12 Strategies to Boost Your Happiness

So, although it might not sound like it’s related, I believe it really is related directly and indirectly. And I think that your happiness plays a significant role in how well you do with your goals and your investing and everything you do. And that level of success that you get from your accomplishments plays right back into your level of happiness as I’ll talk about briefly here today. So I think it is a circular something or other feedback loop, that’s the word I’m looking for. So as you accomplish goals and feel fulfilled and do the things that you want to do, that leads to more happiness. But at the same time, your increased happiness also fuels everything that you’re doing and allows you to do what you do better. So I guess the most basic question to ask is what is happiness? And I’m not sure if anybody has like the perfect definition for it.

I, I could go to Webster or something like that and look it up and I’m not gonna going to do that here today. But happiness I think can be seen as both a temporary emotion or it could be seen as a longer term state of mind. And that is going to be shaped and often shaped by a variety of factors. Those could be things like your personal values, it could be your social connections like your friends and family. And of course life circumstances and things happen. Crap happens all the time. And I personally, just to be completely honest and fully transparent here, I myself am going through some hard times right now on every level in work, one of my other companies, I’m going through a pivot and it’s a very difficult one ’cause I’m dealing with a lot of investors and there’s a lot of email and paperwork and legal factors and all kinds of stuff going on.

And it’s just a mountain of stress and it’s all for the good. It’s, it’s a giant hurdle or hump that I have to get over in good faith and for everyone’s benefit and to protect the company. But it’s been a very, very stressful, difficult time for me. On top of that, I’ve got all kinds of things going on in my personal life from a renovation that’s taken forever and I’ve lost money on and dealing with contractors that have been failing me to my mother who actually had a heart attack about three weeks ago. And I’m just coming back right now from visiting her, spending about eight days with her post procedures. So I’m happy to say that she’s doing reasonably well. She gets tired all the time, but it’s not fun to know that your mother just had a heart attack and had to go to the ICU and be dealt with there.

So, you know, life has circumstances that can affect your happiness and stress levels. But the bottom line is happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion. It often describes a state of wellbeing, of contentment, of fulfillment. And it can be both a fleeting feeling, it could be here right now and be gone in five seconds in response to a particular event and even more enduring sense of satisfaction with life that plays into it. If you really stop to think about it and you actually study history, philosophers, psychologists and spiritual leaders have all explored happiness from different angles in different ways, often highlighting the different aspects of what contributes to it. And I think it comes down to essentially four perspectives, at least in my research. This is what I’ve discovered. You’ve got a psychological perspective. Psychologists often view happiness in terms of subjective wellbeing, which includes positive emotions, life satisfaction, and the absence of negative emotions.

Now that sounds great, but you know, how often does that happen on a consistent basis? Positive psychology focuses on factors that contribute to a fulfilling life. And these can be relationships, personal strengths, achieving goals, meaningful activities. These are all the psychological aspects that a psychologist or a psychological person looking at it would see. That’s one perspective. Then you have the philosophical perspective and, and this goes back a long, long way in human history, in time, philosophers have long debated the nature of happiness. For example, Aristotle way back when he believed that happiness was the highest good and was achieved by living a virtuous life. Epicurus another famous philosopher on the other hand, emphasized simple pleasures. Simple pleasures and the avoidance of pain led to happiness. Then we have cultural and spiritual perspectives, different cultures around the world and spiritual traditions have their own interpretations of what happiness is.

For example, in Buddhism, happiness is often associated with inner peace and detachment from desires. In many Eastern philosophies, happiness is seen as a byproduct of living in harmony with the universe. And I almost hate to say it, but for some people in western cultures, western philosophies that happiness tends to be tied to personal goals, personal achievement, material goods, material achievement, monetary success. Sure that could certainly play into happiness, but you know, it’s not the be all end all. And then the fourth perspective is a biological one. And this is something I wanted drill down into a little bit more here because I think it’s important to understand how happiness is affected by your biology, the chemicals in your system. The biological perspective is basically this. On a biological level, happiness is influenced by various neurotransmitters and hormones. These are the chemicals known as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin.

That’s what it’s, those are the four chemicals that affect your mood and your emotional state. So on that note, let me segue into what is essentially the happiness chemicals. So there are four main chemicals in your brain that contribute to the feeling of happiness and wellbeing. And again, those are dopamine and orphans, oxytocin and serotonin. And these are very, very, very powerful chemicals or hormones that are in your system and in your brain that activate different feelings and emotions and physiological and psychological pathways that trigger that sense or that feeling of happiness. So these chemicals, if you will, provide specific activities that can naturally boost these feelings of happiness. So I’m gonna break this down ’cause it’s easier to understand if you just understand what these things do and how they’re labeled. So when we talk about dopamine, I’m sure we’ve all heard of dopamine, it’s also known as the reward chemical.

