If Life Is so Good Why Am I Not That Happy

Have you ever had that experience where everything in life seems to be going as planned, yet you simply aren't that happy?

You are plugging along, usually pressed for time, going to work, raising kids, spending time with family, paying bills, and it just feels like the same stuff, a different day.

And at some point, it dawns on you, "I'm really not that happy doing this. Is this all there is?"
This can be a particularly scary thought, especially when things are going reasonably well.

RESOURCES & LINKS:
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Counting blessings versus burdens: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-0...

A computational and neural model of momentary subjective well-being: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...

The Unexpected Value of Rediscovery: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1...

positive reframing helps achieve satisfaction at the end of the day: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...

How do people pursue happiness: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-0...
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When you think about life in broad terms, the goal for most people is simply to be happy.

But if you aren’t that happy in your daily life, you’re probably wondering, how do I achieve it?

And this can be particularly discouraging if you’ve tried different things, such as starting a new relationship or owning more things and discovered that it didn’t necessarily lead to long-term happiness.

Fortunately, the research has a lot to say about strategies that can help you to find long-term happiness.

The first strategy for improving happiness is to take time each day to be grateful by prioritizing a bit of time to focus on what’s going well.

I’d encourage you to focus on bigger areas such as health and relationships, as well as smaller areas, such as a series you might be looking forward to watching or a great view of nature you might have seen earlier in the day.

Second, it’s important to evaluate your expectations in a way that helps to promote happiness.

Simply put, it’s important to have your expectations align with your thoughts or the situation at hand.

If you are unable to do that, it’s important to change how you think or change how you act because the wider the gap between your expectations and the thought or situation, the more unhappy you will be.

Next, I’d encourage you to find joy in everyday experiences.

This can be accomplished by being present and enjoying the moment, as well as taking a bit of time to focus on past moments that were enjoyable.

For my fourth strategy for improving happiness, I encourage you to accept that challenges and setbacks are a part of life, as opposed to being highly upset and discouraged each time they occur.

Instead, I’d suggest reframing these setbacks as challenges that you can overcome, which will ultimately make you stronger.

Fifth, it’s important to have a reasonable level of self-acceptance.

Without self-acceptance, it’s very difficult to feel good about yourself or anything that you’ve ever done, which will significantly restrict your ability to feel happy.

And for my sixth and final strategy, I encourage you to be social.

We are all designed for connection and even the most introverted of people need some form of consistent social connection to feel happy.

So, I hope you found these strategies helpful for improving feelings of happiness.

If you’re experiencing challenges implementing these steps, please contact us @ https://www.drsullivan.ca/

Thank you for watching, and be sure to watch part 2 of my video about How To Cope With Feelings of Guilt, which will be released shortly.

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