Eight ways to stay happy this year, according to science

Why not try these science-backed tips to find more happiness in your life?

Some people are born to be more joy than bitterness. But whether you’re the type of person who sings in the shower and dances in the rain, or is more of a strong inclination, contentment isn’t something that just happens to us. We can all change our habits to integrate it more into our lives.

So, here are our top tips for a happier 2025.

Friendship it helps people of all agesbut later in life, it can become a particularly important source of happiness. Although older people tend to reduce their social networks to prioritize spending time with people they know well, research shows that it’s a good idea to stay open to new friendships, as it provides us with various benefits. less in our relationships with our families. with commitment. Since friendships are voluntary, non-committal relationships that can start or end at any time, they tend to be happy and decline or break down.

Although adults may face many obstacles that can make meeting new people difficult, in some ways, it should be easier for us to make friends: our personality grows , we gain more skills to interact with people, our perspective becomes more happy. tend to be more welcome. And the effort to maintain high-quality friendships as we grow up is important, as the benefits go beyond justice. mental health – it also improves our mental performance and physical health. In fact, research consistently suggests that friendships are like important as family ties to preach good health to adults and old age.

And if you’re the type of person who has a hard time making friends – sharing an amazing moment, like the solar eclipse that swept across North America last year, is one way to help make you feel closer to the people around you while inspiring some positive emotions along the way.

Compassion is a recognized foundation of true friendship. Derived from the Latin word for “joint pain”, this empathy helps us form strong bonds when our friends are in need. But there is another condition that is relatively unknown and equally important – “confelicity”, as it were David Robson wrote for the BBC.

Meaning “shared happiness”, it is an unexpected part of a good relationship and can be as important as empathy for maintaining friendships, many studies suggest.

Enthusiastically supporting a friend’s good news – and asking questions about it – is the foundation of being a good friend. Respond passively – or downplay your friend’s success – and risk damaging the relationship.

It’s almost a common saying that doing something for someone else makes you feel better than doing something for yourself, but the more you learn about selfishness, the more true it seems. more than.

In fact, research has found that volunteering can help with a range of conditions such as constant pain and emotional stress. A A 2002 studyfor example, they found peer volunteers assigned to help others struggling with chronic pain saw their pain intensity decrease while volunteering. Some studies have shown that care animals it can improve our lives and taking care of indoor plants it can help us thrive, especially in old age.

Read more about the unexpected benefits of defining a purpose and why volunteering seems to be good for us, .

There is another path from the past that can help you now. Research shows that interacting with our ancestors can have profound psychological benefits. For example, family stories about overcoming adversity can be empowering when passed on to a new generation.

It can also give you a reassuring sense of perspective and gratitude – knowing that your life today is made possible by the struggles and strengths of those who came before you for the sake of those who come after them.

Counting your blessings is old advice, but it supports a simple yet well-proven intervention. It turns out that writing down a list of three good things that happened to us can help boost our mood. Whether that’s a life-changing event like passing an important test or having a baby, or something seemingly trivial, like running into an old friend, or enjoying a beautiful evening light while go – there is a growing body of research. that suggests it can improve our lives.

There’s nothing like driving – the wind blowing your hair, the stereo, the freedom of the open road ahead. Now, rats can enjoy a slice of this automotive heaven, after researchers at the University of Richmond, Virginia, taught their furry, bumpy-nosed subjects to drive tiny Perspex cars in the laboratory. .

The rats quickly learned this new skill, and soon they were eagerly jumping into the carsto prepare for their next trip. Eventually the researchers noticed some rats making happy jumps as if they were happy to look forward to the fun.

This led to a new way of doing research. Can the anticipation of having fun be as rewarding as the event itself? In another experiment, scientists trained some rats to wait for rewards – while others were given them immediately. Later, they tested the rats for optimism and found that those trained to wait for rewards were more optimistic.

Researchers hypothesize that this may also work in humans – by constantly looking forward to positive events or positive events we can program our brains to be optimistic.

If you’ve made it to the bottom of this list, this may come as a surprise. But research suggests that worrying too much about being happy can make you feel happier.

Experiments that made people wish for more happiness – perhaps by reading how happy they could be – before watching an uplifting film have ended. feeling more sad than happy. The idea is that by raising their expectations, reading and worrying about the importance of happiness can make people feel depressed.

You may have experienced this during a big event or party that you have been looking forward to and it did not live up to those expectations.

Iris Mauss, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, has also shown that desire and the pursuit of happiness can also exist. increase feelings of loneliness and disconnection. He encourages being more stoic and accepting the ups and downs in life.

On cold, dark winter days, a cup of coffee can give your brain and body the energy it needs. Consuming caffeine can make us feel more alert because it quickly enters the bloodstream where it overpowers adenosine, the chemical that makes us feel tired.

But time is of the essence when it comes to caffeine as it can take a while to kick in and a long time to wear off. Scientists recommend that you have the last dose of caffeine eight hours and 48 minutes before bedtime. We should also not use too much caffeine – not more than 400mg or around two to three cups of coffee, depending on the strength – to avoid sleep disturbances, headaches, nausea and anxiety.

This year I have implemented many science-backed methods to improve our health and well-being, but I have to admit, like many of us, I don’t always take the advice I give. After finishing a six-week psychology course I stopped practicing mindfulness as soon as the course ended, despite learning that even five minutes a day has many benefits such as improving focus and reducing stress, anxiety and depression emotional.

However, this summer, as we research and write six science-backed steps to feeling calmIt quickly became clear that even if we are feeling calm and stress-free, we can all benefit from many of the anti-anxiety exercises that have been suggested – and I found myself using the skills of the mind I had learned when my mind was very active. at night.

Often we only want to step in when we’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed – or if anxiety strikes it can feel overwhelming to step in, but there are obviously ways to help yourself get to the point. which at first. While caution isn’t my thing every day, having it in the toolbox gives me a boost if I ever need it.

Of the six steps shown, the one I keep coming back to is the natural benefits. It is well known How good is it outside? it can be good for our mental health, but even when we’re at home, studies have shown that enjoying nature can still have a surprisingly positive effect. Nature has a positive effect on the mind and body, but it can be overlooked as an easy way to stay calm, which is why I found that combining nature with search to be such a powerful tool.

If we hear a recording of wild animals for example, it can have a calming effect. Further research found that virtual reality access to a marine environment improved participants’ perceptions. The same goes for viewing natural events on a computer or phone screen. And while nature shouldn’t replace the real thing, it’s encouraging that giving our minds regular rest can work wonders.

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