Increase happiness by wishing for random people to be happy.
In many of his public talks, Tim Ferriss guides people through this 10-second exercise and he says everybody emerges smiling, happier than 10 seconds before. Sending kind thoughts is rewarding in and of itself. This is the joy of loving-kindness. So, all other things being equal, to increase happiness, Tim has found that all you need to do is randomly wish for somebody else to be happy. It takes virtually no time and no effort and the rewards are priceless.
Instructions
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While at work or out, randomly identify two people in the vicinity.
These can be any two people you see. If there is nobody present, bring someone to mind. -
Think to yourself, “I wish for this person to be happy, and I wish for that person to be happy.”
That is the entire practice, don’t do or say anything, just think it. -
Set an hourly alert on your phone as a reminder to wish for people to be happy.
Once an hour, identify two random people and wish for them to be happy. If you prefer, you can do this at any time of the day for any amount of time.