I’ve compiled the most amazing articles, videos and podcasts on Gratitude. Pick the format you’re most comfortable with!
Pick at least 3…
Watch or listen to whichever one appeals to you most, but give it time! For this to work, you must listen, read or watch at least 3. (5 is ideal, but 3 to start with)
TOP 5 VIDEOS — Gratitude secrets, from the best minds.
1. ‘Gratitude, Stop Thinking and Do Action”, with Gary Vaynerchuck
Over 13 million followers across Instagram, Twitter & Tiktok, plus a net worth of $160 million,
Gary Vee is a modern day philosopher, businessman and social media guru.
Watch, as he brilliantly sheds light on what drives him day after day after day.
2. Brene Brown on joy and gratitude
A research professor at the University of Houston who has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, Brene Brown is also the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers.
In the video below, she rubbishes a common myth — that people who are joyful are grateful because of the happiness in their lives.
Not true.
Not even close.
Listen to her share her surprising findings.
3. What Oprah Knows About the Power of Gratitude
As Oprah says, gratitude is about focusing on what you have, versus focusing on what you don’t have.
Listen to her story of Monica George, a truly inspiring story about one of the bravest mothers I’ve ever come across.
If you’re an Oprah fan, here’s a fun video of her reading her first gratitude journal
4. How to Truly Be Grateful In Any Situation, by Tony Robbins
The world’s most famous life coach deserves another mention.
Involved in more than 31 companies, with $5 billion in annual revenue, he’s coached world leaders from Bill Clinton to b to b Williams.
His 3 minute video is the perfect kick starter to your gratitude journey.
5. The Ask Gary Vee show
A team up between Tony Robbins & Gary Vaynerchuck. Two legends in their own right. This is an excerpt from a special episode.
Tony describes his gratitude routine, and shares an interesting experiment on human behavior. Check it out.
And Gary…. he chips in with something unbelievable that he does daily to get into a unique frame of mind.
TOP 5 ARTICLES —hand-picked & selected for you!
1. The Gratitude checklist
Consider this a practical guide to being grateful. The article provides us with a list of ideas that we can use to feel gratitude.
Feel free to scroll down to the meaty part.
2. Gratitude: How to Change Negative Beliefs, Be Happy, And Become Successful
Written by organisational psychologist Benjamin Hardy, this captures a very important facet of gratitude —
Gratitude works by transforming how you feel about your past, your present and consequentially, your future. And there lies the key to happiness.
3. Giving thanks can make you happier, by Harvard Health publishing
This article is filled with interesting results from gratitude studies conducted across the world. And the benefits it has on your work, life & even relationships!
4. Thirty-one Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Science-Backed Guide
This article spits some serious science and titbits on the benefits. Take this for example —
There’s something called… “Hedonistic adaptation. Put more simply, we get used to the good things that happen to us. Good part — it keeps us motivated to achieve even greater things.
Bad part — It can also kill our marriages — we get used to our amazing spouse (or kids, or job, or house). We stop seeing what we are used to as positives and start complaining.
It is a psychological imperative to fight hedonic adaptation if we want to maximise happiness. Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal because it helps remind us of the good things that are already in our lives.”
Many people think that getting something like a raise or a promotion at work is what it will take to make them happier. But this just isn’t true, due to something called hedonic adaptation.
Find out more about hedonic adaptation and why this makes gratitude so powerful for happiness.
5. Seven Scientifically Proven Benefits Of Gratitude That Will Motivate You To Give Thanks Year-Round
“Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and they report feeling healthier than other people.”
Okay even I wasn’t expecting this.
PODCASTS — for all you audiophiles
You can also find these podcasts on Stitcher, Spotify, & others
1. “10 Strategies to Be Happier Through Gratitude”, with Tim Ferris & AJ Jacobs
— The Tim Ferris show
You probably know the legend that is Tim Ferris, so let’s talk about A.J. Jacobs, who is a New York Times bestselling author, and who came out with a book about gratitude called — Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey
2. Choosing Gratitude over complaining, with Hal Elrond
Hal Elrod — American author, keynote speaker and success coach. Also the guy who recovered from a terrible car accident (his heart stopped beating for 6 minutes. He also almost went broke in 2008 financial crisis, Not to mention — he recently beat acute lymphoblastic leukemia — a rare form of cancer.
When this guy talks, you better believe it’s worth listening to.
3. Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude, with Lewis Howes
- the School of Greatness podcast
Recognized by The White House and President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under 30, Lewis Howes was a former American football player and decathlete. Here, he shares his invaluable wisdom on gratitude.
After opening link, scroll to the bottom of the page for audio
4. Top 10 Ways To Become More Grateful, From The Leading Expert on Gratitude and Happiness
— Empowering You Organically
Gratitude tips, courtesy Robert Emmons — PhD and leading scientific expert on gratitude. Professor of Psychology at the University of California — Davis and the founding Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology
And to give this a strong finish…
I leave you with a few words from some people you may recognize.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
― Epicurus“Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude.”
― Nick Vujicic“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
— Buddha“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
— Oprah Winfrey“The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes. It has enough lush forests, flowered fields, and sandy beaches. It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day. What the world needs more of is people to appreciate and enjoy it.” — Michael Josephson
