{"id":4710,"date":"2016-01-15T19:33:30","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T19:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2016-01-15T19:33:33","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T19:33:33","slug":"expert-says-happier-new-year-within-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=4710","title":{"rendered":"Expert Says Happier New Year Within Reach"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Eric Galatas<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas<\/strong> – To make \u201cHappy New Year\u201d a reality instead of just a pleasantry, there\u2019s scientific research that can point anyone in the direction of a happier life.<\/p>\n

Some of the tips are common sense – getting enough sleep, exercise and outdoor time, and making time to help others.<\/p>\n

But psychology professor Tim Bono at Washington University in St. Louis says people who take just a few minutes a week to acknowledge the good in their lives and the things they\u2019re grateful for, tend to see significant increases in their happiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also one of the easiest behaviors for us to incorporate into our daily lives,\u201d he points out. \u201cAnd it really doesn\u2019t even involve changing anything about our lives – rather, it\u2019s taking just a few minutes to shift the focus of our attention to those things that are going well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bono studies happiness and teaches a 15-week course about the science behind it.<\/p>\n

\"About

About half of a person\u2019s potential to be happy is genetic, but research says anyone can learn to adjust their outlook for a more positive attitude. Photo: Jin\/Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

He says New Year\u2019s resolutions work best when they are aimed at incorporating healthy, long-term habits into your life – and research shows that adding gratitude is one of the most effective.<\/p>\n

Bono says even curmudgeons and procrastinators have the ability to change their thinking, but it takes some willpower. And that also can be learned, by practicing on little things.<\/p>\n

For instance, he says, try not checking your phone or email constantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can exercise strong willpower in those small behaviors, eventually that will accumulate to giving you the willpower to carry out the larger goals you have for yourself – like running a marathon, like eating healthier, getting more involved with the community,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Bono says people who blame their upbringing for being pessimists aren\u2019t seeing the whole picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout half of the variance in our overall psychological health and happiness is due to genetics, what we get from our parents,\u201d he states. \u201cBut there\u2019s also a significant part that is due to things like our circumstances, and the intentional behaviors that we incorporate into our lives on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bono adds one of the major barriers to happiness is social comparison, the tendency to size up how your life measures up to others.<\/p>\n

To minimize that concern, Bono suggests limiting time on social media and connecting more often the old-fashioned way with a good, face-to-face conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Eric Galatas AUSTIN, Texas – To make \u201cHappy New Year\u201d a reality instead of just a pleasantry, there\u2019s scientific research that can point anyone in the direction of a happier life. Some of the tips are common sense – getting enough sleep, exercise and outdoor time, and making time to help others. But psychology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4712,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions\/4712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}