How to Use Modern Psychology to Live a Happy Life
Know yourself., Strengthen your body and your mind., Work on your relationships harder than you do your work., Like what you do., Reach outside of yourself.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Know yourself.
Quiz thyself at the University of Pennsylvania's free Questionnaires Center.
Try the General Happiness Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Optimism Test, and Character Strengths (long form); Listen to your critics
- a good place to look for wisdom is where you least expect it: in the minds of your opponents; If you've been feeling down for weeks, take the CES-D (depression) Questionnaire.
If you score below 16, seek help from a mental health professional, and let your doctor know. -
Step 2: Strengthen your body and your mind.
Body
- walking even just 15 mins/day, 5 days a week, makes a big difference (bonus points if you walk with a friend); take 2 fish-oil pills a day to help your mood, brain, and heart; Mind
- meditate even just 15 mins/day
- there are tons of free resources for an easy, guided, start; try Cognitive Behavior Therapy; hypnosis (no, really); happy pills
- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)
- ask your doctor. , On your deathbed, will you wish you had spent more time at the office, or with your friends and family? Work on your most valued relationships.
Do something thoughtful and out of the ordinary.
Write gratitude letters.
Learn the science of love & attachment, together; Join a gang, or start one.
Get together weekly or monthly to share an activity; Perform random acts of kindness; Get a dog
- they co-evolved with us, and their ability to bond and to love meshes well with our own , Focus on how you help people and contribute to the common good; Focus on your strengths (see Step 1) and use at least one of them every day, in a new way; Master your work; Find Flow
- do challenging tasks that use your strengths; concentrate; get immediate feedback as you progress; Take control, even a little control, over how your work is done; Build alliances
- connect and engage with people who can make your work better , Be a bee
- our lives only make full sense as members of a larger hive, or as cells in a larger body.
Try religion, teaching, science, political campaigns; Join an organization that has a noble purpose and a noble past.
Any volunteer work can take you beyond yourself, but one that has history, traditions, and rituals makes it easier; Try to live a virtuous life
- enhance peace, harmony & cooperation; exercise your best virtues (see Step 1); Be One with The Multiverse
- in a unified whole, where everything is accepted, nothing is judged; lose your self in an infinity of wonder, awe, joy, love, and gratitude (f.e via an ecstatic religious experience, or psilocybin mushrooms
- ask your shaman). -
Step 3: Work on your relationships harder than you do your work.
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Step 4: Like what you do.
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Step 5: Reach outside of yourself.
Detailed Guide
Quiz thyself at the University of Pennsylvania's free Questionnaires Center.
Try the General Happiness Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Optimism Test, and Character Strengths (long form); Listen to your critics
- a good place to look for wisdom is where you least expect it: in the minds of your opponents; If you've been feeling down for weeks, take the CES-D (depression) Questionnaire.
If you score below 16, seek help from a mental health professional, and let your doctor know.
Body
- walking even just 15 mins/day, 5 days a week, makes a big difference (bonus points if you walk with a friend); take 2 fish-oil pills a day to help your mood, brain, and heart; Mind
- meditate even just 15 mins/day
- there are tons of free resources for an easy, guided, start; try Cognitive Behavior Therapy; hypnosis (no, really); happy pills
- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)
- ask your doctor. , On your deathbed, will you wish you had spent more time at the office, or with your friends and family? Work on your most valued relationships.
Do something thoughtful and out of the ordinary.
Write gratitude letters.
Learn the science of love & attachment, together; Join a gang, or start one.
Get together weekly or monthly to share an activity; Perform random acts of kindness; Get a dog
- they co-evolved with us, and their ability to bond and to love meshes well with our own , Focus on how you help people and contribute to the common good; Focus on your strengths (see Step 1) and use at least one of them every day, in a new way; Master your work; Find Flow
- do challenging tasks that use your strengths; concentrate; get immediate feedback as you progress; Take control, even a little control, over how your work is done; Build alliances
- connect and engage with people who can make your work better , Be a bee
- our lives only make full sense as members of a larger hive, or as cells in a larger body.
Try religion, teaching, science, political campaigns; Join an organization that has a noble purpose and a noble past.
Any volunteer work can take you beyond yourself, but one that has history, traditions, and rituals makes it easier; Try to live a virtuous life
- enhance peace, harmony & cooperation; exercise your best virtues (see Step 1); Be One with The Multiverse
- in a unified whole, where everything is accepted, nothing is judged; lose your self in an infinity of wonder, awe, joy, love, and gratitude (f.e via an ecstatic religious experience, or psilocybin mushrooms
- ask your shaman).
About the Author
Lauren Gonzales
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow crafts tutorials.
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