More Happy :)

Happiness backed by science. Inspiration, humor and research on how to make your life more happy, more often. http://morehappy.org #PositivePsychology #ScienceofHappiness

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When thinking about your life or your day, remember that you are not your failures. Can you learn from your failures? Yes, but be careful the story you tell yourself about your identity. YOU are amazing. #yougotthis #mindset #growthmindset #positivevibes #positivity #happiness #morehappy #failure #identity #powerofnow #mindfulness

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I know you you all aren't from the USA, but on the 4th of July, I'm grateful to belong to a country whose ideal is the pursuit of happiness. Every human being has the right to pursue happiness and I hope that wherever you live, you have the freedom to pursue your own happiness and improve your life in ways that bring hope. Freedom to express, freedom to learn, freedom to progress and think for yourself, freedoms to love and be loved, freedom to worship however you like, freedom to go after your dreams. I wish you all a happy day of celebration of these freedoms that make happiness possible. #pursuitofhappiness #morehappy #usa #fourthofjuly #4thofjuly #america #happiness #patriotism #declarationofindependence #thomasjefferson #johnhancock #weholdthesetruthstobeselfevident #lifelibertyandthepursuitofhappiness #sacredhonor #desperatetimescallfordesperatemeasures #nationaltreasure #perma #freedom #happier #happiness #happyfourth

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What keeps you hungry and open to new ideas? Research shows that telling yourself to "be positive" is less effective in helping you to be happier or positive and reminding yourself to "be open" to new ideas and possibilities is more effective in helping to keep you happy and positive. So like Steve Jobs said stay hungry for new things. Stay foolish or in other words, stay open to new and fresh things. #beopen #stayhungry #stayfoolish #stevejobs #morehappy #positivity #positivevibes #positiveemotion #positivepsychology #positivequotes

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You touch your phone on average 85 times a day, but how many times do you touch another human being? You need to touch people more often. If you do your life will be better. I know that sounds a little creepy slash hallmarky, but it’s true. What happens when babies are deprived of touch? It can mess them up for life. As David Linden, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist said: "Deprive a newborn of social touch, and disaster can happen. Growth is slowed, compulsive rocking and other self-soothing behaviors emerge, and, if not rectified, emergent disorders of mood, cognition, and self-control can persist through adulthood. Fortunately, even a relatively minor intervention— an hour per day of touch and limb manipulation from a caregiver— can reverse this terrible course if applied early in life. Touch is not optional for human development." And this isn't just important for babies. Adults need touch too. Linden says: "interpersonal touch is a crucial form of social glue. It can bind partners into lasting couples. It reinforces bonds between parents and their children and between siblings. It connects people in the community and in the workplace, fostering emotions of gratitude, sympathy, and trust." It also helps sports teams work better together. Teams who touch the most cooperated the most and win the most. Massages make you better at math and hugging makes you happier and healthier. Like I have said in a past post, 8 hugs a day will keep the cardiovascular doctor away (at least for a while). Oxytocin comes from touch and it is good for the heart. The power of touch is vast and far reaching. So now that you tapped this image, go get/give some healthy loving touch to a real human. (at Provo, Utah)

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What are you creating right now? Research suggests creative people are actually happier than everyone else. Experts say there’s a strong connection between creative expression and overall wellbeing. Key components of the creative personality, like novelty-seeking and perseverance, are also good predictors of life satisfaction. And it works both ways: People also tend to be most creative when they’re in a good mood. Creativity researcher Dr. Shelley Carson said: "Increases in positive mood broaden attention and allow us to see more possible solutions to creative problems." This goes in line with Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's broaden and build theory that says that our brain works better when it is positive. So be creative to feel happier or do something else to boost your mood and the creative juices will begin to flow. #creative #create #tobehuman #becreative #creativity #creativityforlife #lifesatisfaction #positivity #positiveemotion #positivepsychology #morehappy #happiness #scienceofhappiness #youareacreator

