Hack Your Life: a Guide to Living a Healthier and Happier Life

When I saw there was a contest about life hacks, I immediately thought about those incredibly genius ideas to make simple things even simpler. But then I realized that those little "ah ha!" moments don't really make an impact on your life. I got to thinking that the real life hacks are the things you can change in your lifestyle to make your life happier, healthier, and more fun. So I hope you enjoy these ways to really hack your life!

Something that people don't really understand is that things that you love are good for you. Just because you love candy doesn't mean that eating it is bad, though too much definitely is. Enjoy something and feeling good after doing it is so, so important in living a happy life. The key to enjoying things and being able to always enjoy them is moderation.

Have you ever heard the saying "Everything is good in moderation" ? Well, you probably have. If you like anything, yes that includes eating, sleeping, watching Netflix, etc. You can totally do it. I even recommend it. Just not too much. You know it's time to stop something when you don't feel good about it anymore. When guilt starts to build up inside you, you know you may have had too much fun. The problem with having too much fun sometimes is that it stops being fun anymore. The reason there is no such thing as too much fun is because too much fun becomes guilt. Another problem with not moderating what you love is that you will get bored. You want to change things up so that you will always love the things you love. So do what you love and enjoy it, but keep doing different things, and don't go overboard, so that you will always love what you love.

Okay, so I know I said that you should do what you love... I'm not going back on that claim. Exercising can be something you like too! I'm not saying that I love the pain I get while I'm running, or that I enjoy sweat dripping down my face, but I do love the feeling I get after I exercise.

It is proven that exercising increases the happiness in your body by releasing chemicals that make you less stressed. Leo Widrich puts this really well, as he explains in his blog, "If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This BDNF has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. That’s why we often feel so at ease and things are clear after exercising and eventually happy." So get out there, find any form of exercise that you enjoy doing (running is great, you can run practically anywhere) and go do it!

Personally, I think that adding lots of colors to your diet will increase your overall happiness. Bright colors and colors you like will spark joy. Not to mention make everything look pretty. So if you want to have your cake and eat it too, it may as well be as bright as a rainbow.

Did I forget to mention that not just cake and candy are colorful? Well, I'll tell you now. Fruits, veggies, leafy greens, soups, salads, they can all be colorful too. So eat those veggies!

If you liked this please favorite, vote, follow me, and live by these hacks! I hope I helped to hack your day!