Source: WSJ –  Self-Help For Skeptics.

• Self-compassionate people are happier…(it) helps people overcome life’s little, and not-so-little stressors
• You can train your brain to focus on the positive – even if you’re wired to see the glass as half empty
• To enjoy life and feel good, people need roughly four positive emotions to counteract the effect of one negative emotion
• Instead of “pushing through” a bad day, look for ways to actively improve it. Take a small break. Get an ice-cream cone. Invite a friend out to dinner.
• Resist the urge to make your problems worse. “Ask yourself, How much of my distress is the real problem, and how much is stuff I am heaping on myself unnecessarily?”
• Boost your daily ratio of positive-to-negative emotions…What do you enjoy doing? Seeing your best buddy, watching a funny movie, walking in the park? Make a list and do one a day.
• Then list things you really don’t enjoy. Are there people who bring you down? Hobbies that no longer interest you? Errands you can delegate? Some of this stuff can be avoided.
• If you don’t feel happy, fake it. You wouldn’t constantly burden a friend with your bad mood, so don’t burden yourself. Try holding a pencil horizontally in your mouth. “This activates the same muscles that create a smile, and our brain interprets this as happiness,”…

See full article @ WSJ – Self-Help For Skeptics.  Train Your Brain to Be Positive, and Feel Happier Every Day: It Only Sounds Corny

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