1. Buy a pint of Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream as needed. You’re welcome.
2. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Being a skeptic is exhausting and no one really likes those people anyway. Train yourself to see the best in people.
3. Make travel plans more often and stick to them. Even if one friend bails, or you didn’t save enough money, or it’s easier to just stay in town for the weekend – make the plan and book the flight, it’ll be so worth it! Go for experiences, not things.
4. Trust your gut.
5. Listen to sad songs. Seriously. My roommates always tell me my spotify playlists are depressing, but I really love emotional music. AND in this study, researchers found that listening to sad music seemed to be linked to increased happiness around the globe and generated “beneficial emotional effects such as regulating negative emotion and mood as well as consolation”. [My playlist here]
6. Learn your love language. This will help with all of the relationships in your life.
7. Take a Sunday drive with someone you love to see admire the fall leaves.
8. Write stuff down when you think of it (start a note in your iPhone). Anyone who knows me knows how I love making lists. I make a list for everything. It turns out – checking things off a list actually makes you happier in the long run (Read this article).
9. Clear out your closet – simplify and declutter.
10. Celebrate every chance you get. Sometimes you need to take a break and reward yourself for what you’ve accomplished. Even if it’s just wine and pizza nights with girlfriends.
11. Get to know your neighbors.
12. Invest in your relationships.
13. Stop complaining: negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results.
14. Go to bed earlier.
15. Stop procrastinating. Procrastination makes you feel rushed which makes you stressed. Make an effort to start getting things done before their last minute deadline.
16. Do this ab workout as many times a week as you can.
17. Call your grandma.
18. FORGIVE that person.
19. Starbucks unsweetened green tea with 1 pump of peach flavoring. Try it.
20. Pinterest quotes to motivate, inspire, and make you think.
21. Don’t forget to aim for 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day – even if it’s just a 30 minute walk outside. I know you hear this all the time, but it really is the best way to increase your brain’s dopamine production (happy chemicals in your brain).
22. Call old friends to catch up.
23. Get a daily devotional and read from it first thing when you wake up in the morning. You’ll start your day with a better mindset.
24. Less eating out – more groceries & meal planning (and save $$).
25. Start a gratitude journal. Write down a three things every night you were thankful for that day. Reflect at the end of the week. My good friend referenced me to a book where I got this idea – The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor (great read).
We are all responsible for creating our own happiness, regardless of life’s circumstances. We can start loving our lives exactly as they are right now by enjoying the simple little joys in our every day lives. Thanks for reading xoxo, Olivia
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Thank you for the advice! I really like #25. I think we forget how many things we are grateful for because we are so focused on the bad.
https://memoriesandmacchiatos.wordpress.com
Love this! What daily devotional do you recommend?!
Olivia,
I really enjoy reading your blog and I do not read blogs often, if ever, so thank you. I work at and graduated from the University of Kentucky so it’s nice to read from someone where things relate. Also, The Happiness Advantage was used in one of our employee workshops and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it for everyone!!
Thank you again for your blog! and also your fashion tips…..for I was born without any fashion knowledge, but slowly it is getting better.
I love this post. It shows that it’s really the simple things that make life so much better.
Postive thinking is such a small change that can actually be so difficult to do, but once you realise that your life can be changed my such a simple step, then you actually start living your life to the full.
Thank you for writing such a beautiful post 💕
do you have a daily devotional you recommend?
I love reading ‘Take My Heart, Oh God’ by Sarah Young
I love how I can relate to some of them. I personally choose #5 as my favorite. I too have an emotional playlist and when listening to that, I get to somehow reflect on my life and my doings and think about the future and what I can do to make myself better. And I agree with what you said in the last part that we are responsible for our own happiness, regardless of life’s circumstances. It really is. We really should be responsible for our own happiness and do not rely on others for it.