What's the Key to Happiness? 13 Truths to Unlock a Great Life

Happiness is different for everyone. If you want to find out the key to happiness for you, we can help. Here's the truth of having an amazing life.

Everyone is always looking for more happiness. How can your life be improved? What can you do to make it easier and more fun? Finding the key to happiness is sometimes all some people ever do. They search and search and still don't find it.

And that's because it's not as simple as a single element. One thing can't really make or break your life. Life is a combination of all sorts of things and there's not just one thing that'll make every single person happy. It differs depending on who you are as a person.

Things people think cause happiness that really don't

There's way too much misunderstanding when it comes to what makes people happy. Sometimes we put forth so much effort to attain things we think will bring us happiness only to realize our desire for those things makes us unhappy.

#1 Money. Many of you have probably heard the saying, “money doesn't buy happiness.” It's true. It's not just something your parents tell you so you don't strive to be only rich. Money can buy you things, but those things won't make you truly happy if you're not.

#2 Friends. Yes, having friends helps and they can make you happy but when it comes to friends, more is not merrier. You don't have to measure your level of happiness by how many friends you have. Instead, aim to have a few high-quality friends instead of a lot of lame ones.

#3 A partner. Too many people focus on happiness being about having a significant other. That doesn't make you happy. If you truly don't like your life and aren't happy at all, having someone to cuddle at night won't make a difference. You should be happy by yourself, first.

What's the key to happiness?

In truth, happiness isn't something that can just be unlocked with a single “key.” There are many different things that can lead you to a great life. You just have to be willing to accept them.

If you really want to have a better life and be happy, these are some of the truths you must face, and then act on. Hopefully these can help you realize the important things in life.

#1 Negativity has to leave. There's just too much of it out there. If you surround yourself with negative people and are always thinking in a negative way, your life will be less happy.

You're basically always bringing down any happiness you have. With negativity present, even the happy moments aren't as great as they could be. So ditch all the negative people so you can have more joy in life.

#2 You have to love yourself. If you're not happy with who you are, you won't really be happy in life. That's just how it works. You are the biggest part of your life and if there's not happiness within yourself, you'll have a hard time enjoying life. Work on loving yourself first.

#3 Hobbies and passions are necessary. Everyone needs at least something they love to do. Passion is incredibly important and some might say it's truly the key to happiness.

But it's not enough to just be passionate about something. You also really have to act on those passions. If you just love doing something and never do it, it won't help in your quest for happiness.

#4 Live in the moment. Stop thinking about what you have to do tomorrow or next week or next year, even. Live in the moment you're in. You won't get it back. If you're always looking ahead or behind you, you'll never be able to appreciate all the things you have right now.

And when you can't appreciate the current moment, you won't be happy. Then, when you're not living in the moment later and looking back on other times, you'll realize how unhappy you were. It's a cycle that has to end if you want to find the key to happiness.

#5 Be thankful for what you do have. This day and age is all about wants. We want so much but we want it handed to us. And when we finally get something we want, we simply desire the next, better version.

What about what you have? You have so much going for you that you just don't even see because you're blinded by what you could possibly have in the future.

#6 Always be working toward something. As humans, we always want to be working toward something that'll bring us happiness. We're goal-oriented people. If you have nothing to work for, your life will feel a little less happy.

You might find that your life lacks meaning. A quick way to fix this is to just make some goals and start working toward them every day.

#7 Give back when you can. Sometimes the key to happiness is all about unlocking it in other people. Adding happiness to someone else's life can be all you really need to feel happy yourself. Turning someone else's day or even life around can do a lot more for your own happiness than you think.

#8 Recognize those who are important to you. We hardly appreciate the people we love enough. I know it seems like they already know you care about them and are thankful they're in your life, but just say it anyway.

You never know how someone else is feeling. The people closest to you are responsible for a lot of great things in your life. Don't ignore that. Make sure they know you appreciate them.

#9 Stay humble. No matter what happens in your life, stay humble. Being humble and always remaining thankful will help you be happy with even the smallest of things. If you don't remain humble, you'll always be overreaching. You'll always want more. And when you're always lusting for more and better, you won't be happy.

#10 Just do you. Stop caring about what other people think. It's poison. Don't worry about how happy someone else is or what someone else has. Focus on the great things in your life and on improving yourself from the inside out.

Doing this will bring you way more happiness than if you only do things because you think other people will like it. If you only do things because they'll make YOU happy, life will be much better for you.

The key to happiness is really to just sit back and enjoy life. Live for what you do have and work hard for what you want. Being thankful and living in the moment is what happiness is all about.