Have you ever met someone who had a particularly sunny disposition and wondered how they manage to stay so positive all the time? Happy people do not necessarily have easier lives, less hardship or really good fortune, they just choose to have a positive mindset. If you want to emulate this personality type, you will have to work hard not to fall into old negative patterns but it can be achieved. Here’s how to be a happier person.

1. Forgive Others – Happy people don’t hold grudges as they know this will only hurt them in the long run and not the other person. Holding on to bad feelings leaves you feeling bad inside, so let go of things.

2. Focus On The Good – Look at things with a positive attitude and see the good in every situation. Unhappy people will focus on the bad in unfortunate situations whereas a happy person will see the opportunities that arise from it.

3. Give Back – Being kind to others and giving back is a trait that most happy people have. When you make other people happy you boost your own mood along with it, so always see what you can do for others.

4. Look After Yourself – Healthy body, healthy mind and spirit. How you fuel your body affects your mood – junk foods will make you feel sluggish and de-energized so cultivate a heathy diet for yourself and you will start to feel better about yourself.

5. Widen Your Social Group – Happy people have large support groups that they can turn to at any given moment. Make new friends or build better relations with the ones you already have, just make sure you have people in your life as they will enrich it.

6. Be Grateful – Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, look at what you do. Being thankful and recognizing all of the good things in our life goes a long way to being happier.

7. Don’t Compare Yourself – If you want to know how to be a happier person and maintain a positive attitude look at yourself, not at others. You don’t know what goes on in other people’s lives so don’t focus on how good their life might look. Comparison is the killer of all joy – do not get wrapped up in it.

8. Take Responsibility – Admit when you are at fault, have made a mistake or have messed up. When we can recognize our faults we are far more likely to grow from them. Happy people are able to say when they’ve done wrong, and then move on from it.

9. Be Honest – Be truthful to who you are, when you are authentic to yourself and your life is built around honesty and integrity you are far more likely to be a happy person. Don’t lie to others, but most importantly don’t lie to yourself when creating your life.

10. Make Time For Fun – Happy people will ensure that their life is filled with meaningful, memorable moments. Make time for fun things to happen – make plans, travel, arrange meetings with friends, get involved with activities. If you want to be happy you have to put some work in and make things happen.

Being happy is not a goal to be achieved but a constant effort to keep ourselves afloat and uplifted. We all want to make the most of our lives, and spending it laughing and smiling is certainly time well spent but remember that we all have bad days and that’s okay too!