Breaking the myth that a person’s happiness is somewhat set. We uncover 4 ways to permanently increase your happiness set point.
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be naturally happy, while others struggle to find joy in their lives?
It turns out that there’s a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, the happiness set point. In this article, we will reveal the secret four ways of increasing your happiness set point after introducing it.
What exactly is a happiness set point?
A happiness set point is a term used by psychologists to describe the idea that each person has a default level of happiness that they tend to return to, even after experiencing major life events such as getting married or losing a job. It’s unique to each person.
Our happiness set point is thought to be relatively stable over time and it largely dictates our happiness level.
Why do some people have higher happiness set points than others?
Research suggests that our happiness set point is largely determined by genes, estimated to have up to 50% contribution. In addition, our early childhood experiences and life circumstances can also play a role in shaping our happiness set point.
It sounds discouraging that the happiness set point is pretty much how happy we are most of the time. We are doomed if we were born or conditioned by our childhood experiences to have a low happiness set point.
Contrary to popular belief, we have found 4 ways to permanently change the happiness set point.
Because I go into them, you probably want to know how we can change the impact of genes. The secret lies in Epigenetics. Your thoughts and beliefs can change your biology, modifying your gene expression without changing the genes themselves. Specifically, you can ground your body, release repressed emotions, and alter your mind/body habits to produce empowering thoughts and happy emotions so that your genes express happiness instead.
For example, you are naturally happier when you shift from crouching at your desk overthinking to being fully connected to your body to remain present from moment to moment.
It is so powerful to learn that you can rewire yourself and change your body chemistry permanently toward happiness. When you are in a happy state, it opens the floodgate to what you really want. Simply put, you attract more things to be happy about.
Curious “ What are the four ways to change the happiness setpoint?”
The four ways are laid out in the diagram below.
- CONNECTION
This is the practice of connecting to your body by dropping your awareness into your body. At its core, this practice involves bringing your attention fully to the present moment and into the 2nd chakra (2 inches below the navel).
By doing so, you can begin to tap into a deeper sense of joy and inner peace. Because 95% of serotonin (happy hormone) is produced in the gut, dropping awareness there connects you to innate joy. Sometimes you experience this after taking a long walk that really clears your mind. All of a sudden, you experience happiness for no reason.
2. RESILIENCE
Big and small traumas can often lead to the repression of emotions when emotions are too intense. The repressed emotions lead to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and physical health problems.
Repressed emotions accumulate as one grows older. We find by releasing repressed emotions, individuals become resilient and bounce back more quickly from emotional dips. Emotional dips became shadower and shorter in duration, therefore you can return to happiness sooner.
Some people find journaling or practicing mindfulness helpful with some relief in repressed emotions. However, spending countless hours even years dwelling on your trauma can be quite counterproductive, manifesting negative results and making you feel stuck.
To release repressed emotions, we find Miracle Healing is the quickest way to unblock your hidden trauma and emotional barriers and increase your happiness set point.
3. ALIGNMENT
It is human nature to derive a lot of happiness from growth.
Breaking free from old patterns keeping you stuck, can bring you closer to the true version of yourself. It helps you become aligned with who you are meant to be. Alignment leads to growth and expansion, which in turn leads to happiness.
One of the keys to breaking free from old patterns is to become aware of them in the moment of engagement. This means paying close attention to your thoughts, feelings, and actions as they are happening, and being open to the possibility of doing something different or responding in new and creative ways.
Have you reacted repeatedly in a negative way to a family member or a coworker? Try talking to a family member differently with kindness and compassion and see how they react differently toward you.
Because we all have blind spots, breaking old patterns can be challenging all by yourself, but it is an important part of personal growth and development. It is important to seek feedback or coaching from others.
4. FLOW
The idea of living the emotions of your dream life sounds wonderful. Dreaming of how you’ll feel when you finally get that amazing house you want or the joy you experience when you finally land the perfect job or the sense of ease and satisfaction you feel when you head on that epic vacation. But it can be hard to visualize this when you haven’t cleared out the past emotional blockages.
Emotional blockages can prevent us from opening up to new possibilities of living our dream lives. It is like the nervous system is frozen in fear of repeating past struggles or fear of the unknown. Your brain creates confusion, hesitation, and doubt to protect you from getting hurt by moving forward to get more and live a bigger life. It perpetuates the cycle of emotional and mental distress, rather than creating what you really want.
If you have a hard time visualizing yourself living your dream life and allowing yourself to feel the emotions that come with it, such as joy, fulfillment, and ease, you can try journaling dream life experiences with sensory-rich vivid details. The process connects you deeper into happy feelings and allows old mental images or past hurt experiences to be integrated.
In order to sustain being in the flow of your dream life, you need to generate 7 empowering thoughts to 1 negative thought. When you are constantly in your dream life emotional states, your outer circumstances will change to match your dream life. With practice and dedication, you can increase your happiness set point!
Most people find it hard to maintain the ratio of 7 to 1 ratio of thoughts. We find by being deeply grounded in the body, we connect to the innate joy which naturally produces happy thoughts.
Feeling happy opens the floodgate to the manifestation of the life you want.
You have gained insights on what a happiness set point is, how it affects your happiness, and 4 ways to increase your happiness set point so that you can be happier. To learn how to actually embody these ways to increase your happiness, you can join the on-demand Abundantly Happy Breakthrough Challenge.