There's numerous different approaches we can take to boost our mood in the long and short-term.

We're all different, though. What resonates with one person might not resonate with another. So, I've compiled 20 different tips, or hacks, for boosting your happiness, each with a wee bit of scientific justification.

I hope you find something useful in this list.

1) Celebrate other people's happiness and successes

One very rarely talked about secret to happiness is what's known as confelicity. It means taking pleasure in the happiness of others. When we celebrate other people's good news and successes, we get a boost ourselves through shared happiness.

So celebrate the fact that a friend got that promotion, had a good day, or had that small win.

Sometimes, when things are not going so well for us, it's easy to be passive when friends and loved ones share good news; it's not uncommon to even find fault sometimes.

But genuinely engaging with good will in their happiness has a bounce-back effect on ourselves, making us feel happier and more connected as a side effect.

2) Seek experiences, not things

We get more happiness from experiences in life rather than from accumulating objects.

Some research examined the spending habits of people and found that those who spent money on experiences – like time with friends, going to the theater or a concert – were happier than those who spent their money on material objects like clothes, jewelry, TVs, etc..

3) Connect with others

Some studies have found a link between the number of social connections a person has and how happy they are. 

For example, a large study of over 12,000 people that mapped all their social connections found that those who were most connected were happier than those who were least connected.

And if a person increased their number of social interactions over a period of time, they became happier as a consequence.

Of course, this isn't an absolute rule in that 'x' number of social connections means a 'y' increase in happiness; it's more of a general rule in that positive interactions with others works like a sort of buffer that helps cushion us from some of the stresses and strains of life. The more cushioning we get, or the more cushioning we can get for different types of challenges, the less life's stresses take their toll on us.

Additionally, humans are social by nature. Generally, we are happier when we are being social. And study show that better quality interactions help us the most.

4) Spend time in Nature

Studies show that hospital patients recover faster if their window offers them a view of nature rather than another hospital building or a car park. Even having plants in a room was found to reduce hospital patients' sensitivity to pain.

This is because the human nervous system is adapted to natural surroundings. In the span of evolution, being among trees, flowers, plants, and other natural scenery was normal for us. Blocky buildings of brick and glass are a relatively recent experience for humans.

Because of this, study show that the human nervous system tends to relax when we encounter nature. As a result, when we spend time in nature, stress and tension start to fall away and a positive mood arises.

5) Be kind

A friend once asked me for a tip that would help her feel happier. I said, “Help someone else to feel happier.” Her reply was along the lines of that it was her who needed the boost, that she doesn't have time to focus on other people's needs.

But that's the thing. Helping others does make us happier, and there's an abundance of research to back it up.

Studies that compare people doing acts of kindness with people not doing those acts consistently find that those being kind become happier because of it. Studies of people who volunteer also show that volunteering has a positive effect on happiness and overall mental health.

Helping Others helps the helper in a few ways. First, as our attention focuses on the needs of other people, it takes attention away from our own worries and concerns. This allows our nervous system to relax, helping us feel better and also gain a clearer perspective on things. At the same time, kindness produces a family of substances in the brain that make us feel good, including dopamine and oxytocin.

6) Clear your clutter

While some people thrive around clutter, many others find it holds them back. For some, a cluttered living or working environment can be a sign of a cluttered mind. It's like environment and mental state are in synch.

Clutter can act like a visual distraction, which can affect our focus, dampen memory, and cause cognitive overload. Decluttering, on the other hand, can improve focus, reduce stress, and help us be more productive.

7) Be sociable

Making an effort to interact with friends, colleagues, and neighbors can make us happier. Even chatting with strangers can give us a boost.

As an example, in a study that involved commuters on London trains, 128 people were asked to chat with a stranger, 128 were to sit in solitude, and the same number were to behave as they normally do on their commute. Those who chatted with a stranger reported feeling more positive than those in the other groups. 

8) Be thankful

Counting our blessings is one of the simplest ways that we can all boost our mood. Gratitude helps us see more of what's positive in our lives, especially in times when the tendency is to focus on what's difficult.

