30 Incredibly Easy Ways To Be Happier, Wealthier, and More Successful

Happiness, wealth, and success are three things that many people want out of life.

However, because of a negative mindset or behaviors, you may be holding yourself back from attaining these goals.

To help you gain some motivation or to just remind you of your full potential, here are 30 incredibly easy ways to be happier, wealthier, and more successful.

 

1. Don’t be afraid of what people think.

I used to really care about what other people thought of me, but I’ve been able to let go of that and now I couldn’t be happier.

You shouldn’t let the opinions of others affect you, drag you down, control you, and so on. Like I always say “Who cares!”

Why should the opinions of others matter to you? All that should matter is what is right for you, because everyone is different.

 

2. Smile more.

Smiling is contagious and this is one of the important ways to be happier! Studies have proven that smiling can improve your mood as well as the moods of others. Even if you have to force a smile, just do it.

Smile at the next person you pass, smile when you’re talking on the phone, smile when your loved one comes home, and more.

 

3. Read as much as you can.

I’ll admit it, I don’t read as many books as I would like to. I’m so focused on reading about personal finance, but I know I need to occasionally take a break and do some reading for pleasure.

Reading is great for many reasons, such as:

• Providing knowledge
• Improving your memory
• Opening your mind
• Bringing out your creative side
• It is affordable entertainment

And more!

 

4. Admit when you’re wrong.

Everyone has been wrong at some point in their life. No one is perfect and you’ve probably actually been wrong many, many times.

When you know that you are wrong, you should almost always admit it.

Doing so can be humbling, it can help you learn from your errors, and it will show that you know how and when to take responsibility.

Related: How To Better Yourself – 23 Challenges That Will Change Your Life

 

5. Spend less time dwelling on the negative.

Negative thoughts can occasionally take over a person. You may think about something negative for days, weeks, or even longer, whereas positive events usually aren’t thought about for anywhere near as long.

Next time you find yourself thinking in a negative way, you should stop and think about whether or not spending your time thinking that way will actually help.

I’m going to guess it won’t help you at all, so you should stop! Instead, think about the positive, and go on with your life.

Related: Why I’m Taking A Social Media Break

 

6. Keep a journal.

While I don’t have a journal, I do have this blog, which acts as a journal in a way. Keeping a journal can help you reflect on your past, gives you a way to see the progress you have made, and allows you to just check in on yourself.

Plus, spilling your heart out every so often is great for the mind and the soul.

 

7. Be thankful for what you have.

Next time you are down in the dumps about something negative in your life, I suggest you try to remember all of the positive and good things in your life.

You may be thankful for your family, friends, job, a past experience, opportunities, and more.

Thinking about everything you are thankful for can make something negative seem very trivial. You may even laugh at yourself for being so negative!

 

8. Find something good in a bad experience.

Bad things happen. However, instead of letting a bad situation completely take over your life, you should try to think about something good that came out of a bad experience.

This may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. You can use a bad experience to learn something new about yourself, to realize you’ve made a mistake, to change for the future, and more.

Taking the negative and turning it into a learning experience can help prevent a negative situation from happening again. Or, maybe next time you’ll be more prepared!

 

9. Create a bucket list.

If you don’t have a bucket list, I recommend creating one now! In case you are unaware, a bucket list is where you list all of the major goals you want to meet, places you want to visit, and things you want to do in your life.

Creating a bucket list can give you the motivation you need to work harder towards your dreams, it can give you a sense of direction, and a great feeling of fulfillment as you complete each amazing thing you want to do.

 

10. Be open minded.

The ability to be open minded is a great quality. There are billions of people in this world and everyone is different, so instead of judging others we should be more open minded.

Everyone can stand to be a little more open minded.

Being open minded can help you accept changes, love others, be optimistic, learn from others, and most of all, it’s relaxing. Instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing, you can relax, have less stress, and just accept them.

 

11. Sit silently.

When was the last time you just sat down in complete silence with no distractions? For the average person, this is probably a rare occurrence.

Sitting silently can help you reflect on your life and what’s going on in the world around you. It can also help you relax, destress, and clear your mind.

 

12. Be kind to others.

Being kind can improve your life because you will not only feel better about yourself, but you will help others feel better as well.

There are many ways you can be kind to others, such as:

• Say hello to every person you walk by today
• Open doors for others
• Smile at strangers
• Help someone with their groceries
• Volunteer somewhere

Please read 58 Random Acts Of Kindness for more ideas.

 

13. Don’t constantly try to impress others.

No matter your age, everyone has experienced wanting to keep up with someone else.

The problem with this is that trying to impress others can actually make you broke.

When trying to impress others, you might spend money you do not have, you might put expenses on credit cards to (in a pretend world) “afford” things, or you might buy things that you do not care about. The problems can go on and on.

This can lead to an excessive amount of debt and potentially set someone back years with their financial goals, if not decades.

Read more at Why Keeping Up With The Joneses Will Make You Broke.

 

14. Spend more time with positive people.

There are negative and positive people in the world. Negative people tend to attract other negative people, and positive people tend to attract other positive people.

I’m not saying you should completely exclude all of the negative people in your life, but you do have the option to surround yourself with more positive people.

You may want to think about how a person that makes you feel horrible, negative, or unwanted fits into your life and whether or not you should change this.

 

15. Give yourself a break from social media and TV.

Our minds are greatly influenced by what we see on TV and social media. Plus, it can be a huge waste of time.

The next time you are bored, instead of turning on the TV or looking at social media, you could try something like working out, spending time with friends and family, reading a book, and so on.

 

16. Drink more water.

According to Lifehacker, the average person should drink around 9 to 13 cups of water a day. This is just a baseline, though, as if you exercise or are in hot weather, then you should consume more.

