5 Factors That Determine How Happy You Are

Our relationship with happiness changes throughout our lives. When we were little, the relationship with our friends probably determined how happy we were. As we get older, on the other hand, our happiness begins to depend more and more on our aspirations.

Our responsibilities change and multiply, increasing the potential for frustration. We also become stressed and nervous when we don’t like our job or the reward we receive. But it’s a general view of things,  because for certain people, different situations determine how happy they are.

An example is people who feel the need that a relationship is more important than anything. If they don’t achieve this, or if the relationship deteriorates, they are no longer happy either. So if our level of happiness is tied to fulfilling a desire, we are more likely to suffer.

But, what determines how happy we are? Today we will discover five factors that have a powerful influence over us. However, we must make it clear that they are not all present at the same time. Sometimes, depending on the moment, one becomes more important than others.

1. Who and how you are determines how happy you are

You may now be thinking of external factors that affect you, but the most serious and least obvious factors are within you. Your attitude towards life and how you deal with problems affects how happy you are.

Imagine that you are someone who always blames others for their own problems. In the end, you think the world is against you, and this doesn’t exactly make you happy. It is important to teach yourself that you are responsible for your own actions.

Can we change who we are? Of course we can. Through kindness, patience, and discovering what problems we can solve on our own… We can make ourselves better if we treat ourselves and others well.

2. Where you live

Although you may not believe it, where you live determines your mood in an important way. The perfect place is one that makes you happy. It is one that meets your expectations and gives you positive emotions.

The big problem is that sometimes we can’t live where we want. Imagine that you spent your childhood by the sea, but due to various circumstances you now have to live far away from the sea.

Although you may not immediately think it, if the sea brought you positive emotions, it will affect you negatively. This determines how happy you are, and you will feel sad. The freedom you used to enjoy, that tranquility, has now been replaced by fear and the feeling of being trapped.

3. Your expectations

If you had demanding and strict parents or had a bad childhood, you may have become a perfectionist. In this way you will suffer more if you cross a line, and thus become even more of a perfectionist. You can feel really bad about a missing comma, a small wrinkle in your blouse, or being a minute late.

Nobody is perfect. In fact, perfect people are almost always sad, frustrated, and stressed. They know that they cannot live up to the expectations they have set for themselves because they are not realistic.

You need to adjust the demands you place on yourself to  match your sense of happiness. If this is too low, you will become aware that you will appreciate the simplest details. Details you didn’t appreciate before.

4. Interpersonal Relationships

The position you have in your social circle also influences your self-confidence. So it is not the same to be married as it is to be divorced. Just as it is very different to have many friends than it is to have few, although this also depends on your own point of view.

If you have healthy relationships, that will determine how happy you are. Unfortunately, we also often have to deal with toxic people or situations that we don’t like. An example would be the aforementioned: a divorce.

We are social creatures,  so relationships are very important to us. So they also determine how happy we are, in such a way that we cannot escape disappointment, lies and abandonment.

5. Your thoughts determine how happy you are

Your thoughts will always determine your reality. Although you have a boring job and earn little, although your relationships are not great,  what affects you the most is the way you handle it.

As we mentioned before, your work and financial situation are important at certain times in your life. What happens if they aren’t as satisfying as we thought? Closing yourself in pessimism is the worst thing we can do.

You choose whether you are optimistic or pessimistic. But being optimistic is difficult, as contradictory as that may seem. Why are positive things always harder for us? Because it’s always easier to complain and get angry than to do the opposite.

Obviously, we have no control over many of the factors we’ve mentioned, and we can’t always do something about it. This is the case in most cases with the external factors. But  what we can adjust is how we deal with these circumstances.

Take this last factor that determines how happy you are and use it to your advantage. Do you find a situation annoying? Do you think the world is against you? Do you hate where you live?

If you keep a positive attitude and patience, you will be able to change all these situations  that are currently negatively affecting how happy you are.