10 Simple Habits to Boost Your Mood Everyday

 

From the moment we wake up in the morning until we close our eyes for bed at night, we make choices on a daily basis. Those choices can make or break the rest of our day or the rest of our lives. Sometimes though we feel that we have to make choices that don’t necessarily align with what we want. Such as in the case of going to a job we don’t necessarily enjoy. If this is the case, we often feel unhappy. Everyday tends to become a drag. This kind of attitude can affect not only our job performance but also our overall well-being.

But here are 10 simple habits to boost your mood everyday:

1. Be grateful.

There is something about being grateful that lifts up your spirit. I believe that it’s because gratitude makes you focus on the things that you have and not the things that you don’t have. If you start your day by thanking God for another day, another breath of life, you will notice that there is automatically a boost in your mood. It automatically sets the tone of your day.

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” —Zig Ziglar

There are proven scientific studies that giving thanks can make you happier. Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, have conducted a research of 3 groups of people. One group was asked to write about the things they are grateful for. Another group was to write the things that annoy them and the third group was to write about events that affected them.

After 10 weeks of the experiment, the first group who wrote about the things they were grateful for were feeling optimistic about their lives compared to the other two groups.

2. Adjust your perspective

A lot of times, the simplest way to boost your mood is to adjust your perspective. Say for instance, you go to a job that you dislike. Instead of dreading going to work every morning, be grateful and appreciate the fact that you have a job while there are hundreds of thousands of others who don’t.

Another situation that can simply dampen your mood might be doing the chores around the house and not getting any help from your husband or partner. Instead of getting upset at him for not helping you out, focus on his positive traits instead and adjust your perspective about him.

Being able to adjust your perspective is key to being able to boost your mood instantly.

3. Choose happiness.

I’m sure you’ve already heard this…”Happiness is a choice.” But nothing can be further from the truth. The Bible said in Deuteronomy 30:19, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”

What uplifts you? What gives you life? What gives you joy? Choose that. We always have an option to choose between happiness and sadness. I’ve tried sadness before and didn’t like it one bit. So whenever I can help it, I choose happiness. By that I mean that there are times when I do get sad. But I have learned to pick myself back up and to remember to choose happiness instead.

4. As a man thinketh, so is he.

There is a popular self-help book published in 1903 by James Allen called “As A Man Thinketh.” The title of the book, whether James Allen admitted and mentioned it or not, was actually also from the Bible. Proverbs 23:7 states “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Basically, what it’s saying is that, you become what you focus on. If you focus on what you can’t do and what you don’t have, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen. You will always be not able to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams. You will always have lack. But if you focus your mind on your ability to achieve, whether you feel like it or not or have that ability at that moment or not, eventually, you will achieve whatever you set your mind to.

This thought process works both for the positive and the negative. We all have the power to direct our minds so use it for the positive to boost your mood everyday. Always think of what you CAN and not what you can’t.

Studies have discovered that we think 70,000 thoughts everyday. That’s an insane amount of thoughts! We may not necessarily remember everything but chances are some of those are negative. So it doesn’t mean that you won’t have any negative thoughts at all. It just means that as soon as you encounter a negative thought in your head, you maneuver your mind to the positive thought instead.

5. Practice self-care.

I can’t stress enough the importance of self-care. Be sure to check out my blog post Self-Care: 6 Simple Ways To Take Better Care of Yourself to get more insight on this and to learn of ways you can take care of yourself. Things like getting good sleep, pampering yourself, meditating and a few other things contribute to boost your mood on a daily basis.

6. Enjoy the nature.

There’s something about nature that can uplift you. The fresh air, the greeneries, the sun…all of that can contribute to putting you in a better mood.

I work from home everyday. I have no human interaction other than with my husband over the phone while he’s at work or my mom through text messaging. Even though I’m an introvert and enjoys solo time a lot of times, sometimes being alone can feel heavy too, you know? But I notice that as soon as I open the blinds and let the natural light come through my office, my mood changes. It can also be as simple as going to the backyard, breathing some fresh air, and looking at the grass.

We live in such a high-technology day and age that we tend to forget nature. I know I am guilty of this. But as soon as I drop my device and go outside, I realize how beautiful nature actually is and God has created it for us to enjoy.

Make it a point to go outside everyday, even if it’s just for 5 minutes to enjoy the sun, greeneries and fresh air. You will notice how instantly can boost your mood if you focus on the beauty that it gives.

7. Watch some funny shows.

Laughter is the best medicine. Other than the practices I mentioned above, there’s no doubt that laughter is one of the best mood booster. My husband and I would always watch either a funny show on television or a clip on YouTube. Whenever we encounter a funny video, we send it to each other.

Spend at least 5 minutes watching a funny clip on YouTube if you can. Especially when you’re having a bad day at work or dealing with a difficult client. Though you may think it’s just a temporary way to boost your mood, you don’t know HOW GOOD laughter affects your system. Let your body release the good hormones through laughter and let it excrete all the toxins! All it takes is 5 minutes or less.

8. Drink some super smoothies for your brain.

A lot of our moods happen on the brain level. If you feel like you have a lot of mood swings and it’s unnatural to you, it might be just some chemical imbalance. No need to check yourself in to a psych unit yet. A lot of times, eating super foods or drinking super smoothies that feed your brain is the solution. Check out this 11 Brain-Boosting Smoothie Recipes.

Now, you don’t always have to make these smoothies if you don’t have time. If you feel a mood swing while at work, do a quick run to the nearest smoothie place and get yourself something similar to any of these.

9. Drink plenty of water.

It’s fascinating to know that about two thirds of the adult human body is made up of water. There is no doubt that water has the nutrients that our body needs to function at its utmost.

I must admit I’m not a huge water drinker and the difference is highly noticeable in my skin and overall health and wellness whenever I don’t drink enough water. On the other hand, it can instantly boost my mood whenever I gulp a whole bottle! Go figure.

10. Avoid negative conversations.

There is no doubt that negativity is such a mood damper. If you constantly get involved in drama or negative conversations on a daily basis, you will get into a negative emotion real quick – sometimes without even you realizing it, especially if you’re not always in touch with how you feel. Negative emotions such as depression, loneliness, critical thoughts towards someone will slowly creep to you. To boost your mood, avoid negative conversations. If it doesn’t make your heart happy, run away from it as fast as you can!

Hope you find these tips helpful. Do you have any tips that you yourself practice to boost your mood? Be sure to share them below!