{"id":13178,"date":"2013-03-12T21:33:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T05:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=13178"},"modified":"2013-03-21T16:03:29","modified_gmt":"2013-03-22T00:03:29","slug":"6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

We all want to be happy.\u00a0 But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.\u00a0 Maybe we need to get that dream job.\u00a0 Or we need to have a million dollars in the bank.\u00a0 Or maybe we need to have the body of our dreams.\u00a0 Or we need the perfect relationship in order to be happy.<\/p>\n

The list goes on. Yes, these things may indeed make us happy. Or then again, they may not.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When we set goals, we also have the tendency, once we\u2019ve achieved them,\u00a0to replace them with new goals.\u00a0 So you may find that you still don\u2019t feel happy after you\u2019ve achieved that \u201cbig goal\u201d because you\u2019ve just replaced it with an even bigger goal that you now need to achieve before you can be \u201ctruly happy\u201d.<\/p>\n

But by doing this, we stack the odds against ourselves.\u00a0 And if we play this game in order to find our happiness, then there\u2019s a good chance that we\u2019ll spend the rest of our lives chasing down the dreams that may \u2018one day\u2019 make us happy.<\/p>\n

What if I told you that you don\u2019t need any of those things in order to be happy in your life and that you can be happy today? \u00a0The key to happiness is learning how to be happy right now, while you work on achieving\u00a0your\u00a0goals, instead of waiting until you\u2019ve achieved those goals to be happy.<\/p>\n

Here are 6 simple tips that you can start applying today:<\/p>\n

1. Practice Daily Gratitude<\/h2>\n

No matter how bad we think our problems are, you can almost guarantee that there\u2019s someone out there with much bigger problems than us. \u00a0You may have heard the saying \u201cI cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet\u201d.\u00a0We need to be grateful for everything we have in our lives and practicing daily gratitude is a great way to train our minds to have an attitude of gratitude.<\/p>\n

One technique for doing this is called \u201c3 good things\u201d, where every night, you simply write down three things that went well that day and casually reflect on why they\u00a0happened. \u00a0According to a study conducted by Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson (2005), people who performed this daily exercise for a week, were happier and less depressed at the one-month follow up.<\/p>\n

So start making your \u201c3 good things\u201d list today.<\/p>\n

2. Be Present Both Mentally & Physically<\/h2>\n

Whatever you\u2019re doing, make sure that both your mind and body are present. \u00a0Don\u2019t eat dinner with your family while you\u2019re thinking about work. \u00a0Don\u2019t do work, while you\u2019re thinking about what you\u2019ll do this weekend. \u00a0Always be present and let your mind focus 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} on what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re having dinner with your spouse or partner, then try not to think about anything else but enjoying dinner with them. \u00a0Even if you\u2019re doing something as simple as drinking a glass of water, you can\u00a0be present. Enjoy the moment and taste of the water as you sip it slowly. \u00a0Try to find at least one situation every day where you can practice being present.<\/p>\n

Simply start by focusing on your breathing. \u00a0Focus, slow down and appreciate being in the moment.<\/p>\n

3. Stop Resisting What You Can\u2019t Control<\/h2>\n

Stop resisting the things in your life that you can\u2019t control and aren\u2019t the way that you want them to be. \u00a0Stop worrying about what other people do or say. \u00a0Start accepting things for how they are, regardless of whether you think it\u2019s right or wrong. \u00a0Accept it as a fact.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that you are frustrated because a work\u00a0colleague isn\u2019t doing what you think they should be doing. \u00a0The more you think about that situation, the more frustrated you get. \u00a0You give them feedback. \u00a0Maybe you argue with them. \u00a0But the situation doesn\u2019t improve or maybe it gets even worse.<\/p>\n

So you have a choice \u2014 you can keep resisting or you can accept the situation without judgement. \u00a0You simply\u00a0acknowledge\u00a0it as a fact. There is no right or wrong. It\u2019s just the current reality. \u00a0When you do this, the resistance starts to melt away and the negative emotions inside your head and heart also start to disappear.<\/p>\n

Identify one situation where you feel you have some resistance and simply accept that situation for what it is.<\/p>\n

