15 Ways on How to Figure Out What Makes You Happy.

WhatToGetMy Instructional Article

• Trying to figure out what makes you happy? The key is to always take time to do what makes you happy. To help you know what these things are, check out the list of 10 things and questions that help in figuring out what makes you happy.
• And if it suddenly feels that the things that used to make you happy don’t anymore, check out the 5 questions to ask and answer in rediscovering what would make you happy again.

A 2013 happiness index seen on Statista showed that only 41% of American adults surveyed at the time considered themselves happy with their lives. In a later 2017 survey, at least 53% of Americans surveyed said that the pursuit of happiness was key to realizing the American dream. How then does one figure out what makes you happy so that you are not left out of living your American dream? That is the question we will help you answer in this very enlightening article.

Be sure to check out our article on Signs someone is pretending to be happy to be sure you are not pretending to be happy.

I don’t know what makes me happy – How do I find out what makes me happy?

Figuring out what makes you happy is the key to unlocking your happiness and overall joy in life. Without knowing what brings you happiness, you will sadly have a miserable existence filled with sadness and heaviness of heart. These will in turn affect your general quality of life.

When you find yourself asking questions like, “how do I know what makes me happy?”, chances are that there is a feeling of unhappiness somewhere and you are trying to unravel and unpack it. And that’s not a bad thing at all. It means you are very self-aware and are constantly on the lookout for finding what makes you happy. To discover what makes you happy, thoroughly examine these 10 items in relation to your life, and you will be able to tell what makes you truly happy.

1. Discover your passion and things that generally interest you.

Your passion and interests are the propellers that drive you in life. Ignoring or neglecting them will only make you miserable and restless because you are doing things that mean nothing to you.

To discover your passion and interests, ask yourself what are the things that make you tick. Those things that get you really worked up when someone tampers with them are the things that you are passionate about and driven by. Maybe it is hungry children in a third world country, or even writing music or other forms of art.

Doing these things will fuel you with a zest for life that will not be there if you choose to ignore them or dull them out of your senses. When you feed the passion and interests you will be happy but if you dull them, you will eventually become miserable.

2. Pay attention to your likes and dislikes.

The things you like and don’t like are another important indicator of what makes you happy and you should therefore pay close attention to them. Always make a mental note of what the things you like are, as well as the things you don’t like, and stay true to them.

Choosing to always sacrifice what you like or don’t like just to make other people happy will make you miserable and very unhappy. It is best to find the balance between doing the things you like and still living in harmony with other people. And if it then comes down to choosing what you like or don’t like over making other people happy at your expense, always choose yourself and what you like or don’t like.

3. Ask yourself what are the things you see yourself doing and never getting tired of.

And if what you are doing does not fit that bill, you will discover that it does not bring you joy or make you happy. Things that keep you happy infuse you with energy rather than sap you of your energy.

And it doesn’t have to be just one thing. It could be several things. It could even be your hobby turned into a career. Whatever it is, if you find that it is something you can keep doing and never get tired of it, then that is a sign that it is something that will make you very happy.

4. Ask yourself, if there was no money attached to doing that thing, would you still do it and feel a sense of satisfaction.

If money is the only reason why you are doing what you are doing, chances are that in the long run, it will not keep you happy. Money is a good motivator but it should never be the only motivator for why you do what you do. If you can take away the money and still derive a full sense of satisfaction from it, then you can be sure that it is something that will make you happy for a very long time.

5. Ponder on the fact that when you write the story of your life looking at where you are now, will you be happy with the script thus far.

If you are not liking the way the script of your life is currently reading, this will keep you miserable and restless. The good news is that you have the power to start all over and begin to re-write the script to be what you want it to read like.

Would you like the script to be rewritten to say for example that you lived your life doing so and so? Then why not start doing those things that will set you on that path. The longer you stay away from rewriting that script, the longer you stay miserable and unhappy.

6. Declutter your mind by asking yourself the value of the things occupying your mind to your overall existence.

Anything that adds no value to your life has no business staying rent-free in your mind. Your mind should be occupied with only the things that add value to your life because these are the things that keep you happy.

