Blog post #6: Happiness hacks
In a previous post (#4), I spilled the secret to long-term happiness and satisfaction but some days you just need a pick-up me—a quick jolt of caffeine if you will for your happi-odometer. So today, I will try to share some happiness hacks—I know it may seem a bit awkward to try to “hack” joy---personally when I hear “hack,” the image that comes to mind is some crafty software programmer in a Star Wars shirt and sitting in the basement while trying to weasel his way into people’s twitter accounts (apologies to my programmer friends if my runaway imagination has severely mis-portrayed you). Note also my happiness hacks can give you a jolt after a bad day of work but don’t expect them to pull you out of a severe depression.
Hack 1: if you want to be Suzy Sunshine, then you need sun—quite literally. Studies have shown that people who live in areas of low sunshine suffer from Seasonal Affect Disorder—“SAD”—so get outside and soak in the sun—you don’t have to lay out everyday for an extended period---just 10 minutes a day can boost your mood.
Hack 2: Don’t be around angry or glass half empty people. We human beings are social creatures and even if you think you are impervious to the mood or attitudes of others, you are not! (unless you are the chosen one). There is something called the 5 chimps theory—that says you are the average of the 5 people you associate with most—I believe this is observed through behaviors of the chimpanzee (which apparently we share a 98% gene overlap—holy crap—I’m so glad for that 2% difference—otherwise no amount of makeup will do the trick). The theory goes that chimps tend to mirror the behaviors and attitudes of the other chimps they most closely associate with—which is likely something we do as well—meaning if you are constantly around negative people, you likely will eventually become more glass half empty over time. Over the past number of years, I’ve taken the ritual (sometimes annually, sometimes less frequently) of just taking stock of my friends and seeing if their values align with mine and if we share a common outlook (in general, I’m a pretty positive person--- in case the name of my blog didn’t give it away), but throughout the years, I’ve had to force myself to “social distance” from certain people (Wow, I did it before corona made it a thing).
Hack 3: Can money buy happiness? No but it can clear away annoyances that generally dampen your mood. As it’s currently tax season, I’ve spent several days already just organizing my paperwork and though I’ve done my taxes myself thru TurboTax for the past decade (gosh—10 years of paying Uncle Sam), this year is especially a pain in the you know what due to various things that happened last year including moving states. As I sat down to DIY—I realized why suffer through the pain of a root-canal equivalent if I can pay to make the pain go away. Fortunately, a friend highly recommended an excellent accountant she had used for several years--- for about the price of Turbo Tax (give or take a bit), I not only saved myself several solid hours of time but for sure was a happiness booster—given my annoyance for the several hours would surely have ruined most of my day. Moral of the story? To the extent you can, it’s very worth it to pay to solve little irritations.
Hack 4: Body over mind--- no, not the old adage of mind over body. You can actually change your sentiment based on your physical posture. In one of the most viewed Ted Talks of all times, Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy says your body language may shape who you are---people who stand in a ‘high power pose’ –think your best superman or superwoman pose – demonstrates decreased levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) and increased testosterone vs those in a ‘low power pose’ – eg crouched in a fetal position. This may sound cheesy—but before a big meeting or presentation, I often go into the bathroom and “power pose” for a whole minute while repeating to myself “you got this!” Could it be the placebo effect? Maybe—but who cares---it works!
Happy hacking, stay heatlhy, stay sane, and help yourself to a serving of dessert (cuz damnit, you’re earned it!).
