When Naomi Simson recently attended a TEDX talk by Harvard University psychology lecturer, Shawn Achor, she was inspired enough by his tips on long-term happiness that she blogged about heading back to the RedBalloon office armed with gratitude journals for all the team.

Here’s some of what she learned:

To create a habit – any new action should be done for at least 21 days and then you may have cracked the code by reprogramming the neuro-pathways in your brain.

A big trick to creating new habits is to make it easy. In Shawn’s talk, he called it the 20-second rule. Make it really easy to do the new habit and it is far more likely to happen. (He used the example of leaving your gym clothes right by the bed – or sleeping in them, so that in the morning it is really easy to get out and do the exercise.)

And those 5 habits he shared with the audience (and Naomi)?

5 Tips For Long-Term Happiness

1. Three acts of gratitude a day (Emmons & McCullogh, 2003). I have a lovely little iPhone app called Gratitude Journal which makes it easy to contemplate what was great about the day.
2. The Doubler (Slatcher & Pennebaker, 2006). When you have a great experience – then share it. Tell someone else (You get just as much pleasure when you tell the story again – effectively doubling the impact.)
3. The Fun Fifteen (Babyak et al. 2000) – set aside 15 minutes in a day for a good laugh – For me, I watch something funny on the iPad… there are plenty of funny clips on YouTube.
4. Meditation (Shapiro & Schwartz, 2005). Having a moment to listen to your breathing, centre yourself and visualise – even if it is only one minute a day – but every day, then build it up to 2, then 3.
5. Conscious Acts of Kindness – Kindness includes many things, gifts, volunteering, a smile – and of course an authentic ‘thank you’.

I had a moment to chat with Shawn about the ‘Five Thanks a Day’ project. He said anything that helps make these things a habit is a great idea. Whilst a ‘thank-you’ is just a small part of the science of happiness, it is simple, costs nothing, does not take long and really helps us connect to other people.

Remember -

• Happiness is a choice.
• What you attend to first happens.
• Happiness spreads – there is a ripple effect.
• Happiness is a work ethic.
• And of course – happiness is an advantage.

If you are interested in more about the Five Thanks A Day project, you can connect with Naomi Simson on LinkedIn.

The information in this article has appeared with Naomi Simson’s permission and was first published on her own blog. To find out more about Naomi’s journey as a successful businesswoman – and to boost your own successful business story – check out her new book, Ready To Soar.