As we get older, there is a tendency to not be happy. Here's 8 ways to do it.
The BBC Future Team - 1 January 2025
Why not try these science-backed tips to get more happiness in your life?
Contentment isn't just something that happens to us. We can all change our habits to coax more of it into our lives. So, here are our top tips for a happier 2025.
(1) Embrace friendship as we age
Friendship benefits people across all ages, but in later life, it can become an especially important source of happiness. Research shows that it's a good idea to remain open to new friendships, as they give us slightly different benefits to our relationships with family, which can be based on obligation. piring some positive emotions along the way.
(2) Practice "confelicity"
Compassion is a well-known foundation of true friendship. Empathy helps us form strong connections when our friends need help. But there's an opposite state that is relatively unknown and equally important – "confelicity", as David Robson wrote for the BBC.
Meaning "shared happiness", it's an undervalued facet of good relationships and could be just as important as compassion for maintaining friendships, multiple studies suggest.
Enthusiastically supporting a friend's good news – and asking questions about it – is a basis of being a good friend. Respond too passively – or actively underplay your friend's success – and you run the risk of damaging the relationship.
(3) Do some volunteering
Studies have found that volunteering can even help with series conditions like chronic pain and depression. Other studies have shown that looking after animals can improve our health and taking care of houseplants can help us thrive, especially in old age.
Some healthcare providers are now even prescribing volunteering as one particularly effective form of "social prescribing": prescriptions which connect people to community resources and activities.
(4) Connect with your ancestors
Research suggests that engaging with our ancestry can have profound psychological benefits. Family stories about overcoming adversity, for example, can be empowering when passed down to new generation.
(5) Write a list
Counting your blessings is an age-old piece of advice, but it underpins a simple but well-evidenced intervention. It turns out that writing a list of three good things that have happened to us can help to boost our mood.
(6) Look forward to fun activities
This led to a whole new avenue of research. Could the expectation of fun be as rewarding as the activity itself? In an experiment, scientists trained some rats to wait for rewards – while others were given them immediately. Later, they assessed the rats for optimism and found that those who had been trained to wait for rewards were more optimistic. The researchers speculated that this could work for humans too – by routinely anticipating pleasurable activities or events we could reprogram our brains to be more optimistic.
(7) Do nothing
If you have made it this far down the list, this one might come as something of a surprise. But research suggests that worrying too much about being happy can actually be a block to feeling it.
(8) Don't drink too much caffeine
Consuming caffeine can make us feel alert as it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream where it outcompetes adenosine, a chemical that makes us feel tired.
Research shows that there are many health benefits associated with consuming caffeine, including a decreased risk of several forms of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as improved physical performance and protection against depression.
But timing is key when it comes to caffeine as it can take a while to kick in and a long time to wear off. Scientists recommend having your last caffeine dose eight hours and 48 minutes before you go to bed.
Summary
Often we only look for interventions once we are already feeling stressed or burnt out – or if anxiety hits it can feel overwhelming to seek an intervention, but it's clear that there are ways to help prevent ourselves getting to that state in the first place. Whilst mindfulness is not for me every day, having it in my toolkit is certainly reassuring should I ever need it.
Add comment
Comments