The secret to elevating the levels of your happiness baseline

There are so many unanswered questions about life. But there is one particular question that every single person in present times is seeking answer to. That question the answer to which seems elusive is ‘how to be happy’. People keep chasing this one thing their entire life looking for it in physical things, places, and people but the truth is happiness is just a state of mind which people can create anytime anywhere without actually having to chase it. To do that, we first need to understand how external atmosphere affect us and whether happiness is controlled by situations around us.

The year was 1970 when a group of researchers assessed people who had won a lottery. The aim of the research was to find out the level of happiness of the people who had won and those who didn’t. A year later it was noticed that happiness index of people belonging to both categories was same without any major difference. In the end, it is only us as a person who can decide how to be happy and choose to feel it. The end conclusion of this research is that regardless of what is happening around us whether it is good or bad, its effect on our level happiness is only temporary.

After some time people tends to go back to their original baseline level of joy. While some people have a naturally higher baseline of happiness others have lower level. Although it is genetics that are particularly responsible for how and at what level we have set our baseline, but largely it is controlled by how we process stuff and majorly how we think. If we can master the art and skill of controlling our thought-pattern and always process things positively, we can permanently set that baseline to a higher level.

For that, it is necessary to develop a permanent awareness that nothing around us neither people, nor physical stuff, nor situations should control us. Here is a small exercise to get a head start to the road to happiness. Create a list of values that you appreciate and try to focus on little joyful things around you. In present times people have developed a natural tendency to neglect joyful stuff and keep their focus on negative things more.

Try to do the opposite. Instead of thinking about stuff that went wrong, think about things that bring joy to you. Write down all the wonderful things that happened during the day. Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our psychology, personality, and overall quality of life.