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Happy Habits: 50 Suggestions--page 1by Monica A. Frank, Ph.D. |
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The following is a list of 50 suggestions to help you focus on using the cognitive-behavioral therapy(CBT) methods to create the conditions for happiness, a frequently elusive but fairly simple feat when happiness is truly understood.
Happiness is not something you achieve. In fact, the more you try to find happiness, the less likely you will be happy. Happiness occurs by how you live your life. Certain lifestyle practices have been shown to be associated with increased happiness. It may be difficult initially to incorporate the lifestyle practices into your daily routine, but the more you do so, the more opportunity you create for happiness to find you.
For those of you with Android devices, the Excel At Life's Happy Habits can assist you with developing the lifestyle practices. However, those without an Android device can still use these same methods. All the audios are included on this website and the assessment will be as well.
The following list of suggestions are things you can do to help you learn to develop these lifestyle practices as well as to identify obstacles to your happiness and provide you with tools to address those obstacles. Some of the suggestions are simpler and some are more involved.It is better to start with something simple that you feel fairly certain you can achieve. That way you are less likely to feel discouraged. Not all the suggestions are relevant for all people. So, review the list, read the detailed descriptions, and choose what is most likely to work for you.
As you review the suggestion list you may find that you are already doing some of the suggestions. However, you may not be giving yourself credit for the positive or healthy things you do for yourself. Keeping track of the positive things can help you focus in a different way.
The Happiness Journal included in the app allows you to develop a list of affirmations and positive events which you can review to help you stay positively focused. In addition, the suggestion list is customizable so that if you are using a method that is helping you with creating happiness and want that included
in your list, you can add it.Too often, people focus on what they are not doing rather than reinforcing themselves for what they have accomplished. In cognitive therapy, we see that helping people to focus on accomplishments rather than failure helps to break the cycle. When making changes, it doesn't matter how small the accomplishment. It only matters that you are moving in a positive direction.
This app includes a points feature to help you give yourself credit for the different suggestions that you try each day. You can keep a daily total of the different suggestions you use. This is to help you focus on what you are doing
rather than on what you are not doing.Don't try to do everything at once. Just see if you can increase the following practices little by little. The points feature in the app allows you to check the things you do each day and to view a graph of your progress over time. See if you can increase your number of points each day! Read more...page 2