Men who want to be happier might be looking at the wrong things to help them. Everyone wants to be happier, and the past two years have been an emotional struggle for many people. 2022 can be the year you make sustainable, long-term, and positive changes for your happiness, however.
Some things are out of your control, but there are also plenty of things within your control that influence how happy you are overall.
The following are some tips and ideas to become a happier person this year so you can thrive.
Travel More
Whenever you have the opportunity to plan a trip or travel somewhere, take advantage. We, as Americans, tend to underestimate the power of travel. It doesn’t have to be a huge trip to be meaningful and impact your happiness and mental health.
Booking a hotel or a house rental for just a few days every once and a while can help you get away from the daily grind, spend time with the people you care about, and cut out some of the noise in everyday life that can fill your head.
There’s research showing that when you take time out for vacations, it not only helps you feel generally happier, but it can even promote better physical health.
Along with the increase in happiness you’re likely to feel while you’re in your destination, you’ll get a spike in happiness just anticipating the trip, and you’ll probably feel better for weeks or more after you return.
Set Goals and Pursue Them
Research shows that men who have the highest happiness levels tend to pursue what they find important and make conscious decisions each day to stay on track.
Maybe you’ve gotten to a point in your life where you aren’t necessarily sure what your goals are anymore. You may have gotten off track, so something you can do right now is sit down and prioritize your goals. Give yourself a direction and know what you’re working toward.
Everyone who’s driven by a sense of purpose is likely to feel happier and more productive as well.
Practice Gratitude
If you want to feel happy even when things around you that might not be positive or things are out of your control, you can practice gratitude. Incorporating the practice of gratitude into your life is something you’ll always have control over.
When you practice gratitude, you rewire your brain, alleviating depression and blunting the negative emotional impacts of adverse events.
Even just small amounts of gratitude that you incorporate into your daily life can improve your physical strength, impulse control, and sleep quality. Researchers find that practicing gratitude helps reduce depression and increases dopamine release.
To practice gratitude, all you need to do is sit with your thoughts. If it helps you stay mindful, you can write down a few things you’re grateful for every day, even when you aren’t necessarily feeling all that positive.
Eat Foods That Boost Your Mood
Often when a new year starts, we’ll all make resolutions about health and fitness but not necessarily stick to them.
If 2022 is the year of sustainable changes, rather than trying an ultra-restrictive diet with no long-term staying power, why not focus on eating more nutritious foods? Certain foods can make you feel your best and even improve your mood.
Things to include in your diet for a mood and wellness boost include:
- Fatty fish: Fish like salmon has omega-3 fatty acids. Albacore tuna also has healthy fats, including DHA and EPA. These fats are linked to lower depression levels. Omega-3s are thought to help with brain development and cell signaling, so you can feel happier.
- Dark chocolate: When you have dark chocolate, it has mood-boosting compounds that can give you a quick rush of feel-good brain chemicals.
- Fermented foods: Fermented foods include kombucha, sauerkraut, and kimchi. These fermented foods help improve your mood and gut health. They allow your body to create probiotics. These probiotics can help increase your levels of serotonin.
- Bananas: Having a banana as a snack can help your brain synthesize dopamine and serotonin, plus they stabilize your blood sugar.
Rethink Your Social circle
The people you surround yourself with have a huge influence on your happiness and sense of well-being. Maybe 2022 is the year that you finally follow through with your commitment to yourself to cut out toxic influences.
You want to surround yourself with positive people, have goals in their own lives, and enjoy looking at the bright side of things.
While toxic influences can bring you down, having people you can rely on and connect with is integral to long-term happiness. Friendship takes time and effort to cultivate, but it can make a big difference in how you feel about yourself and the world when you have strong relationships.
Find a Way to Stay Accountable
We talked above about the fact that being focused on goals can help you feel happier. You need to find a way that works for you to stay accountable too.
For example, maybe you track your progress in different areas of your life using an app, or you could start journaling as a way to record how you make progress toward your goals.
You want at the end of the year to be able to look back and see all that you’ve accomplished.
Give Up Alcohol
Finally, if you’re someone who drinks, especially if you drink perhaps to excess, 2022 could be a year to cut back or quit altogether. Alcohol is a depressant that affects your balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, affecting your thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
When you drink, it can create not only depression but also anxiety over the short- and long-term.
Maybe you start slowly this year and gradually reduce your alcohol intake to see how it affects you mentally and physically.
The things you can do as a man to feel happier and more fulfilled don’t have to be expensive or even challenging. Small steps make the most significant impact because you can stick with them.