So what does that mean? What dopamine does is it’s released when you accomplish something providing a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. So if you accomplish a small task or a small challenge or a puzzle or a goal, what that does is releases dopamine in your system, the reward chemical. And there are ways to actually boost this in your system. If you complete a task or you’re listening to music that you love or you get a massage or you engage in self-care activities or you eat healthy foods, those all contribute to the release of dopamine. It’s not hard to release dopamine. And so it should be theoretically speaking and in practice, easy to boost your happiness by focusing on these things that boost dopamine in your system. Now what about endorphins? Well, these are known as the painkillers. Now, I hope I’m pronouncing that right. I’ve heard it pronounced in different ways.

Endorphin, I guess that’s the way it’s pronounced, but it’s the painkiller. So what does endorphin do? Endorphins are released during physical activity or when you laugh, helping to reduce pain and stress. So how do you boost endorphins? Well, exercise is probably the most common way that people get that high, that pain killing, high eating, dark chocolate, watching a comedy or just listening to comedy, engaging in healthy socializing. This is why a lot of people like to go out and hang out with friends and socialize. It just makes them feel good. Dancing and singing. Those all release endorphins or endorphins in your system. The third chemical is oxytocin. Now this is known as the love hormone. And what it does is it is it’s associated with bonding trust and relationships. It creates a feeling of love and connection. So what can you do? How do you boost oxytocin?

Just give and serve others. Have deep conversations. Play with your pets. This is why pets are so popular. Engage in physical touch and practice things like yoga, these are all things that release the love hormone, oxytocin. Now the fourth chemical in your system is serotonin. And I know we’ve all heard of serotonin. Serotonin is important because it’s the mood stabilizer. And what serotonin does is it helps regulate mood, your sleep and your appetite. It’s very powerful, it stabilizes your mood, makes you feel more balanced. And this is something I think we all could really use, especially today with all the stress and the fast pace that we have in society. And serotonin is not difficult to boost if you just go for walks, like walks in nature. Just reconnect yourself to nature and ground yourself. If you ensure yourself a good night’s sleep, if you spend time in the sun or meditate or even swim, these are things that release the mood, stabilizing hormone, serotonin, these are all very, very powerful things.

So those are the four happiness chemicals and how you can boost them. So let’s talk about, I guess 12 strategies to boost your happiness. And these are things that will increase one or more of these chemicals that you have in your system and in your brain that gives you the feeling of happiness. So boosting happiness involves a combination of things, mindset, habits and lifestyle choices. Again, those things are mindset, habits and lifestyle choices. So here are some strategies. First, you can cultivate gratitude, practice, daily gratitude. And one of my good friends, Aaron is, is the one who kept talking about this over and over and over again for years. And it made sense, but I never really latched onto it as like, okay, yeah that works, but apparently it does. So if you practice daily gratitudes, like write down three things you’re grateful for each day.

This shifts your focus towards the positive aspects of life. Or you can express gratitude, tell someone you appreciate them, expressing thanks, strengthens relationships and it boosts your mood. All these things drive those four chemicals that help you feel happy or happier. The second strategy is to prioritize relationships. Connect with loved ones. Spend time with your family and friends. And this is something that I am guilty of and I really need to focus more on spending time with my family and friends. Social connections are a significant source of happiness and this is why people love to go out and hang out with friends and family and do things. We are social beings and there’s an obvious reason for that. We are happy being social beings and work towards building stronger bonds. If you engage in meaningful conversations and listen actively when you’re talking to someone and you show empathy, that builds happiness, it boosts your happiness.

That’s all about prioritizing relationships. Third, engage in regular exercise. This one I think is pretty obvious, but physical activity is important. Exercise releases endorphins or endorphins. I’m gonna have to master the pronunciation of that word. But when you release endorphins, which are natural mood lifters, you boost your happiness. Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity, maybe not every day, but as often as you can most days of the week if you can. I love going for long walks, 30, 45 minutes, sometimes even an hour, but at least 30 minutes for a long brisk walk. And I like to do that in the evening. Try different activities. It doesn’t have to be walking, yoga, dancing, hiking, whatever it may be. Whatever floats your boat is one of the sayings I like. But whatever works for you. A fourth strategy is to practice mindfulness and meditation.

My friend Rick is big on this and he has been for many, many years mindful moments focus on the present moment without judgment. I think that’s an important one ’cause a lot of us, many of us focus on the past. Many people like myself focus on the future, but maybe not. A lot of us focus on the here and the now being present. Mindfulness can reduce stress and increase contentment and meditation, although I used to meditate, but I don’t, I haven’t for a long, long time. But regular meditation helps calm the mind, it improves your focus and enhances your emotional wellbeing. All these things lead to increased happiness. It boosts your happiness. Fifth strategy would be to set and pursue meaningful goals. And I’ve talked about this on and off many times over the years on this show. Goal setting, having goals gives you a sense of purpose.

