Taking Action and Happiness (Part III)

Problem-Focused Coping skills

 Being happy takes effort. It means that you have to actively “do stuff” even though you don’t feel like it.

 Sometimes it is helpful to develop positive emotional momentum by setting up a specific plan or by learning a skill or improving an old one.  People often feel better when they are doing something constructive to deal with the issues that are either making them unhappy or moving forward in achieving a specific positive goal.  Feeling / experiencing that you are taking action can be a powerful factor to helping someone feel a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

 Feeling better even though the problem is not solved

 People feel better when they have figured out how they are going to actually handle a problem. What is interesting here is that, they don’t really have to have solved the problem to feel better. What they have to do is:

1. Have to have a clear idea what it takes to “fix” a problem;
2. Believe that they have the ability to do what it takes to handle the situation;
3. Be committed to enacting that behavior and lastly,
4.  Set a specific time table for the enactment and completion of the plan

 It is common for people to obsess about their problems what makes them feel empowered and happy is when they engage in constructive actions that move toward answering them.

 In my next blog I will talk about learning to forgive.