Do These 4 Simple Things to Be Happier in 2025

With these tips, you can create a lifetime of joy.

By

Janice Kaplan

 
Published December 18, 2024
gif illustration of woman making gray cloud disappear with bouquet of flowers
Vincent Kilbride

When I asked a few older friends what they might do to be happier in the year ahead, I got two sighs and one roll of the eyes. 

“Do we still expect happy at this age?” asked one woman.

“I don’t even bother thinking about it anymore,” said another.

Okay, listen up! We have a right to be happy at any age. Changing your perspective, even in dark times, can make a huge difference in your general well-being. Research for my new book, What Your Body Knows About Happiness, led to some surprising insights and strategies that I am excited to share here.

The big news is that while we usually assume happiness comes from our minds, it turns out that our bodies do a lot of the work of making us calmer, less stressed and more joyful.

Your brain is constantly receiving messages from your body, and everything from how you move to the furnishings in a room can make a difference.

Understanding this can be life-changing. When you make a few small tweaks, you can go from feeling blah to — joy! Here are some body-mind tricks to try, setting you up for a truly happy new year.

1. Stand or Sit Up Straight

As we get older, we tend to slouch, as if the weight of the world is bearing down on us. And that’s exactly how your brain interprets it. Erik Peper, a professor at San Francisco State University and an expert on biofeedback loops, told me that being slouched tells your brain that something is wrong. It translates a droopy physical state into droopy emotions.

“When we feel hopeless and depressed, our bodies collapse inward,” said Peper. “Put your body into that position later and you evoke those same feelings.”

In research studies, Peper found that people have to work much harder to have positive thoughts when in a slouched position. Sit up straight and upbeat feelings and memories are much easier to access.

Consider how the winners at every track meet throw their arms up and out as they cross the finish line. One study found that even blind runners who had never seen anyone making that gesture did the same thing. It’s instinctual.

In victory, we stand tall and happily take up a bit of extra space.

Put your body in that winning position and you’ll immediately feel more positive. You don’t have to run a race either. Sit up a little straighter while you’re reading this article and you’ll feel more enthusiastic about the information!

2. Have Fresh Flowers

During the winter, I like to buy an orchid for my living room. The beautiful blooms can last for weeks and always make me happy. I discovered in my research that being around flowers causes an increase in the feel-good hormone dopamine.

This connection could be a link from long ago when people relied on nature for sustenance and seeing flowers meant that food and berries would soon follow. We’re still wired to get that sense of hope and expectation and gratitude from our natural environment.

Working out of Rutgers University, psychologist Jeannette Haviland-Jones did several studies on the effect of flowers on mood. In one study she sent three different gifts to people — a candle, a fruit basket or flowers. The people who got the flowers reported being less depressed and less anxious than the others and reported higher levels of gratitude.

She concluded that flowers have “strong positive effects on our emotional well-being that can last for days.”

You don’t need to do anything fancy. A small bouquet from the local grocery can send a happiness message to your brain. It’s a small price for a big reward. So don’t wait for someone to send you flowers! Go get some for yourself

3. Find Joy in Water

Where you put your body has a profound effect on your mood, and being near water has a kind of magical effect. Mathew White, an environmental psychologist now at the University of Vienna, told me that “health, well-being and life satisfaction” all improve when we are around water — whether ocean, rivers, lakes or streams. People who have contact with blue spaces for just 120 minutes a week report better health and a more positive sense of well-being than those who don’t have the same experience.

As White reported: “Whether you get the time (near water) as a two-hour walk on a Sunday or a half-hour several times a week doesn’t matter. However, you can weave it into your week will improve your well-being.”

Many cities around the country including Austin, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco have spent billions of dollars reclaiming and renovating their waterfronts into public spaces. Make sure to enjoy them! If you live in a dry inland region, be innovative and buy an inexpensive mini-waterfall to put in your home. The calming gurgling sound and the mesmerizing flow of the water will improve your mood.

4. Clear the Clutter

Over the years we all collect beloved mementos and clothes that we might wear again (but probably won’t). Clutter doesn’t just take up space — it clogs our minds and disturbs our sense of well-being.

When there’s an overstuffed closet or too many items on a desktop, your body becomes tense in the same way it would if a snake suddenly appeared. Your body sends the message: Something is wrong here. But since you put the stuff there, your brain and body get out of sync — and that causes stress.

There are many books and podcasts about how to clear clutter, but you’re not going to do it until you realize that the problem is actually making you unhappy. You keep stuff for the pleasurable memories but remind yourself that it’s also causing a negative body-mind response.

Clutter makes you feel off-kilter and your mood teeters downwards. In the visual aesthetics of what makes people happy, key elements include openness and a sense of calm. You can find that on top of a mountain — which explains some of the highs of hiking.

But you can also make your home send the same signals of joy and pleasure to your body and mind. Our bodies feel soothed by clean lines and open spaces — so surround yourself with them.

Here’s to spending more time by the water and gathering many flowers in 2025 for the happiest year yet!

What are YOU planning to do to find happiness in 2025? Let us know in the comments below.

Janice Kaplan is the author of more than a dozen popular books including the New York Times bestseller The Gratitude Diaries and The Genius of Women. The former editor-in-chief of Parade magazine, she was also the executive producer of many prime-time network television specials. Her new book What Your Body Knows About Happiness will be published in January 2025. You can subscribe to her free newsletter at janicekaplan.substack.com.