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Love is the mother of all positive emotions. Today is my four year anniversary of marriage to my wife. We have a really fun tradition that in our anniversary picture, we hold the picture from the year before - all the way back to our wedding day. You can zoom in or just swipe to find each of our four anniversary pictures. I hesitated to get more personal on here but I wanted to highlight the fact that positive relationships are the number one predictor of long term happiness in life. Mountains of research shows that our health and happiness is significantly impacted by the quality of close relationships in our life and the quality of marriage relationships can greatly effect your happiness. Simply being married does not guarantee a happier life than those who are not married. But if your marriage relationship is one of the most positive relationships you have, you are more likely to be even happier. Secret fact: this is my second marriage. And the research doesn't just show that marriage makes people happy but that truly happy people are more likely to marry but I believe that happiness is a skill that can be cultivated when single or married. So cultivating happiness skills will not only make you more likely to get married, but you'll be more likely to attract someone who is a happy person themselves! And then you'll be even more likely to stay married, which will increase your long-term happiness as well! Lots of people told me and Stacie that "marriage is hard" or that it wasn't as fun once you pass the honeymoon stage. I disagree. Life is hard and you have to work hard to make marriage into what you want it to be, but just like happiness, it is something you can work at until you are really good at it and it becomes wings instead of weight. (More in comments)... (at Delicate Arch)

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You haven't failed yet. KEEP. ON. TRYING. #dontgiveup #nofear #morehappy #ptsd #panicattack #positivity #growthmindset #yougotthis

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I just can't... 😂😂😂this is so weird that it is strangely humorous to me. Hope I'm not the only one who laughed at this. Laughter is a powerful thing. It decreases cortisol and improves immunity. Laughing for 1 min burns the equivalent amount of calories as rowing on a rowing machine for 10 min. Laughter increases trust and breaks down barriers in relationships. Relationships last longer that laugh together often. So laugh more often even if it's weird photoshopped puppy pictures like this one😂. #puppylove #lol #laughter #scienceofhappiness #poweroflaughter #morehappy #laughoutloud #laughmore #purebread #bread #toasttuesday #toast #soweird #happier #whatthe

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If you are struggling today to feel the happiness you want, remember that all chapters end. Turn the page. There is hope in the next chapter. Positive anticipation is a powerful way to boost mood and happiness in any situation, including Mondays. #monday #happihabits #scienceofhappiness #positivity #nextchapter #morehappy #turnthepage #keepyourheadup #hopeisreal #thestruggleisreal #happier (at Provo, Utah)

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It is crucial to find meaning in your life for happiness to be present. Where do you find most meaning? I want to know. Those who can derive meaning are much better at coping and are much more resilient during and after traumatic life events. #meaning #lifemeaning #happiness #morehappy #happihabits #traumarecovery #posttraumaticgrowth #ptsd #scienceofhappiness

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Do your daily actions and habits increase your happiness? What can you do today to make happiness a part of your daily list? You are worth it. #dailyhappiness #morehappy #positivity #positivevibes #positiveemotion #happiness #scienceofhappiness #happinesshabits #happihabits #behappynow #dontwaituntilitstoolate #happiness #happinessbydesign 😁✔️😀☑️😃✔️😊

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Research shows that our attitudes and behavior don't just affect the people directly around us, but can have an incredible ripple effect that can reach many multiple levels of influence. You might think that your kindness is only making your mom feel good, but your positive impact on your mom is likely to have a positive effect on your mom's friend's daughter's coworker's neighbor's taxi driver. Positivity spreads. FMRI studies have proven that mirror neurons literally connect all of us together so that when we express positivity, it is impossible for even the most negative person not to be affected. Keep spreading the good inside you. It's worth more than you think. #positivity #positivevibes #positiveemotion #positivepsychology #mirrorneurons #morehappy #scienceofhappiness #positivityresearch #happinessresearcher #keepbeingkind #bekind #behappy #behappynow #youmatter (at Utah)

