Happy people don't sit around waiting for good vibes to happen to them.

Whatever makes them happy, they go for it, said Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology
professor at the University of California, Riverside and author of "The Myth of
Happiness."
"Happy people don't sit around," Lyubomirsky said. "They strive for something
personally meaningful, whether it's learning a new language, retraining in their
careers or raising good kids. Find a happy person, and you will find a project."
Lyubomirsky estimates that half of people's happiness is determined by their genes,
about 10% can be attributed to differences in life circumstances or situations, and
about 40% of our happiness is up to us -- although it varies by person.
That's a lot of happiness under our control.
That's why we launched "Project Happy" on March 20, the United Nations'
International Day of Happiness. Over the next few months, we will explore what
happiness means today, dive deep into the different ways we pursue it and offer up
some tools to help make your life happier.
So put on the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit "Uptown Funk," Pharrell Williams'
"Happy," anything by the Blind Boys of Alabama or Mozart's "Clarinet Concerto in A
Major," and check out our 10 ways to get happy.
Why not pick one and try?
1. Practice kindness. Do something nice for someone else, whether it's someone
you know or a stranger. It can be spur of the moment or planned out. You can do the
good deed anonymously or help the beneficiary directly, said Lyubomirsky.
2. Keep a gratitude journal. People who kept a weekly gratitude journal actually did
more exercise, had fewer physical problems and felt more optimistic about the
coming week and life in general, according to gratitude researcher Robert Emmons,
a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis.
3. Get spiritual. There's plenty of research showing that people who participate in
their local church, synagogue, mosque or other preferred spiritual community are

happier. Even reading spiritual literature can be helpful. Not religious? There are
ethical societies and movements that get people thinking beyond themselves.
4. Buy experiences, not stuff. A vacation with loved ones or buying tickets to a
show or concert will make you happier than buying another gadget. Those gifts help
you feel closer to others, said San Francisco State University psychology professor
Ryan Howell. "Instead of buying the jersey of your favorite baseball player, for
example, buy a pair of tickets to a game, which will allow you to spend time with a
friend or a loved one."
5. Buy stuff that creates experiences. So you still want to buy something? How
about gear that allows you to have experiences in your areas of interest, such as
games or music? "Experiential products such as sporting equipment or musical
instruments are a special class of material items that allow you an opportunity to
engage with people you care about," Howell said. Even board games count, since
you can play them with a friend.
Pharrell, Britney and more celebs pick U.N. #HappinessSoundsLike playlist
6. Stop hanging out on social media so much. People who spend more time on
Facebook and other social media report lower self-esteem, less connection to others,
fewer positive emotions and even more homesickness (for college students),
said Timothy Bono, assistant dean and lecturer in psychology at Washington
University. "Social media also evokes upward social comparison, often leaving us
feeling worse about ourselves," he said.
7. Stop checking your email. . People who check their email all the time are more
stressed than people who check their email just three times daily, according to a
recent study. We know it's hard to do. "People find it difficult to resist the temptation
of checking email, and yet resisting this temptation reduces their stress,"
said Kostadin Kushlev, the study's lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at University of
British Columbia's Department of Psychology, in a statement.
8. Focus on time, not money. Although people typically focus on money, marketing
professor Cassie Mogilner has found that that focusing on time often helps people
realize that time is a precious resource. That knowledge helps them be more
deliberate in how they spend it. "This leads people to spend their time in ways that
are more fulfilling and that make them happier, like connecting with the people in

their lives," said Mogilner, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of

Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
9. Lose yourself in your activities. Do you remember the time you "lost" yourself
because you were having so much fun playing tennis, gardening, sailing, learning a
new musical instrument, woodworking or baking the perfect pie? Increase the
number of opportunities to "lose" yourself in a new or old activity that occupies your
brain and body.
10. Embrace failure. Failing is way to learn what doesn't work before we learn what
does work. People who succeed often fail many times before they succeed.
"Success requires acquiring experiences and learning lessons," Bono said. "Very
often, the best way, and sometimes the only way, to acquire that experience and
learn those lessons is through failure: trying things one way, realizing what doesn't
work and then making the appropriate changes."