4) Avoid Negative People & Situations<\/h2>\n

Another cause of negative emotions and unhappiness are certain\u00a0people\u00a0or situations. \u00a0You probably already know who those people are \u2014 they are the ones who seem to\u00a0only\u00a0see the negative side to every situation.\u00a0 They are often\u00a0pessimistic, angry, critical and rarely have anything constructive to say. \u00a0These people not only create unhappiness for themselves, but they also often drag down others around them by spreading this negative thinking \u2018poison\u2019.<\/p>\n

If you want to be happy, you have to avoid these people and\u00a0situations\u00a0as much as possible. \u00a0Unfortunately, that\u2019s not always so easy, since these people are often our friends or family members. \u00a0So if you can\u2019t completely avoid\u00a0these\u00a0people, then it\u2019s worth planning ahead and deciding how you\u2019ll deal with them in future situations. \u00a0The next time you find them being negative, you could either politely tell them that you\u2019d prefer not to discuss that particular topic with them and change the subject. \u00a0Or you could try to guide them into more positive thinking by asking them questions such as \u201chow do you think you could solve that problem?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t allow negative people or situations to also drag you down into unhappiness.<\/p>\n

5) Accept 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} Responsibility For Your Life<\/h2>\n

If we want to be happy, then we have to stop blaming others for what happens in our lives. \u00a0We need to stop seeing ourselves as victims. \u00a0I have a family member who I love very much, but she is constantly blaming other people and situations for everything in her life that she\u2019s not happy with. \u00a0She sees herself as a victim and feels helpless about changing things.<\/p>\n

In order to be happy, we have to take full responsibility for everything that happens in our life. \u00a0When we take full responsibility, we take back control of our life and start to acknowledge that our thoughts and actions create the results in our life, not other people or situations. \u00a0When we take back control of our life, we stop being victims. \u00a0Instead we feel empowered to start creating a better life for ourselves.<\/p>\n

Be honest with yourself, are you accepting full responsibility for what happens in your life?<\/p>\n

6) Be of Service To Others.<\/h2>\n

One really powerful way to increase your happiness is to focus on helping others. \u00a0You can give money to charity \u2014 but there are more fulfilling ways of helping others.<\/p>\n

Instead of giving money, give your time. \u00a0Get involved with a charity or donate a few\u00a0hours to\u00a0help with a local community project. \u00a0Or just perform small random acts of kindness with no expectation of getting anything back e.g. help a struggling mother dealing with her kids and bags of groceries. \u00a0Or buy a coffee for the person standing in line behind you.<\/p>\n

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, (a professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness), research shows that almost any type of random act of kindness boosts happiness. \u00a0So make a habit of performing at least one small random act of kindness every week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So if you want to feel happier in the present moment, then start by choosing one of these 6 tips and take action today. \u00a0At the same time, keep working on your goals, but don\u2019t rely on them alone to make you happy. \u00a0Choose to be happy right now. \u00a0As self-help author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins says \u201cthere\u2019s a huge difference between achieving to be happy and happily achieving it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Omer Khan is a husband, father and creator of the<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>Relax Focus Enjoy<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>blog. He\u2019s passionate about personal productivity and helping people to create more time to do what they love. He lives with his family in the \u2018sunny\u2019 Seattle area. \u00a0Pick up your free e-book \u201cRecharge Your Life\u201d when you visit<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>Relax Focus Enjoy<\/i><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy. Maybe we need to get that dream job. Or we need to have a million dollars in the bank. Or maybe we need to have the body of our dreams. Or we need the perfect relationship in order to be happy. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":13179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,6,31],"tags":[4641,2152,66,4651,4629,4640],"yoast_head":"\n6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-13T05:33:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-22T00:03:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png\",\"width\":499,\"height\":380},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/\",\"name\":\"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-13T05:33:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-22T00:03:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","og_description":"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2013-03-13T05:33:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-22T00:03:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":499,"height":380,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-12-at-10.30.49-PM.png","width":499,"height":380},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/","name":"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2013-03-13T05:33:37+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-22T00:03:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"We all want to be happy. But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/6-tips-to-being-happy-in-the-present-moment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"6 Tips to Being Happy In The Present Moment"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}