30 People Finally Reveal Their Good Deeds They Have Been Keeping In Secret

The team at ‘Action for Happiness’ shared with me earlier that kindness, doing things for others, and altruism all play an important role in our overall happiness.

"Think about how you can reach out and do things for others, help a neighbor or volunteer for a cause, we get happiness high from helping other people. Or start small and simply list three things that you can be grateful for each night before bed,” Sarah Vero from ‘Action for Happiness’ told Bored Panda.

Sarah also shared the 10 keys to happier living: “Giving, relating, exercising, awareness, trying out, direction, resilience, emotions, acceptance, and meaning. We are likely to be happier if our lives have direction, meaning, and purpose and if we are part of something bigger than ourselves," she explained.

Meanwhile, Vanessa King, the Head of Psychology at ‘Action for Happiness,’ stressed the fact that we’re a social species. Helping each other out is the “social glue that keeps us together.”

According to Vanessa, when we participate in group activities and community events, we become happier. “When we do things for others it activates the reward center in the brain, so when we give a gift it feels the same as receiving a gift," she said.

The expert explained that altruism is a learned skill. In short, we can learn to become more altruistic, more giving by changing small things in our lives. The key is consistency. “Small daily actions one at a time can help us to make altruism a lifetime habit. You could start out small by deciding you are going to smile at everyone you meet or pay three people a compliment today,” Vanessa shared with Bored Panda.

Some things that you can do to help others can be as simple as giving money to charity or donating to a food bank. If you have more time on your hands or if you want to make a deeper impact, you can volunteer for a cause or leave a food package or note for an elderly neighbor.

“All of these actions help others and boost your own happiness and if we are happier, research shows we are even more likely to help others,” Vanessa said.

In the expert’s opinion, it’s perfectly fine to “fake it till you make it” if we’re not used to being altruistic. Forget about moral conundrums about whether or not you’re being kind purely out of self-interest or not: you should focus on the act of giving.

“Maybe at first, you start out doing things to help others only to get attention and praise, but you will find that doing things for others helps you feel good and when you see people’s responses. Once you see the difference you can make in the world and to your own happiness and altruism can grow naturally," Vanessa explained. From there, our altruism will, step by step, make people happier and more likely to help others, in turn. And that’s how you create a better, kinder world.