7 Happy Habits (With Appreciation, Tamara Star)

• January 7, 2015

“Happiness is a habit”. I remember the words of my high school English teacher often. How then do we entrench the good habit, and avoid repetitive behavior that erodes happiness?

Towards the end of last year I read a thoroughly insightful article by life coach and author Tamara Star in the Huffington Post entitled “7 Habits of Chronically Unhappy People”. With all respect for the intellectual content due to Tamara, I will invert and summarize her observations. I asked myself, “Are the reciprocal statements true for chronically happy people?” You decide.

The 7 qualities of chronically happy people:

1. Your default belief is that life is easy. Obstacles become challenges. You’re the master of your own destiny. The journey is fun!
2. You believe most people can be trusted. The benefits of social engagement and friendship are sought out and warmly embraced.
3. You concentrate on what’s right in this world versus what’s wrong. Positive conclusions about the world drive energy and optimism.
4. You don’t compare yourself to others or harbor jealousy. Good luck to those who achieve success by design or accident. Time spent mourning the success of others is wasted.
5. You don’t need to rigidly control your life. Life happens. Success and happiness comes from adapting your plans and seizing the opportunities presented by change.
6. You consider your future with calm and confidence. Rather than picturing the few things that can go wrong, spend time imagining success in exquisite detail. Belief fuels success.
7. You avoid gossip and complaints. Negative reflection on the past or speculation on the activities of others is an energy trap. Direct energy forwards, positively.

I commend the original article to you. I am sure you will find the descriptions of the bad habits familiar, and know you will be inspired by Tamara’s guidance on practicing the good habits of happiness.

Have fun,

Roddy

(Photo credit: Shutterstock)