However, not many people get anywhere near this amount of water.

Drinking water can help you lose weight, perform better, be happier, prevent headaches, help your skin, and is a must for your body to survive.

 

17. Take risks.

By taking risks every now and then, you will force yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. This can help you be more confident when it comes to new situations that you may feel unsure about.

 

18. Get enough sleep each night.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average person says they need around 7.5 hours of sleep in order to “function at their best.” However, the average person actually only sleeps around 6.5 hours.

Lack of sleep, according to HealthLine, can lead to issues such as:

• Impaired brain activity
• Memory problems
• Moodiness
• Depression
• Cold and Flu
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Weight gain
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease

Due to this, you should aim for 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

 

19. Start saving and investing.

Everyone should save and invest so that they can:

• Retire one day
• Prepare for unexpected events in the future
• Allow your money to grow over time

Read more at The 6 Steps To Take To Invest Your First Dollar – Yes, It’s Really This Easy!

 

20. Say yes more often.

If you often find that you’re hiding from everyone and feel like you are stuck, you may want to try branching out and saying yes more often. Saying yes can open you up to more situations, more challenges in life, and so on.

 

21. Say no more often.

On the other hand, if you say yes to everything, but you are ready to pull your hair out, then you may want to start saying no. Saying no may allow you to have more time to focus on what you truly want from life.

 

22. Take control of your money.

If you want to gain control of your financial life, then you need to gain control of your money.

This means you need to stop worrying about all of the things that are holding you back. Instead, create an action plan so that the littlest things do not tear you down or stress you out.

In order to stop letting money control you, you should create a budget, make extra money, lower your debt, have an emergency fund, lower your spending, and more.

 

23. Exercise.

Whenever I’m feeling a little stressed out, tired, or even grumpy, I try to fit in a workout. I know that even a small workout is better than none.

Exercising is great and it can improve your life because it can make you healthier all around. You will feel more confident, your mind will be clearer, you will be more capable of coping with stress, and more.

You can work out in whatever way you prefer. I’ve never been the type of person to go to the gym or go for a run, but I do like to go rock climbing or hiking. It’s whatever fits you and your situation best.

 

24. Make extra income.

Here on Making Sense of Cents, I spend a lot of time discussing extra income, side hustles, offline income, and how to make money online. I do this for a reason.

I believe that earning extra income can completely change your life in a positive way. A person can stop living paycheck to paycheck, they can pay off their debt, and more- all by earning extra money.

Many people have at least a few extra hours each day or each week that they can devote towards making extra money. If you want something, you just have to make time for it. I know it’s harder for some than it is for others, but it’s all about how bad you want it.

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25. Welcome the unknown.

Some people like to ignore the unknown because they are afraid of it. However, you’ll never know what your future holds unless you try new things and welcome different experiences.

When looking forward, you should make a realistic plan for what may happen once you start taking steps to reach your goal. This may make the whole thing much more relaxing and less stressful because you will be more prepared for the unknown.

For example, if you want to leave your job for something else but are afraid of what may happen, one thing you might want to do is to make sure you have a well-funded emergency fund. This way, if it takes you a little longer to find your dream job or dream life, then you can have your emergency fund there to help ease some of the stress.

 

26. Create a budget.

The average family carries a lot of financial stress. Most people have student loans, credit card debt, a mortgage, car loans, and sometimes other forms of debt. However, not many people have a budget.

Actually, 68% of households in the U.S. do not prepare a budget.

Budgeting can help you take control of your financial life, which can help reduce stress and let you reach your dreams.

Read more at The Complete Budgeting Guide: How To Create A Budget That Works.

 

27. Don’t be afraid to be successful.

When some people become successful and reach their goals, they occasionally start feeling guilty.

Yes, I know, this might seem weird. However, I understand this.

Sometimes I really dislike telling my friends and family how great life is and how much I love my business. I often feel guilty, but I just need to remember that a mixture of luck and hard work led me to where I am. Everyone has their down points and I had them as well.

You shouldn’t be afraid to talk about your accomplishments, and you shouldn’t ever be ashamed of your success.

 

28. Stop being afraid of your past.

Just because you may have failed at something in the past, should not prevent you from aiming for your goals. I know people who have completely given up with reaching for hard goals because they weren’t successful in the past. However, that’s a horrible mindset to have.

If you have failed in the past, then you should use those mistakes as learning tools for the future.

 

29. Downsize your possessions.

The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Clearly, families have been able to live with less space.

But, there are many other reasons for downsizing your home:

• To save money. In some cases, a bigger home can cost more due to higher utility bills, more clutter being bought, higher insurance, more maintenance and repairs needed, higher purchasing price, etc.
• To have less clutter. The bigger your home, the more likely you’ll have empty rooms that you feel the need to put stuff in. Now that we live in an RV, we are much more mindful of what we buy. We think about every purchase in terms of weight, size, where we can store it, and more.
• To spend less time on maintenance and repairs. If all other factors between two homes are the same (age, location, etc.), a bigger home is more likely to take up more of your time due to more things breaking.
• To spend less time cleaning. A larger home is going to take a lot more time to clean than a smaller one.

Downsizing can allow you to have more money and more time to spend on things that you would rather do.

 

30. Have family money meetings.

The last of the ways to be happier, wealthier, and more successful is that you should have regular family money meetings.

Talking about money and conducting regular budget meetings is an important task for every family and serious relationship to take part in. A family who has regular money talks and budget meetings is more likely to be financially successful and happier than a family that doesn’t.

Regular money meetings can lead to better communication between family members, a more unified financial goal, family members being more involved and motivated, and more.

What other ways to be happier, wealthier, and more successful can you add to this list?