Allowing things that add no value to clutter your mind will only cloud your sight/vision from seeing those things that make you happy because you are too focused on the things that add no value that you have given a room in your mind.

Make it a habit to ask yourself what you are thinking about and whether it is of any use to you. You will realize that the more you do this, the more you get rid of those things that make you unhappy, leaving room in your mind for only those things that make you happy.

7. Actively question your standards of happiness to be sure they are yours and not for somebody else.

This is important because all too often without realizing it, we use other people’s lives to measure our own happiness. We get sad and gloomy and question our own existence just by looking at the life of that person we feel has the perfect existence. When we do this, we are not doing ourselves any favor or being original but rather trying to live our lives and determine our happiness through the prism of another’s life.

8. Spend some time interacting with positive role models and learning as much as you can about their lives and how they navigate life.

What this does is that it would give you ideas and inspiration about what you could also like and what could make you happy. Hearing the experiences of your positive role models would birth hope and inspiration in you that will get you to start thinking more about the things you like.

9. Have a reflective evaluative moment at the end of each day, weighing up the high moments and low moments of each day and what the triggers for those moments were.

Keeping a daily tab in this way will keep you glued in about the things that make you happy and those that do not. The high moments and their triggers are the things that make you happy, while the low moments and their triggers are the things that do not make you happy. Choosing not to be intentional in this way about the things that define the high and low moments for you on a daily basis also means choosing to not tackle the things that make you happy.

10. Have a change of scenery every now and again for self-evaluating your life against the questions above.

This is the final stage. Always take time out in a different environment to take stock of your life against all the 9 pointers given above. You can aim to do this at least twice a year so that you are constantly refreshed and filling your life with the needed energy to make the most of your year at any given point in time.

Things that used to make me happy don’t anymore – How do I know what makes me happy?

If things that used to give you joy before no longer make you feel happy or give you any more joy, it is time to take stock with these 5 questions and set yourself back on the track of doing the things that make you happy.

11. How does it make you feel now when you do it?

Do you feel a sense of joy or dread when you have to do it? If you have to dread doing it and are only doing it because you feel you have no choice, then it shouldn’t surprise you when you start to feel like you no longer get satisfaction from it.

12. Does it drain you or energize you?

Things that we don’t like take their toll on us and saps us of the energy we would ordinarily get from doing the things that we love. If it drains you, then it doesn’t make you happy. If it energizes you, then it makes you happy.

13. How does it fit into your overall long-term goals?

If all things considered, it does not advance your overall long-term goals, do not doubt that it won’t make you happy. There is no point putting your energy into something that will neither advance your long-term goals nor keep you happy in the long term.

14. Who gets the most joy out of what you do – you or others?

If you’re doing it just to impress others and not necessarily because you derive joy from it, then it shouldn’t surprise you that it doesn’t make you happy anymore. This is because it would mean that all along you have been keeping other people happy, at the expense of your happiness.

15. Can you live without it?

This is the final question to ask yourself as you try to figure out what makes you happy. If you can’t live without it, then that is the answer you need, that it is what will make you happy.

Frequently asked questions.

1. What would make me happy?

There isn’t a standard one size fits all of what makes one happy. You will need to find what makes you happy and go for it. And to help you in figuring out what makes you happy, we have given you a list of 15 pointers that will put you on the right track to start to discover what makes you happy.

2. How can you make me happy now?

Only you hold the key to your happiness. No one but you can make yourself happy now because happiness is a choice. If you choose to remain unhappy, even the best-spirited efforts at trying to get you to be happy will be like trying to move a mountain from one point to another. Choose to be happy and you will be happy. And if you need help with figuring out what makes you happy, then this article helps you with 15 helpful pointers.

3. Tell me something that will make me happy?

Whenever you feel down and unhappy, always remember these encouraging words to uplift your spirits and make you happy. You are beautiful and you are a conqueror. Whatever you touch turns to gold and you are not defined by your circumstances.

Conclusion.

Happiness is a choice. Figuring out what makes you happy is the important key to exercising that choice. And in this article, you will find 15 helpful pointers that will help you figure out what makes you happy.

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