Most people believe that finding happiness means it’s always going to stay. But that’s not the case. Happiness tends to be fleeting–which can make people want to constantly run after it. And this constant pursuit can only lead to greater unhappiness.
Gallup has tracked global unhappiness and is seeing a yearly rise from 24 in 2006 to 33 in 2021 in the negative experience index including anger, stress, sadness, physical pain, and worry. The pandemic was not the only cause of global unhappiness since this has been increasing for years. This is concerning because now unhappiness is at an all-time high.
The problem here is that most people overlook this number. And it could be because of the idea that happiness can be tied to anything and everything–whether it’s money, work, or even love. It’s true that happiness is connected to these things, but most people have it backwards.
Little do they realize: Happiness is the cause. Not the effect.
This is something that Happy Things recognizes. Leading the happiness movement, the company is firm in the belief that happiness is a practice – a habit that needs to be cultivated every day.
Making Happiness a Habit
Founded in 2021 with the principles of Positive Psychology in mind, CEO and Co-Founder, Talia Soen, describes Happy Things as “Duolingo for Happiness.” A recent subfield in Psychology, Positive Psychology is best described as the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.
Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of human life, Positive Psychology pays attention to positive experiences (i.e. happiness, love, inspiration, etc.), positive states and traits (i.e. gratitude, compassion, resilience, etc.), and positive institutions (i.e. applying positive principles in organizations and institutions).
Happy Things focuses exclusively on making happiness a habit for people by creating hyper-personalized happiness plans that are curated to fit each unique individual. It also proactively provides recommendations on activities needed at specific times.
Currently offering over a hundred simple, science-based activities, the app helps users practice happiness in 5 minutes every day. These activities would range from thinking about something good that happened this week to complimenting someone.
What’s more is that in those moments when users forget to practice happiness–perhaps on a busy day–, Happy Things provides a push notification to remind them to take a break and enjoy the beautiful weather.
An interesting feature that Happy Things leverages is granting users badges as recognition for achieving activities relevant to their happiness plans; this could include the Self Love Lobster badge when users complete five self-care activities or the Positive Penguin badge when they accomplish five optimism activities.
The idea behind Happy Things is that people can train their brain for happiness. First realizing that happiness is something that is born out of the simple habits they partake in every day and leveraging these habits to contribute to their overall happiness. Ultimately, when people fully embrace little acts of happiness, it becomes a way of life.
Revolutionizing Happiness
At this point, more and more people are realizing the need to nurture happiness as a skill. Because of the alarming number of people experiencing unhappiness, it’s high time to start working on reducing global unhappiness and increasing global happiness.
And with more studies showing that happiness can be practiced through small actions, it’s not too difficult to implement in people’s everyday life. And by leveraging Happy Things, the first platform that turns happiness into a habit, people will never have to say goodbye to happiness.
