530-Living in the Moment to Improve Happiness

Thoughts of the past and future are shown to decrease happiness, so how can we learn to live more in the moment? Tune in to find out! 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and there is this hum in the happiness readings, like an overarching theme that happy people are more mindful than the rest of us, they tend to be more present and have this high level of gratitude for the moment. 

 

I guess, if you can enjoy what you have, you are not wanting for more, which can make you unhappy.  

 

There are these theories that when you are present in the moment, you are happier than when you are thinking of the past or what’s next.   

 

The idea in the research is that looking back at achievements, won’t make us happy now.  So, say you got the 30 under 30 award and it was a huge accomplishment.  Now, you are in your 40s and your happiness has baselined again.  That’s the hedonic adaptation principle.  

 

There is this idea that thoughts create our unhappiness, not our circumstances. 

 

Some people think this might be one of life’s greatest secrets because it seems like the opposite is true—that if we could just get circumstances to change, we would finally be happy.  

 

We know through the research that circumstances do not make you happier. More money doesn't necessarily make you happier.  There are people all over the world who have less and are happy.  Some people are sick, their circumstances suck, but those circumstances are not necessarily making them unhappy, it’s their thoughts that are. 

 

Memories are some of the most common thoughts that rob our happiness, but even dreams of the future do this, simply because they take us out of the richness of the present moment and into a made-up reality.  

 

So, I’m working on being more present and I hope this inspires you to think about ways you can be more present too.  

 

Let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram  

 

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Until next time, remember kindness is contagious. 

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