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Don't compare your worst to someone else's best. When we observe our friends on Facebook and the other social media channels it can be very easy to forget the fact that the summer vacation in Italy or the night at the fancy restaurant is not the everyday life of these people. There isn't one human who doesn't face obstacles behind-the-scenes. But very few people ever post about the obstacles that they face. So when your friends are living it up publicly on their timeline, wish then well, put the situation in perspective, use mindfulness to bring yourself into the present, savor the good about the present moment with gratitude, and turn envy into inspiration and motivation to move forward in the direction of your dreams. Turn envy into real hope by shifting your attention to goals you know you have the power to accomplish and if you're up for it, take a step toward the goal. Social comparison can be a huge sucker of happiness if we don't follow these guidelines. Don't fall in the frenvy trap. You are amazing and are headed for great things as well. #comparisonisthethiefofjoy #comparison #happier #morehappy #positivevibes #scienceofhappiness #positivepsychology #socialmedia #socialcomparison thanks to @nick_j_longo for the quote inspiration and @mylivehappy for even more insights on the topic. (at New York, New York)

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A good night's sleep can make you feel like a million bucks, literally. (Actually the equivalent of 200k pounds according to one study) Don't have time to get a good night's sleep? I would rethink your strategy because research also shows that you'll be much less effective at work and twice as likely to die early (because of shortened lifespan). If you think that's impossible, you should just try napping. Research shows that even a 10 minute nap can boost energy and mood and make you more effective than your sleep deprived coworkers. It also makes you a happier person to be around. Why? Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala; positive or neutral memories get processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall gloomy memories just fine. So you'll be better at remembering the good stuff with that nap. Also naps beat caffeine in all the studies. So if you can get your full 8 hours, do that. If not, take a good nap during the day (your boss will thank you). NASA bosses suggest naps for their pilots (while the co-pilot is in control obviously 😴😬). And try to take a nap instead of turning to another cup of coffee. Your brain will thank you. #naptime #naps #sleep #sleepdeprived #morehappy #positive #positivity #positivepsychology #scienceofhappiness #takeanap #puppylove #feellikeamillionbucks #positivevibes #happier (at Alpine, Utah)

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How will you stay true to yourself today? #staytrue #beyou #beyourself #morehappy #positivity #positivevibes #loveyourself (at BYU (Brigham Young University))

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The average human carries around a brain’s weight, roughly three pounds, of microbial life. And while there are 10 trillion human cells in the body, there are ten times that amount, or 100 trillion, microbial cells sharing the same space. And the microbial DNA, the microbiome, is more complicated than the human genome. You have around 20,000 genes in your human genome and about 2,000,000 in your bacterial genome. Here are a few reasons (that are currently being researched) why this is related to our happiness... 💥Probiotics will likely help improve your mood, and ability to cope with stressful situations. 💥Probiotics may be the future for treatment of depressive disorders. 💥Overly sterile environments and decreased gut bacteria is linked to anxiety, depression, giving up in difficult situations and poor sociability. 💥Most likely, the best probiotics to take include ones from the Lactobacilis and Bifidobacterium families as they cause your body to produce more GABA. 💥Lactobacilus rhamnosus in particular may be helpful for mood boosts and anxiety reduction, and is not available in all probiotics. 💥GABA supplements alone won’t boost your mood 💥A diverse microbiome is the best way to ensure a healthy gut and a healthy mind, and to protect your brain from the consequences of aging 💥Diversify your diet for a diverse microbiome (and add more fiber from non-processed foods). 💥Eat foods that act as prebiotics (nourishment for the good bacteria in your gut) -sauerkraut, kimchi, fiber-rich foods, seeds... 💥Eat unprocessed, fresh food, multiple sources of protein, wholegrain carbs and plenty of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Fiber is your friend. 💥Get muddy. Many strains of soil-based bacteria will help contribute to a healthy microbiome ecosystem. Much of this was taken from @jumponthehappinesswagon (thanks!) #microbiome #microbiomediet #microbiomehealth #morehappy #positivity #scienceofhappiness #bacteria #genetics #humangenome #healthyhappy #healthpsychology #healthiseverything (at Utah)

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#fathersday #morehappy #positive #lovemydad #father #pops #papa #mipapa (at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC))