{"id":36171,"date":"2021-05-28T18:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T22:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=36171"},"modified":"2021-05-30T12:37:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T16:37:14","slug":"cultivate-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is happiness a feasible goal to pursue? What are some ways to cultivate happiness and bring more joy into your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happiness may seem like an overly vague, intangible, and overwhelming goal to pursue, but it&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s possible to cultivate happiness and it doesn&#8217;t require you to overhaul your whole life. All it takes is a few simple tweaks to your usual routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate more happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can You Cultivate Happiness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone wants to find <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/tal-ben-shahar-happiness\/\">true happiness<\/a> in their lives, but many of us believe that happiness can only come from experiencing huge changes\u2014such as a trip around the world or a lottery jackpot. But, as it turns out, you can cultivate happiness without changing much at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1) <strong>Boost Your Energy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Happiness<\/em> is an overwhelming and intangible goal, but small steps toward simply being physically healthier are tangible and achievable\u2014naturally increasing your willingness to cultivate happiness. There are two important steps to increasing your physical energy: <em>getting more sleep<\/em> and <em>exercising more<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Get More Sleep<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three effective ways to train your brain to get to sleep earlier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>First, put your brain \u201cto bed\u201d\u2014don\u2019t do anything that will stimulate your brain late at night. For example, instead of playing video games, read a book. Additionally, lower your lights at night\u2014this signals to your brain that it\u2019s time for sleep.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Second, question your \u201cme\u201d time. If you\u2019re staying up because you have too much to do, ask yourself: Am I really enjoying these activities or performing them effectively if I\u2019m exhausted? Where possible, push your tasks to other times when you\u2019ll be more alert, like the weekend.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Third, get ready well before your bedtime, <em>before<\/em> you\u2019re too exhausted for your routine.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Exercise<\/strong> <strong>More<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Exercise comes with myriad benefits such as improved mental clarity, lower risk of dementia, and boosted energy. There are several simple ways to start\u2014and stick to\u2014exercise routines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Ask a friend. <\/strong>Studies show that asking someone how happy they are doing an activity often reveals how happy <em>you\u2019ll <\/em>be partaking in the same activity. Find a friend who loves their routine, and try it out for yourself. If you don\u2019t like it, try again with a different routine. If you <em>do<\/em> enjoy it, you\u2019ll be motivated to stick with it.<\/li><li><strong>Walk when you can.<\/strong> Walking is a low-intensity exercise that comes with many benefits\u2014it reduces stress, provides a quick increase in energy, and getting out into the sunlight stimulates dopamine and serotonin production, improving your mood. Furthermore, it\u2019s very accessible\u2014you just need to commit yourself to it. You can do this in several ways. First, vow to walk when you need to run errands that are reasonably close by. Second, get a pedometer\u2014it will help you track your daily activity and striving to hit 10k steps gives you a bit of extra motivation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2) Clear Your Clutter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Understand that \u201cclutter\u201d takes many forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Nostalgia clutter <\/strong>includes items you\u2019re holding onto from your past, even though you don\u2019t need or use them, such as hockey equipment from your college days.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>\u201cUseful\u201d clutter <\/strong>includes items that <em>are<\/em> useful, just not for <em>you<\/em>. This clutter looks like boxes of old cell phone chargers or half-empty cans of house paint.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Sales clutter <\/strong>includes items you bought because they were on sale, but don\u2019t use, such as impractical clothing or one-purpose kitchen gadgets.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Free clutter <\/strong>includes items<strong> <\/strong>you\u2019ve accumulated because they were given or handed down to you, such as company tote bags or a gifted purse that\u2019s not your style.<\/li><li><strong>\u201cShouldn&#8217;t\u201d clutter<\/strong> includes items that you\u2019re holding onto but really shouldn&#8217;t use anymore, such as ratty sweatshirts or a half-broken pair of skis.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Ambitious clutter <\/strong>includes items that you have the <em>ambition <\/em>to use, but probably won\u2019t, such as scrapbooking materials or fancy cake decorating supplies.<\/li><li><strong>Buyer\u2019s remorse clutter <\/strong>includes bad purchases\u2014while holding onto it feels like you\u2019re \u201cusing\u201d it in some way, giving it away would feel like admitting you made a poor choice.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For each of your decluttering tasks, set up three piles: <em>throw away<\/em>, <em>give away<\/em>, and <em>keep. <\/em>Then, assign your items to one of these piles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Put anything that is objectively useless into the <em>throw away<\/em> pile, such as t-shirts that are riddled with holes or phone chargers from the early 2000s.&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Give away <\/em>anything that\u2019s usable but you\u2019ll realistically never use, such as pants that haven\u2019t fit for 5 years or the breadmaker still in its sealed box.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3) Seek Out More Fun<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a no-brainer that having fun will bring more happiness into your life. But to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/have-more-fun\/\">have more fun<\/a>, you must know what you find fun in the first place. It might sound strange, but it&#8217;s very possible that you\u2019re not sure how you have fun\u2014<strong>many people go through life participating in activities that they <em>think<\/em> they should enjoy instead of activities they <em>actually<\/em> enjoy<\/strong>. We do this with the goal of projecting a certain image of ourselves, and it\u2019s an easy way to get sucked into activities that don\u2019t feel good or right for us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three parts to creating more opportunities for genuine fun.