Discover how engaging in acts of kindness daily can create more joy and meaning in our lives.

Optimists view the world with a different lens than pessimists.

Optimists experience better health, manage challenges more effectively and are generally more confident and happier within themselves. Optimists are found to have an overall higher quality of life than pessimists.

The 2016 World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries around the world measuring happiness levels. Denmark was ranked number one in the world resultant of various factors such as: social support, generosity, life expectancy and the freedom to make choices.

Research has found a strong correlation between kindness and happiness. Those who engage in random acts of kindness are happier. Research indicated increased levels of activity in the part of the brain responsible for compassion.

Every day we have the opportunity to help others or perform a random act of kindness that positively impact’s others lives. Here are some great ways to get started:

1. Give More

Start by giving more than what is expected.

Whether it is helping a colleague work on a project, doing household chores you have been putting off for months or years, or spending quality time with your children.

Learn to become aware of what is happening around you and what others are experiencing. This helps you to live more fully in the present.

2. Smile More

A genuine smile is contagious. A smile is a universal language that can literally change someone’s day.

It boosts your mood, takes a moment of your time, costs nothing and has an immediate positive impact for both parties.

3. Help Others

Helping others gives us a sense of connectedness, happiness, fulfillment and meaning.

Look for ways you can make a difference; from offering to pick up your friend’s child from school, helping a colleague meet a tight deadline, run some errands for your partner, help a mother who has her child in a pram disembark from the subway, or buy someone at work a cup of coffee.

4. Send A Thank You Note

This is one of my favorite ways to demonstrate sincere gratitude for those people whom touch your heart. I send thank you notes all the time to people who inspire me, have taught me valuable lessons, helped me grow and become a better person, gone out of their way to give me advice or simply been there for me as a true friend.

Another advocate for thank you notes is Ivanka Trump. In her book, The Trump Card: Playing To Win in Work and Life she suggests writing thank you notes to those people that you admire.

5. Create More Love

Every day we have the power to choose to act with love or fear or another way to look at it, is using Dr. Joe Dispenza’s terminology of living in either a state of ‘survival’ or ‘expansion’.

Survival state is operating from a state of stress whereas expansion involves feelings of inspiration and operating from your heart which creates joy and happiness.

Daily mediation, mindfulness and practicing gratitude increases our ability to create more love in this world. You have the power to send more love to the world, to strangers on the street and your loved ones. There is no denying the power of creating more love in our lives and for those around us.

6. Quality Time With Family

There is no better time than right now to start increasing the quality of your relationships with those you love.

In a world with no off switch, it is easy to get caught up in the vortex of an never ending to-do-list or be swallowed up by all the distractions on your phone from business and personal emails, an over supply of apps, client phone calls and your list of errands and daily priorities.

It is exhausting, drains your energy and robs you of the opportunity to use that time to allow you to refresh your mind and body and increase your levels of happiness by spending quality time with your family.

Start by sitting at the table together to have a real conversation minus the technology gadgets – talk, laugh and learn what happened throughout the day, organize to go on a picnic on the weekend at your favorite park or go on an adventure by driving to a new city or fun park.

7. Nurture Your Business Relationships

Success in business comes down to one’s ability to build and maintain extraordinary relationships.

Those who excel at nurturing their business relationships are in constant demand, others are attracted to them like a moth to a flame resultant of their exceptional ability to develop a meaning and real connection with others.

Success in business and life in general is attributed to the connections we create with others and the degree to which we are able to give and receive.

8. Surprise Someone You Love

Who doesn’t love a surprise?

Surprising someone you love is one of the most beautiful ways to demonstrate how much you love and care about that person.

When we get caught up in our daily lives of routine and mundane tasks, we can forget to take the time to demonstrate how much we truly care and show sincere appreciation for the joy and happiness that person bring into our lives.

Sometimes, it is not enough to simply say the words ‘I love you’, the actions to demonstrate that statement is true sends the message with much more vigor.

If we engage in acts of kindness and take positive action daily it forms a habit.

Engaging in random acts of kindness and taking action rewires your brain. It positively changes other’s life and can also change your life forever. The final thought I would like you to ponder, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ – Gandhi.

 

This article was originally published on Inc.com