7 Psychological Tricks to Make Yourself Happy
Change Your Perspective of Thinking, and Happiness Will Follow
Save Your Time
You Could Have Been Someone Else—Be Grateful: You dodged a bad genetic lottery. This is the best time in history to be alive. You have WiFi, and snacks, and you're not Steve from HR.
Cosmic Thinking: Your biggest worries are microscopic in the universe. Zoom out—nothing is as big as it seems.
Writing Down Things That Went Right (Instead of What Went Wrong): Your brain clings to negativity, rewrite it. List three things that didn’t go sideways daily.
Listen to Childhood Music: It’s a free time machine to happiness. Play that embarrassing song. No one's judging or Hearing.
Compliment a Stranger: A quick “nice shoes” can make someone’s day. People become people, not background NPCs.
Do Something That Is Hard And Your Responsibility: The Mind learns through repetition—hard things get easier.
Lower fear = lower stress = more happiness.
1. You Could Have Been Someone Else Entirely, So Be Thankful for Who You Are
Now, let’s just pause for a second and think about this one. You could have been Steve from HR. You know Steve. Tucks his polo into his khakis, makes PowerPoint jokes, and has a laugh that sounds like a seagull choking.
But you’re not Steve.
You are you. And by some wild genetic lottery, you dodged being someone with zero taste in music. Appreciate that. You could have been born in the 1600s. No internet. No showers. Enslaved by some kingdom.
You exist in an era with WiFi and snacks – That alone is worth celebrating.
You didn’t end up as Steve
Also, Experts say this is the luckiest time to be alive.
So when you feel sad, tell yourself that. You’re not Steve and That’s already a win.
2. Looking at the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Gives You Weird Peace And Existential Crisis
Carl Sagan once pointed at an image taken by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft and said, “That’s Earth.” A smudge of dust in an infinite universe. Which, in nonphilosopher terms, means that whatever embarrassing thing you did last week, The universe does not care.
Your cringe-worthy moments are microscopic – Those 2 AM texts you sent, That awkward sound you made in a meeting, The universe doesn't even blink.
You’re a speck of stardust with a to-do list – The fact that you stress about emails while floating in infinite space is kind of hilarious.
No one's keeping count – Except maybe your dog. But only because you owe him a walk.
Zoom out. Way out. Nothing is as big as it appears up close.
3. Writing Down Things That Went Right (Instead of What Went Wrong)
Your mind likes to have an ugly habit of recording the most terrible part of the day as if it is creating a highlight reel of moments you regret.
Our Brain Invents Problems When Life Feels Too Easy.
Every night, write down three things that didn’t go sideways.
Cooked dinner without burning it – Success.
Replied to an email – Done.
Let an argument go – Moved on.
Your brain will get the hint. Eventually, it’ll stop hoarding negativity. (Maybe)
4. Listening to Music From Your Childhood
Music is a time machine. Nothing activates nostalgia like that one song you played on loop in middle school, i.e., the time when your worst problem was would your mom would let you watch TV late.
Nostalgia is free therapy.
It doesn't even have to be good.
It’s a shortcut to joy – Your brain hears those old beats and just goes back.
Go on, play that embarrassing playlist. No one's paying attention. And if someone is paying attention, they're probably jealous. (Maybe not)
5. Complimenting a Stranger
There is nothing wrong with giving someone a compliment on having good shoes or that their haircut is so good, they look like they have their life together.
It's a social cheat code – One compliment and, you’ve made someone’s entire day.
You get a happiness boost, too – Making someone feel good makes you feel good.
It makes strangers into people instead of background chatter.
Best of all, you could be the best thing that occurs to that person all day.
6. Overcoming Something That Scared You Before
Look, I’m not saying go wrestle an alligator.
Fear passes when you face it, When you go and actually do it, it doesn't seem so far away.
Lower fear = lower stress = more happiness.
Every time you push past fear, even just a little, your mind learns: This isn’t so bad. And soon, what once felt impossible becomes just another thing your brain can do on Autopilot, which is the side you want your good habits to be.
If you think the gym is terrifying, Walk in there, lift something, and leave like you own the place.
The brain learns through repetition. What once felt terrifying can become routine.
These solutions might feel temporary, and yes, some of them are. But in my opinion, happiness is a bunch of small moments stacked together.
And sometimes, a little boost is all you need to keep going.
Compounding Works on happiness too.
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