To Be Happy You Have To Make Decisions: 5 Keys To Achieve It

William James, famous philosopher and psychologist of the early twentieth century, made clear through his work something that, despite time, is still valid today: to be happy you have to make decisions.

Happiness is like trying to balance on a board. A step forward or a step backward causes the situation to break down. That is why it is so important to make the right decisions to keep ourselves in that ideal point of balance.

Now, we know that it is not always easy. There are situations that push us a step further than we should and, then, the emptiness in the stomach appears, the fear and the feeling that we are losing control.

Other times, our own thoughts make us regress, that we remain anchored in a point of the past where we also lose calm, security and tranquility.

Some tips to make decisions

Next, we invite you to know five simple keys with which to learn to make more effective decisions, which in turn will help us to be happier.

1. A new thought, a more powerful emotion

Sometimes, few things can be as powerful as learning to change your thoughts to improve your emotions and your perception of reality.

According to positive psychology – explained in detail by authors such as Vera Poseck (2013) – to be happy you have to believe that you deserve it. Something that, on the surface, seems so simple to us can completely change the day to day:

• Change your thoughts to allow negative or stressful events that may happen to you to not become walls or stones along the way. A less fatalistic attribution allows, without a doubt, to face things with more integrity.
• Losing a job, for example, can be traumatic, but sometimes it forces us to start over and even launch projects that are often more productive.

• Breaking up with your partner, arguing with a friend and losing him… all these are also very tough situations, which force us to live certain duels but, sometimes, these vital moments teach us to be stronger.

2. Persistence

Persisting is not enduring anything, enduring events that hurt us, or remaining impassive in the face of adversity. To persist is also to fight, to draw strength from weakness and, above all, to be resilient, according to what was explained by a group of psychologists in another publication of Papers of the psychologist .

Neuropsychologists explain that the brain is designed to analyze everything negative that happens to us and learn from adversity. We are stronger than we think, and this is a fact that we cannot forget.

3. Pay attention, focus on the here and now

Many mental health specialists talk about the great benefits of meditation or yoga. For example, research published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice  states that regular yoga practice helps reduce anxiety levels “significantly” and contributes to the prevention of depression.

If you are not very given to this type of exercise, do not hesitate to follow simple habits such as going for a walk, going for a walk, being in silence and calm in a relaxed environment. If you get used to being centered and calm, you cling tightly to the present to envision your goals and the direction where happiness is inscribed.

4. Gratitude and humility

To be happy you have to make decisions and, above all, be humble. Desiring things that are outside of one’s reality and that are not feasible is a source of suffering.

• To neglect and not thank each beautiful thing that surrounds us is to put on dark glasses that will ensure the ability to be happy.
• Family, a peaceful and harmonious day, the health of those around us, the joy of children, the company of pets… all are aspects for which we should be grateful.

5. Be able to give and receive happiness

Sometimes there are those who fall into a type of “happiness materialism” in which every strategy, every action and thought is aimed at promoting one’s own happiness. Little by little, he falls into a somewhat selfish lifestyle, and it is not the right thing to do.

•  Happiness is like an energy that increases if it is shared. We must be able to give happiness and, in turn, know how to accept it and receive it from others.
• There is nothing as rewarding as making decisions where everyone wins and no one loses; in which a change that one initiates benefits several, in which each one is able to understand that life is more beautiful when the common welfare is sought.

Meditate on your decisions to be happier

One of the greatest wishes we all have is to reach that point of subtle and exceptional balance in life where we say to ourselves “I’m fine, I don’t want anything else.”

This feeling is a mixture of inner peace, personal maturity, well-being and, of course, happiness. Do not hesitate to always make good decisions, those that your heart dictates.