Hacks for a happy state of mind

Happiness is a state of mind that can be cultivated by the choices we make and the lens through which we view life. In this busy, often judgemental world, we may get swept up in life, become overwhelmed and see only the negative, mistaking this for being 'realistic'. Energy attracts energy, so if we have a negative outlook, chances are we'll attract negative energy. This can feel draining, stressful and even overwhelming, affecting our resilience and preventing us from reaching our goals. Here are some life hacks to help create a happy state of mind:

• Focus on Your Strengths: write a list of all your strengths and how can use them in a productive way to achieve our life goals or experience life in a positive way.

Our inner self-critic is often our loudest voice. It's easy for us to criticise ourselves but how often do we think of our strengths?

• Practice gratitude: upon waking up, hydrate with water and list five things that you're grateful for. This could be anything from having your sight to having a roof over your head. In the evening, before you go to sleep, list five things that happened during the day that you're grateful for.

Doing this exercise can help shift our focus to one of gratitude and we'll see our life through a different lens, one of abundance. For example, people have commented that they suddenly notice their environment more and have reported feeling more 'alive'.

• Focus on your positive qualities: think about what makes you who you are. Write a list of positive qualities or try a self-reflection meditation.

Reflecting on your positive qualities can help you focus on the good parts of yourself.

• Practice self-care: give yourself 'micro-rewards' for achieving a goal or doing something that you were putting off. Take one evening off per week and do something you enjoy for no reason at all! Exercise regularly, take proper lunch breaks, eat healthily when you can and feed your mind by learning new things.

By looking after yourself you're optimising your health and well-being so that you can flourish in all aspects of your life and establish and maintain great relationships with those around you.

• Practice self-compassion: rather than being self-critical or blaming yourself when something doesn't go right, try to think of it as a learning experience. Ask yourself what you would do differently next time.

Research* shows that higher levels of self-compassion are linked to increased feelings of happiness, optimism, curiosity and connectedness as well as decreased anxiety, depression rumination and fear of failure.

• Shift your attention: Gently move your mind away from negative thoughts and rumination. Imagine putting a fence around what you're ruminating on and focus on the things that are surrounding you or the tasks that you need to do for the day like cooking dinner. Doing some exercise can also help with this.

By shifting our attention, we detach ourselves from the stressful thoughts that we often find difficult to let go of. This prevents us from enjoying the moment and we miss out on what is in front of us. It also prevents us from reaching our goals and developing resilience.

When we focus on our strengths, gratitude and positive qualities and practice self-care and compassion, we shift our life outlook to a more positive one. Chemicals are released in our brain that make us feel calm, balanced and content. Our bodies and minds are in harmony with each other and the world. This provides a firm foundation where we can truly flourish in every sense of the word and reach our true potential.