It's more than a distraction tactic, though. A focus on what we appreciate directly helps cultivate more positive feelings in our life.

In one study, for example, 395 parents wrote a letter of gratitude while 219 parents wrote a letter about what they did over the past week (for comparison). Those who wrote the gratitude got a significant boost in mood. 

Several other studies show that gratitude exercises produce net improvements in happiness. For example, in a study conducted by psychologists at the University of California at Davis, of a sample of 196 volunteers, one group were asked to write down five things that had happened over the past week that they were grateful for, one group were asked to write down five things that had hassled or annoyed them, and one group were just asked to write down five general things.

At the end of ten weeks of this, those who had written things they were grateful for were significantly happier than those in the other group. In fact, they were a full 25% happier than those who had listed their hassles and annoyances.

9) Adjust your body language

It's often said that your feelings are written all over your face. This is in fact part of a deeper truth: there is a synchronization between your emotions and the outward expression of your emotions via the movement of your muscles.

It's why you smile when you feel happy, tense your face, neck, and shoulders when you feel stressed. But the power in this insight is in the fact that it's a bi-directional relationship. The inside affects the outside, but it's also true that the outside affects the inside. 

In other words, not only is it true that your emotions are expressed outwardly on your muscles, but the way you hold and move your muscles also affects how you feel on the inside.

This means that if you practice holding your posture in an open, relaxed, confident way, then you will probably start to feel more relaxed and confident. This even applies when we're sitting. 

A randomized trial that compared people sitting in upright postures for a short time with others who had sat slumped during that time found that those who sat upright felt more alert, had better mood, had greater self-esteem, and also less fear in the face of stress than Those who had sat slumped.

A change in state can occur quite quickly when we shift our posture, but the real power in this insight is that consistent practice of holding and moving your body in a way that reflects how you want to feel can help you feel that way on a more steady basis.

10) Be mindful

Mindfulness meditation can also boost happiness. In part this is because it can help us to better manage our mindset and emotions. It helps us to refrain from getting stuck in negative trains of thoughts. 

For example, in one study, around a hundred adults completed an 8-week mindfulness program and were compared with about the same number who didn't do the program. Those who meditated reported much more positive mood after the 8-week program than those who didn't, and the boost persisted for 6 months, presumably because they kept the practice up when they realized how it was helping them.

11) Practice kindness

Kindness is any mindfulness-based practice where at least some part of the focus points in the direction of thinking compassionately or kindly. 

This could be contemplating people's good points, feeling gratitude for people or things, or even wishing health and happiness for people.

The loving-kindness meditation, also known as 'metta', is a kindness practice. It's been shown to deliver a range of benefits, but one key study found that just 7 weeks of practice resulted in gains in joy, love, gratitude, and many other positive emotions.

I led a 21-day kindness experiment in 2024, where people did a kindness practice each day for 21 days. It also resulted in a significant gain in happiness for most people. You can find the kindness meditations here.

12) Exercise

Exercise is one of the best-known methods of boosting happiness. It is partly because exercise, especially intense exercise, causes our brains to produce endogenous opioids, which are the brains' own natural versions of morphine. But even light-to-moderate exercise can make us feel better, as most ordinary people probably know from personal experience.

For example, in one study, over 100 students were asked to take a short 12-minute walk around campus and they felt much more positive emotion than the same number of students who stayed seated.

13) From nothing at all

Sometimes, the key to feeling good is to resist the temptation to always be doing, doing, doing, and instead of nothing at all.

Sometimes it's in the busyness of life that we lose our center, so taking some time to rest can be a real tonic.

14) Smile

We tend to smile when we feel good and frown when we feel sad or stressed. This is common experience. But what is less well known is that smiling on purpose can make us feel better.

It's due to what's known as the Facial Feedback Hypothesis. It says that making a facial expression on purpose sends feedback to the brain and strengthens the feeling associated with that expression.

