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Do you want to help create a happier and kinder world? If so, please join our movement, add your pledge and we'll send you practical action ideas to make a difference. By choosing to Join, you trust Action for Happiness to take care of your personal information and agree to our Privacy Policy.

I will try to create more happiness and less unhappiness in the world around me

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Keep learning new things

Learning affects our well-being in lots of positive ways. It exposes us to new ideas and helps us stay curious and engaged. It also gives us a sense of accomplishment and helps boost our self-confidence and resilience.

There are many ways to learn new things - not just through formal qualifications. We can share a skill with friends, join a club, learn to sing, play a new sport and so much more.  Read more

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What new things have you tried recently?

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Well, I subscribe to the New Scientist and love it! This was a Christmas present, so fairly new, and very interesting. I am also a writer (as a hobby) and every new peice of work brings new avenues to explore. My broad friendship group brings new experiences often - hydrospeeding, canyoning (very scary), coastering, and lots of extreme activities that keep me feeling terrified, but alive!

Charlotte, Bristol, UK2 Sep 2010, 13:31

I love sudoku and karaoke. Finishing a hard puzzle brings me a great amount of pride. Belting out a tune and getting a positive reaction also does the heart a lot of good. If I can find a pattern or a picture within the sudoku puzzle, I'll incorporate different colors of ink, or "fill in" the pattern to make it jump out a little bit more. And even though I have no hand/eye coordination, I'll enjoy just watching friends play video games, or offer suggestions on how to accomplish getting through a level. So even though I might not have made any of the moves or jumps or kills myself, I still feel like I've contributed to the game.

Roy, Cheyenne, US2 Sep 2010, 13:31
I've been learning loads of new things in my new job recently and that's been exhausting but great! Other than that my main new hobby has been singing in a local community choir for the last year or so. It's great fun - about 50 of us of all ages get together and sing random African tunes, pop songs etc - and we did a charity concert recently which went really well. Mark, Kingston, Surrey2 Sep 2010, 13:31
, 2 Sep 2010, 13:31
, 2 Sep 2010, 13:31

Happiness facts

Happiness: a skill you can learn

Western neuroscience has now confirmed what Eastern wisdom has known for a long time: happiness is a skill we can learn.

Research shows that happiness, compassion and kindness are the products of skills that can be learned and enhanced through training, thanks to the neuroplasticity of our brains.

Happier people live longer

Happiness doesn't just feel good. A review of hundreds of studies has found compelling evidence that happier people have better overall health and live longer than their less happy peers.

Anxiety, depression, pessimism and a lack of enjoyment of daily activities have all been found to be associated with higher rates of disease and shorter lifespans

Happiness leads to success

Most people think that if they become successful, then they'll be happy. But recent discoveries in psychology and neuroscience show that this formula is backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around.

When we're positive, our brains are more motivated, engaged, creative, energetic, resilient, and productive.

 

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