Happiness is a state of mind and it is something that cannot be faked. These are necessary rules you need to live to experience a durable sense of authentic happiness.
Feel your feelings fully
Stress is simply the compounded feelings that live in your body. The more things you don’t feel, the more stressed you feel. When you don’t feel your feelings, tension shows up in your body. It becomes harder to be happy about life.
Learn to release negative feelings by feeling them. Remember that life isn’t about feeling better, it’s about getting better at feeling. Regularly allow yourself the time and space to let it all out.
Give more
We all suffer to the degree that our mind/ego convinces us that we are alone. That we are isolated. That life is ours alone to suffer through. Honoring your emotional states is necessary, but so is getting out of your head and back into the remembering that your life is ultimately about service to others.
When you get stuck in your head, try giving more. Give whatever you can. Give your gifts. Make art. Volunteer. Ask someone you care about how you can make their life even 1 percent better, and then deliver on that promise. This will be part of your life’s mission — today, and forever.
Live simply.
A cluttered life is as ineffective as an umbrella with a hundred tiny holes in it. Cut down on the number of things that you allow to take space into your calendar. Invest in a few deep friendships rather than spreading yourself thin with a hundred acquaintances.
Acknowledge that you wear only 20 percent of your clothing the most, and donate the rest of your wardrobe to people who will actually wear what you ignore. Work in your zone of genius more often than not, and let go of the dozens of things that you do that are taxing, time wasting, and unfulfilling. Live simply.
Honor your body and mind.
Do exercises that feels like play to you. Drink water regularly. Eat healthily. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours per night. Regularly engage your body with sensual touch like a massage. Make these things non-negotiable.
Limit the amount of fear-based news (mental junk food) that you consume. Spend time with friends who love you. Spend time with people who challenge you. Meditate on gratitude. Empty your mind to someone who is a loving and safe space. Do these things often. Just as you can’t eat enough in one sitting to be satiated forever, specific self-care habits must be engaged in on a consistent basis in order to experience the ongoing benefits.
Invest in relationships.
The quality and depth of your relationships is the biggest determining factor of long-term health and happiness, above all else. Spend more time with your favorite people. Go deeper with them. Regularly remind people around you that you love them.
When you lie on your deathbed, you will wish that you had apologized to someone you cared for. Or spent one more lazy afternoon with your best friend. Or told that one person how you really felt about them. Start that today. Invest in your relationships. Get offline and connect with people.