Buzz
[COMPETITION: This list includes a competition. Check out item seven for more details.] The weekend has arrived. If you're in the northern hemisphere, winter is approaching, and you might start feeling a bit down. Politics are frustrating, negativity seems to fill the air, and the media often focuses on spreading misery. Forget all that. Life is amazing, and with just a few small changes, you can experience more joy more often. Here’s a collection of thoughts from someone who wants to spread more happiness today. Best of luck with the competition! Leave a comment and don’t forget to smile—
10. Find Your Laughter
Take a moment to watch this video. I'll wait... Did it make you smile? Or perhaps the better question is: when did you start laughing? Share your thoughts in the comments! I shared that clip to help set a positive mood as you read through the rest of this list—hopefully, it worked! Science confirms that laughter is a powerful mood booster, so by now, you should be feeling better than when you first visited Mytour. The best cure is laughter, and I hope this section has proven that more than words ever could. In short, seek out humor regularly. It becomes easier with practice.
9. Embrace Losing
Mytour readers are generally excellent at staying calm during heated comment battles, but sometimes, things get a bit tense, and emotions run high (I'm being very polite here!). A great way to bring a little more happiness into your life, especially if you engage in online debates, is to let others be right. This doesn’t mean you have to adopt beliefs you don’t agree with, but there’s no need to convince others to adopt your ideas. How much does your life improve when you change someone else's mind? Likely, not at all. Most of these people aren't even physically near you. So why get so upset? Ask yourself: in a year, will the outcome of this argument matter? Will anyone's life truly change because of it? If the answer is no, it’s probably not worth the effort.
8. Limit Your Focus
By 'blinders', I’m referring to metaphorical blinders (or ‘blinkers’ in British English), especially in relation to the past and the future. Don't focus on what's behind you, and don't stress over what’s ahead. Just be present. As the wise Lao Tzu once said:
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
The past is gone and cannot be changed. Why suffer because of it? As for the future, there's nothing you can do about it until it arrives, so why waste so much time worrying about it? No matter how challenging things may feel, you're here right now, and you’re not in the middle of your life’s biggest crisis (and if you are: why are you on Mytour?!). Live for today.
7. Don’t Overreact to the Little Things
Pick up this book. “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff” is quite possibly the most valuable book you can own when it comes to happiness. It contains concise, impactful tips for improving your day-to-day life, and they will certainly make you reflect. The book is divided into 100 short chapters, each one only about a page long, but even just scanning the table of contents will provide enough life-changing wisdom to dramatically increase your happiness. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Accept Imperfection 2. Make an Effort to Understand 3. Allow Yourself to Experience Boredom 4. Take Time Each Day to Appreciate Someone 5. Keep in Mind: Life Isn’t a Crisis
Buy this book. It will boost your happiness, and Mytour will earn a small commission too! This is the only self-help book I return to repeatedly. Actually, don’t just buy one copy: grab ten and give them to your friends.
Competition: I adore this book so much that I’m taking my own advice. 24 hours after publishing this list, I will select the ten comments with the most upvotes and send each of the authors a signed copy of the book with a personal anecdote. That’s ten copies for the best commenters. No country restrictions apply.
6. Let Go of the Drugs
What rises must eventually fall. While I’ll assume no one here is using illicit substances, this advice particularly applies to those who do. With great care, long-term users of prescription medications should consult their doctor to review whether these medications are still beneficial. It’s easy to continue taking medication long after it’s necessary. The human body is resilient, and unless there’s a pressing need for medication, such as for schizophrenia or acute nerve damage, it might be able to handle things on its own. Antidepressants, for example, are often used to get through dark moments, but they might not always be necessary long term. Please, remember: always consult your doctor before making any changes to your medication regimen.
5. Get Some Fresh Air
If you’re not exercising at all, I wouldn’t immediately suggest a gym membership. Start with walking, swimming, or even simple sit-ups in your living room. Any form of movement is a step in the right direction. As I mentioned in Top 10 Things Your Ancestors Did Better Than You, exercise releases endorphins and has often been found to be more effective than antidepressants in some cases. Besides the physical benefits, it also gives you a break from the relentless grip of technology (and leave the headphones off!). Get outside and appreciate nature as it was meant to be seen. This can be a mindful practice where you’re simply present in the moment as life unfolds around you.
4. Embrace Failure
When we put a lot of effort into something, we sometimes trip up. Interestingly, the harder we try, the more we seem to stumble. If you're anything like me, you're likely your own toughest critic, and that doesn’t make things easier. To genuinely start finding happiness, you need to embrace failure. Perfection will never come—nothing you do will ever be flawless—but the more you're okay with being imperfect, the happier you'll be, and the prouder you'll feel of your accomplishments. Mytour isn't perfect, but I give it my best shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Thank goodness I don’t expect it to be perfect every day, or I would’ve quit seven days after I began! So, be ready to fail, and when you do, just pick yourself up and try again.
3. Make Friends
When someone is feeling down, spending time with friends and family can be a huge help. At the very least, you'll get distracted for a while, allowing your mind some time to regroup. At best, it can kickstart your journey toward true happiness. This may be hard to do when you're not feeling great, but it's one of the most crucial steps to feeling content in life. If meeting in person is too tough, a simple phone call is better than nothing.
2. Treat Others Kindly
Don’t just be courteous to others. Don’t just treat people the way you'd like to be treated. Go above and beyond. Be as kind to others as possible. You're doing them a favor, you're doing society a favor, but most importantly, you're doing yourself a favor—because kindness usually gets kindness in return. It's tough to be rude or unpleasant when someone is being exceptionally nice. And remember: if someone doesn’t mirror your kindness, think about the possibility that they might be going through a tough time rather than assuming they're just rude. We all have our bad days.
1. Embrace Ignorance
I’m having a bit of fun with the title here. Try cutting out the news from your life. If you don’t keep up with it, you won’t need to worry about whether it’s true or not (spoiler alert: it probably isn’t). Leave politics and human suffering behind. Let others handle it—after all, that's why we pay politicians so much, right? Even if they mess things up, what can you do about it? Sure, there might be a coup, but if it happens, you won’t be reading about it in the New York Times.
