5 Ways to Well Being

Today, I was watching some TED talks (which I do when I'm wanting inspiration), and I stumbled across Nic Marks speaking about the 'Happy Planet Index' which I found fascinating. It was based on measuring and creating happiness but without cost to the planet. AMAZING!!!

Nic Marks is a statistician, and he and a host of other smart people came up with the '5 Ways to Well Being' for the Government Office for Science in the UK. These probably won't come as a surprise to you, but it's doing these small 5 things everyday which can change your overall well being. Meaning: make you happier.

So, here they are:
1) Connect- your social relationships are your cornerstones of your life. Devote the time and energy to building them.

2) Be Active- the fastest way out of a bad mood is to step outside or turn on the radio and dance. Move a muscle change a feeling.

3) Take Notice- notice the things that are happening around you, the changing of the seasons, what's bubbling up inside of you. Mindfulness is very important for our well being.

4) Keep Learning- keep, is the important part. Learning through our whole life, and being curious keeps us healthier for longer. It doesn't need to be formal learning, even trying new recipes, picking up an old instrument you used to play, the key is to keep your brain learning.

5) Give- our generosity, our altruism our compassion are all hardwired to our reward mechanism in our brain, therefore: it feels good to give.

These are five of the simplest things we can do to bring more happiness into our lives, and they are free. How might you try and fit these 5 into your own life? And could you start right now?