A large 2022 study spanning 19 countries and involving almost 4,000 people tested this and found that an intentional smile could initiate and amplify feelings of happiness.

Of course, it's not about faking a smile when we're not feeling good, in the intends to others that we're happy. This can have the opposite effect, actually reinforcing how we feel.

It requires an intentional practice, where you smile on purpose, knowing that it can affect your mood. Rather than being a passive intention, smiling becomes an intentional act. And this can make all the difference.

15) Plan something you'll enjoy

Planning a day out, a trip, time with friends, or even a holiday, can give us a boost. And sometimes as much as the event itself.

In fact, Some research involving around 1,500 people found that the act of planning a holiday significantly boosted people's happiness. Furthermore, the effect lasted around 8 weeks.

16) Practice self-kindness

Most people find it easy to be kind to others but struggle to turn the focus on themselves. Self-kindness is a vital practice for supporting our mental health, otherwise we run the risk of wearing ourselves out. It allows us to recharge and so helps us be more present in the lives of those around us.

Self-kindness doesn't have to be in lavish spending sprees or spa days, it can be in taking a little time to ourselves: take a bath and read a book, go for a walk, watch some TV, have a coffee with a friend. 

It's in doing something that can support your mental health. It can be in finding something that makes you feel good and doing it on purpose. It's the 'on purpose' bit that makes it an act of self-kindness.

17) Find meaning

Meaning is something that is deeply human. We thrive when we find meaning in life. 

This can be in choosing to do what is meaningful for you, whether it's a job, career, small acts, or even a hobby. Or it can even be reflecting on things you find meaningful.

In fact, some research found that when people took photos of things that made their life feel meaningful – like mementos from childhood, their favorite places, family members – and then spent an hour reflecting on them a week later, they felt a greater sense of meaning in life. They and also felt more positive emotions and a greater sense of satisfaction with their life.

The physical circumstances of their life hadn't changed; only their focus had changed.

18) Write some self-affirmations

Self-affirmations are statements that affirm our core values. They differ from traditional affirmations, where a person might state something they wish to have or make happen, in that they reinforce positive aspects of ourselves.

They're based on self-affirmation theory, first defined by social psychologist, Claude Steele in 1987. It essentially states that we have a fundamental drive to perceive ourselves in positive ways. 

study show that writing and then repeating self-affirmations makes us feel better, less stressed, more able to tackle our challenges, feel greater self-esteem, and even make healthier choices in life. 

Writing a self-affirmation begins with identifying your core values. Suppose in doing this you found you valued friendship, so you'd then write a sentence or two that described and affirmed this aspect of yourself. Then you repeat the self-affirmation several times a day.

19) Use your strengths

A similar tool to self-affirmations is to focus on your strengths and put them into practice. So if being creative is one of your strengths, then you might focus on ways you can be creative for a week. If kindness is a strength for you then how might you practice kindness over the next week.

Some research found that people doing this sort of practice felt happier and less depressed, but even more amazing was that the boost in happiness lasted up to six months, perhaps because those doing the exercise noticed how much it helped them so likely kept the practice up as it was doing them so very good.

20) Stop comparing yourself to others

Rather than something to do to increase happiness, this tip is something to stop doing.

One of the most effective ways for boosting unhappiness is to compare ourselves to others. This is because we're acutely aware of our own lives, our challenges, our struggles and misgivings, but we tend to only see the shiny parts in others' lives. Some call it their highlight reel. We're not seeing their full story, just snapshots they want us to see.

It's that old, ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' thing. The grass seems greener on the other side because you're aware of where your own garden needs work.

In truth, the grass is greenest where you water it. Water your own grass, tend to your own life and be less concerned with how you're viewed by others. Focus on your strengths and achievements, the little successes and moments of lightness, and you'll probably feel more satisfied with your life.

Well, there you have it. Twenty tips to help you find more happiness in life. I hope you found at least one or two of them quite helpful.

Feel free to share them with others.

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