Happiness is about subtraction rather than addition.

　　It's easy to think that a few life tricks, breathing exercises and affirmations from others will change everything and make it easier to feel fulfilled. But happiness in your life will come much easier if you don't purposely try to make yourself unhappy. So instead of adding more things to our lives, let's eliminate the things that are holding us back from being happy in the first place.

There are many things that can affect your happiness, but here are five life tips that have taught me to be happier.

　　1. Ignore negative messages

　　Many people get used to the negative messages they see in their lives, which can make you more depressed and stressed. Here are two changes I made to eliminate this big problem of mine.

　　Stop reading needless news.

　　I usually don't watch all the news except for the major ones that have a serious impact. First of all, the news itself is a huge source of stress. A study from the American Psychological Association found that more than half of Americans say the news causes them a lot of stress, and many feel anxious, fatigued or sleepless as a result. Yet one in 10 adults checks the news every hour, and a full 20 percent of Americans claim that someone "constantly" monitors their social media feeds against their will, exposing them to the latest headlines.

　　One negative headline after another can make you more worried, anxious and sad. In addition, while occasional news viewing is helpful, it often presents a negative, extreme, and biased viewpoint that makes it seem like there is more violence, conflict, and strife than there is in reality.

        2. remove the most unhappy 20% from your life

　　The 80/20 rule suggests that 20% of the causes affect 80% of the results. This is why every few months I do an 80/20 analysis and ask two questions.

　　1. What are the 20% events that cause 80% of my unhappiness?

　　2. What are the 20% of events that lead to 80% of my happiness?

　　If certain activities, commitments, or even certain people make me unhappy, I do everything I can to avoid them. If these things improve my happiness, I will try to increase the frequency of the event.

Usually, by removing just two or three things you don't like, you'll notice that life is clearly getting better.

　　3. Stay away from negative people

　　Of all the self-improvement quotes, the one that really struck me was Jim Rohn's "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."

　　If you are surrounded by negative, unhappy and unambitious people, no matter how hard you try, they are subconsciously assimilating you. You can't overcome your environment, so if you want to change, you have to change your environment first.

   4. Give up the desire to "prove yourself"

　　There is nothing wrong with having ambitious, ambitious goals. But many people pursue lofty goals in order to prove something to others or to themselves. They are very concerned about what people think of them and are trying to prove their self-worth, prove that they have a certain level, prove that they exist.

　　This will only take you further away from happiness. Because the need for "perfection" often leads to depression, anxiety and burnout.

　　Your imaginary standard of "perfection" can never be achieved because your definition of perfection is always changing. But your value as a person is constant. There is no achievement that is more valuable than being a human being.

5. Get rid of attachments

　　Some people believe that unless they have certain things, such as wealth, health, relationships, possessions, etc., they will not be happy. But this is psychologically untenable.

　　If people can't be happy without these things, then people won't be happy because of them either. This is not to say that you should never try to achieve anything in life. On the contrary, we should not attach our happiness to a certain goal. It brings more freedom, ease and peace. If you happen to lose what you have, you won't be so depressed because it was never the source of my happiness.