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>First, run through the ways you seek fun in your everyday life. <\/strong>For each activity, ask yourself: Do I look forward to doing this activity? Does it make me feel energized or drained? These questions will help you separate activities you truly enjoy from activities you\u2019re doing simply because you feel that you should.<\/li><li><strong>Second, think of new ways to have fun<\/strong>. If you\u2019re having trouble coming up with ideas, try<strong> <\/strong>writing down the ways you remember having fun as a child<strong>. <\/strong>It\u2019s likely that what was fun for you at a time when productivity wasn\u2019t a concern will still be fun for you now.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Third, embrace your idea of fun and announce it to others. <\/strong>When you talk about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-you-curious-about\/\">your interests<\/a>, you\u2019re more likely to connect with like-minded people than if you kept your interests to yourself. For example, Rubin has a passion for reading children\u2019s literature but used to feel it wasn\u2019t \u201clegitimate\u201d enough to talk about. Once she and a friend spoke about their mutual interest in children\u2019s literature, they were able to create a children\u2019s literature book club and add genuinely fun meetings to their lives.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4) Nurture Your Friendships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Friendship is the <em>one thing<\/em> that everyone\u2014scientists, philosophers, and happiness experts\u2014can agree is a major contributor to overall happiness and life satisfaction.&nbsp;Maintaining friendships takes a lot of work, and this work can easily get lost in your busy everyday life. Take the initiative in your friendships to be the one who makes an effort to <em>stay in touch<\/em> and <em>follow through with plans.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Stay in Touch<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Reaching out to old friends to let them know you\u2019re thinking of them is a small gesture that goes a long way toward strengthening bonds\u2014for example, Rubin emailed her friends on their birthdays. For you, the resolution to keep in touch might look like making a list of friends you\u2019ve been meaning to reach out to, and contacting one of them each Saturday afternoon. Or, you might set a date\u2014like the first day of summer or Valentine\u2019s Day\u2014as your \u201ccheck-in\u201d day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While a quick check-in won\u2019t guarantee the level of closeness you had before you lost touch\u2014as it\u2019s likely you\u2019re both busy or live far apart\u2014the reminder of companionship will give both of you a moment of rejuvenation in your day.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Follow Through With Plans&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t show up for plans with your friends, your friendships will have a much harder time surviving.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Showing up<\/em> looks like saying, \u201cLet\u2019s get coffee\u201d and then actually making plans, going to housewarming parties, visiting your friend after they have a baby, or going to events put on by friends.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When you show up for events in others\u2019 lives, no matter how small or large, you strengthen your bond with them\u2014while this can deepen an already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-people-closest-to-you\/\">close relationship<\/a>, it can also push a new friendship toward \u201cclose\u201d friendship due to the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mere-exposure-effect-example\/\">mere exposure effect<\/a>. <\/em><strong>The more people are exposed to something\u2014such as sounds, colors, or people\u2014the more they naturally start to like it. <\/strong>Therefore, the more people see you, the more they\u2019ll like you, and vice versa.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5) Practice Spirituality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you\u2019re religious or not, it\u2019s important to explore various \u201cspiritual states\u201d to cultivate more happiness\u2014these states include awe, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/eckhart-tolle-meditation-mindfulness\/\">mindfulness<\/a>, gratitude, and even reflection on death. Research shows that spiritual people\u2014that is, people who spend time considering these spiritual states\u2014are happier with their lives overall. In turn, this elevated happiness grants them better mental and physical health, greater longevity, and an increased ability to deal with stress and setbacks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practicing spirituality will help you cultivate a <em>deeper<\/em> happiness that often is hard to recognize in our day-to-day lives. This deeper happiness includes a sense of gratitude for what you have, the recognition that your life as it is deserves appreciation, and the ability to focus on others\u2019 happiness above your own. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is happiness a feasible goal to pursue? What are some ways to cultivate happiness and bring more joy into your life? Happiness may seem like an overly vague, intangible, and overwhelming goal to pursue, but it&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s possible to cultivate happiness and it doesn&#8217;t require you to overhaul your whole life. All it takes is a few simple tweaks to your usual routine. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate more happiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":20719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,43],"tags":[286],"class_list":["post-36171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-the-happiness-project","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\"},\"wordCount\":1592,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Happiness Project\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\",\"name\":\"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg\",\"width\":1220,\"height\":650},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness - Shortform Books","description":"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness","og_description":"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1220,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness","datePublished":"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/"},"wordCount":1592,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","keywords":["The Happiness Project"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Psychology","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/","name":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-28T22:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-30T16:37:14+00:00","description":"Happiness may seem like a vague and overwhelming goal, but it is not. Here are five simple and actionable ways to cultivate happiness.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","width":1220,"height":650},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cultivate-happiness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Cultivate Happiness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/happy-emoji-baloons.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36171"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37080,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36171\/revisions\/37080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}