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:

衡量一個人是否成功的真正標準只有這個人是否幸福。讓別人感到快樂幸福是個人成功的最高形式。不過，如果你自己不快樂的話，是很難做到讓別人快樂的。記住這一點，以下提出的9條建議，會讓你的生活馬上變得快樂起來。

1. Start each day with expectation.

對每天都有期望

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，那么就是對生活有點期望。當你早上起床的時候，第一件事就是去想：“今天會有好事發生。”猜猜看結果如何？很有可能你就能美夢成真。

2. Take time to plan and prioritize.

花時間計劃，優先處理緊急事務

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.

壓力最通常的來源就是意識到自己有太多的事情要做。與其被堆積如山的事務纏身，不如從中挑選一件來做。挑選的標準就是，做完這件事，就會離你人生中的最高目標更進一步。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微笑，一句感謝或者鼓勵的話，一個禮貌的動作，甚至只是善意的頷首。經過乞討者時，留下些零錢吧。善良的心靈比零錢更值錢。

4. Deflect partisan conversations.

盡可能不談及敏感話題

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."

有關政治和宗教的話題永遠沒有正確答案，但卻會讓人心浮氣躁，難以掌控談話的局面。如果出現了這樣的話題，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.

假設人們動機善良

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.

你沒有讀心術，所以你不會明白人們行為背后的真正含義。不要為他人怪異的舉動注入不良的動機，這只會讓生活更加愁云慘淡而已。反而假設人們的動機善良，會讓你有更多的機會去與對方和解。