Break them down into manageable steps that make progress, feel achievable. Micro steps, micro tasks, those all give you a sense of accomplishment, small ones, but they give you a sense of accomplishment. And then celebrate your achievements. Acknowledge and celebrate small victories along the way. If you do that, you can’t help but to boost your happiness. Sixth strategy is to nurture a positive mindset, positive thinking. We’ve all heard this challenge. Negative thoughts. Try to get them out of your mind or reframe them in a more positive light. And then self-compassion. Be kind to yourself, especially during setbacks. And this is something I should take my own advice on right now. I should be kind to myself, especially during difficult times. Treat yourself as you would a friend. And I think you really need to focus on that. Treat yourself as if you were treating your best friend.

Seventh strategy is to engage in acts of kindness. One thing we learned back in adventure guides, something that was called Indian princesses prior to that until the whole political correctness thing came along. When my daughter and I were going through that, there was this thing we referred to as rac, RAK or racks, random acts of kindness. So if you engage in acts of kindness, this naturally and quickly boosts your happiness. Just help others volunteer, donate or simply do something kind for someone. Helping others can increase your own happiness and random acts of kindness. These small gestures like holding the door for someone or giving a compliment to somebody can brighten their day. It’ll brighten your day. The eighth strategy is to pursue hobbies and interests. Find joy in activities, engage in hobbies or activities that bring you joy, whether it’s reading, which I love to do, painting, cooking, gardening, whatever it is, you know, just pursue hobbies and interests that make you happy because you’re happy, because it’s doing something good for you.

And even learning new skills, learn something new. Something new can be both fulfilling and exciting. I love to learn and so I always feel so good when I’m learning something new. A ninth strategy is to maintain a balanced lifestyle, a healthy diet, eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients that support your physical and your mental health. If you take good care of yourself, you know health is wealth. If you take care of yourself, you’ll naturally feel good. You won’t be down that you’re sick or feeling ill or lethargic. And then get adequate sleep. This is a big one. You know, adequate sleep is important. Ensure you’re getting enough sleep each night to support your overall wellbeing. A 10th strategy is to limit stress and practice relaxation. Stress management is so important. Identify the stressors in your life and develop coping strategies. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing or listening to music can help.

Music is actually a pretty effective and powerful one. And it’s, it’s quick. Like the moment you start hearing music that you really enjoy, something you dig, <laugh> is going to reduce or limit your stress and then take breaks. Ensure that you have downtime to unwind and to recharge. I should take my own advice on that one too, actually. The 11th one is to disconnect from technology. And this is something I don’t do <laugh>, but I think a lot of people today don’t really completely disconnect from the technology that they carry around all the time with their phone or even their laptops or whatever it may be. Think of it as a digital detox. Take breaks from screens to reduce stress and to be more present in the moment. Or just to call up your friends, your family, whoever it may be. I mean, that’s a break in and of itself.

And the mindful use of social media, I mean this is like crack for a lot of people. Limit time on social media to avoid comparing yourself to others. It’s so addictive. It’s addictive by design, but social media can be incredibly addictive. And if you purposefully and mindfully limit your time each day on social media, I think you’ll be a lot happier. And then the last one, the 12th, what I’ll call strategies to boost your happiness would be simply spend time in nature. I know this sounds like to woowoo for some people, but outdoor activities spend time outdoors. Whether it’s a walk in the park or a hike in the mountains or whatever it may be, nature has a calming effect and it can certainly improve your mood. There’s a reason why we’re natural being, we’re part of Mother Nature, we’re part of this planet. And so just being outdoor in nature has a connecting effect, grounding effect, and will naturally boost your happiness and sunlight.

Natural light boosts your vitamin D and it can help improve mood. Just being outside in natural sunlight helps boost your happiness. So if you can incorporate these strategies, these practices into your daily life, you can gradually, but quickly but gradually enhance your overall happiness and wellbeing. And I think that’s important for everybody. I don’t think there’s anybody who can’t benefit from boosting their own happiness. It’ll just make you more productive, which further leads to more happiness and it’s just an upward spiral. So all in all, I think that’s really what we should focus on. So this considerate my self-development episode. It ties into investing in everything else. Boosting happiness involves a combination of things, like I said, mindset, habits and lifestyle choices.

So that is it for today. I appreciate you sticking around and listening through to the end. If you haven’t already, please remember to subscribe.

If you have questions about investing or real estate specifically contact my team of investment counselors. We’ll be happy to talk to you about real estate investing. There’s no cost, there’s no obligation. Just get your free strategy session. Go to our website at noradarealestate.com – NORADA. And while you’re there, you could download our free guide, The Ultimate Guide to Passive Real Estate Investing. And that is it for today. Oh, by the way, if you have a question about real estate investing or something about investing or finance or, or even just for me personally, just go to passiverealestateinvesting.com, click on the Ask Marco button and submit your question to me and I’ll I’ll do my best to take it on the show. Thank you for listening and we will see you all on our next episode.