Alyssa Abbey helps you boost your emotional energy with her top tips for increasing your happiness and enjoyment of life
- Try some laughter therapy. Keep a funny book in your desk drawer or handbag that you can read for a few minutes when you’re stuck in a queue. Laughter improves mood and optimism, and boosts your immune system, too.
- Phone a friend. Talking to someone you like or love is a great way to improve your mood and energy. Even sending a loving text to your partner, child, or friend will lift you.
- If you need to really talk something out, find the right friend to do this, or see a counsellor. It’s OK; lots of people need this support at some point in their lives.
- Spend time on relationship building. Relationships are like houseplants. Without continual watering and feeding, they wither and die.
- Never pass up an opportunity to compliment someone, or give them a hug.
- Assume the best intentions. We are often too ready to assume that someone is acting out of spite or dislike, when it’s far more likely to be oversight or nothing at all.
- Praise, praise, praise and never criticise. Criticism just doesn’t work if you want energy-giving relationships.
- When you need or want something, ask for it. Ask kindly and sincerely and you’ll likely get it. Not only that, you make it ok for the other person to ask for things in the same way.
- Be aware of those people who energise you, and those who drain you. Spend more time with the energisers, and as little as possible with the drainers. Where the drainers are impossible to avoid, use tip number. 10.
- Be brave about difficult conversations. Be mature, loving and sincere. Speak the truth from the heart and you’ll be amazed at the results.