Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success, but it’s almost impossible to make others happy if you’re not happy yourself. With that in mind, here are nine small changes that you can make to your daily routine that will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life:

衡量一個(gè)人是否成功的真正標(biāo)準(zhǔn)只有這個(gè)人是否幸福。讓別人感到快樂(lè)幸福是個(gè)人成功的最高形式。不過(guò)，如果你自己不快樂(lè)的話(huà)，是很難做到讓別人快樂(lè)的。記住這一點(diǎn)，以下提出的9條建議，會(huì)讓你的生活馬上變得快樂(lè)起來(lái)。

1. Start each day with expectation.

對(duì)每天都有期望

If there’s any big truth about life, it’s that it usually lives up to (or down to) your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: "something wonderful is going to happen today." Guess what? You’re probably right.

如果生活真有所謂的真諦存在的話(huà)，那么就是對(duì)生活有點(diǎn)期望。當(dāng)你早上起床的時(shí)候，第一件事就是去想：“今天會(huì)有好事發(fā)生。”猜猜看結(jié)果如何？很有可能你就能美夢(mèng)成真。

2. Take time to plan and prioritize.

花時(shí)間計(jì)劃，優(yōu)先處理緊急事務(wù)

The most common source of stress is the perception that you’ve got too much work to do. Rather than obsess about it, pick one thing that, if you get it done today, will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that first.

壓力最通常的來(lái)源就是意識(shí)到自己有太多的事情要做。與其被堆積如山的事務(wù)纏身，不如從中挑選一件來(lái)做。挑選的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)就是，做完這件事，就會(huì)離你人生中的最高目標(biāo)更進(jìn)一步。挑選出了要做的事情之后，就把它放在首位去完成。

3. Give a gift to everyone you meet.

向每位遇到的人傳遞正能量

I’m not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. Your gift can be your smile, a word of thanks or encouragement, a gesture of politeness, even a friendly nod. And never pass beggars without leaving them something. Peace of mind is worth the spare change.

我并不是要你去送一些包裝精美的禮品。你的禮物可以是一個(gè)微笑，一句感謝或者鼓勵(lì)的話(huà)，一個(gè)禮貌的動(dòng)作，甚至只是善意的頷首。經(jīng)過(guò)乞討者時(shí)，留下些零錢(qián)吧。善良的心靈比零錢(qián)更值錢(qián)。

4. Deflect partisan conversations.

盡可能不談及敏感話(huà)題

Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right" answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can’t control. When such topics surface, bow out by saying something like: "Thinking about that stuff makes my head hurt."

有關(guān)政治和宗教的話(huà)題永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有正確答案，但卻會(huì)讓人心浮氣躁，難以掌控談話(huà)的局面。如果出現(xiàn)了這樣的話(huà)題，就可以用一句“想到這些事情我就頭疼”，禮貌地退出討論。

5. Assume people have good intentions.

假設(shè)人們動(dòng)機(jī)善良

Since you can’t read minds, you don’t really know the "why" behind the "what" that people do. Imputing evil motives to other people’s weird behaviors adds extra misery to life, while assuming good intentions leaves you open to reconciliation.

你沒(méi)有讀心術(shù)，所以你不會(huì)明白人們行為背后的真正含義。不要為他人怪異的舉動(dòng)注入不良的動(dòng)機(jī)，這只會(huì)讓生活更加愁云慘淡而已。反而假設(shè)人們的動(dòng)機(jī)善良，會(huì)讓你有更多的機(jī)會(huì)去與對(duì)方和解。