Five Strategies to Create Lasting Joy and Feel Better Fast

FBF-Five Strategies to Create Lasting Joy and Feel Better Fast

There is a Chinese saying that goes: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Happiness is found in helping others.

Five Strategies to Create Lasting Joy and Feel Better Fast

1. Focus on what you want, on what gives you passion and purpose.

Reflect daily and ask yourself is your behavior getting you what you want? Know what you want; write it down and look at it every day. It will encourage your brain to help make it happen.

2. Limit low value dopamine-producing activities/substances that wear out your pleasure centers. These include:

• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Excessive television
• Excessive video games
• Pornography
• Undisciplined digital behavior
• Scary movies

3. Engage in high value activities that increase dopamine and strengthen your brain. Here are several examples:

• Sunlight (vitamin D)
• Exercise
• Meditation
• Yoga
• Touch
• Massage therapy
• Pleasurable music
• DHA from fish oil
• Olive oil
• Green tea
• Protein-rich diet
• Turmeric
• Oregano
• Magnesium
• Resveratrol

4. Focus each moment on living with meaning and purpose.

Ask yourself, do the foods I am eating, the exercises I am doing, the conversations I am having, the activities I am engaging in have meaning? Look at your day—where are you spending your time? Is it meaningful in reaching your goals? Get rid of the things in your life that do not fit your goals.

5. Live with the end in mind.

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a pioneer in near-death studies and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying said, “It is the denial of death that is partially responsible for people living empty, purposeless lives; for when you live as if you’ll live forever, it becomes too easy to postpone the things you know that you must do.” If you truly want to live a purposeful life, live with the end in mind. None of us know when death is going to come, but if you knew you would be dead in a week, a month, a year, five years, what would matter to you most? Where and with whom would you spend your time? What will matter toward the end of your life? What will you want to be doing? Whom do you want to be with? What will have mattered in your life? If you live that way along the way, you’ll find your life more purposeful, more meaningful, and more filled with love.

These five strategies will help you to live with love, passion, meaning and purpose over a prolonged period of time.

For more tips and strategies to live your life to the fullest and healthiest, we recommend reading Dr. Daniel Amen’s new book, “Feel Better Fast and Make It Last.” You can order the book by clicking here.

For more information on how SPECT imaging can help provide a customized treatment plan to help heal your brain, call us today at 888-288-9834 or visit us online to schedule a visit.

10 Comments »

  1. Good for thought. I’ve known much of this, but don’t always take heed, now I MUST

    Comment by Jocelyne Pinsler — November 21, 2018 @ 5:09 AM

  2. Good resources and strategies!

    On the suject of SPECT scans:
    Are any SPECT scans being done on people who have chronic pain (back pain in my case)? I am concerned about what brain changes may be occurring in my brain due to the ongoing pain.
    Thank you.

    Comment by Janet Coleman — December 13, 2018 @ 7:52 AM

  3. That’s a good question. I suffer from chronic pain also (legs, feet, back and hips). Sometimes makes me feel depressed.

    Comment by Sally — January 12, 2019 @ 4:32 PM

  4. To Sally and Janet with pain issues, have you considered medical cannabis? If it’s legal in your state it might be something to look into. Many extracts are made without the THC so there is no worry about getting a buzz.

    Comment by Sue — February 4, 2019 @ 3:34 AM

  5. Been on pain medicin four years total knee replacement still have pain it cause depression stay upset and angry try other things nerve blocking so painful cpuld not finish now have so much pain in hil thigh what else can i try

    Comment by ida — February 4, 2019 @ 4:08 AM

  6. Useful to contempate and share. Thank you

    Comment by Cynthia Schwartzberg,LCSW — February 4, 2019 @ 5:11 AM

  7. It has been six years since my 2nd knee replacement in my same knee. Still have awful pain. I tried opioids, routine melds CBD oil, utilized gentle stretching, lost half my weight, tens, hot tub, meditation and nothing helps take the pain away. I have been so depressed and lost.

    Comment by Linda — February 4, 2019 @ 7:44 PM

  8. Sue, It is important to note even the few rare disorders CBD has FDA approval comes with the warning of liver damage and suicidal tendencies. The over the counter artisanal CBD tested overwhelmingly has THC and contaminants in them such as pesticides. Artisanal is not standardized and each dose is different. None of the agencies or organizations charged with safeguarding medical protocol (ASAM, AMA, FDA, DEA, etc.) recommend artisanal CBD. They have released statements opposed to it.

    Comment by Ed Moses — March 21, 2019 @ 7:23 AM

  9. I don’t have the answer but curious as well. I have chronic neck and shoulder pain due to a fracture I was lucky to survive 26 years ago. Many don’t realize how exhausting this is on a daily basis. Through every therapy out there and drugs- meditation is the best for me. I also use THC edibles on occasion for sleep ; ) Be well, be happy!

    Comment by Annie — March 29, 2019 @ 3:35 AM

  10. So sorry for your experiences with chronic pain.
    Options of hope; conservative to radical.
    Pain is your body’s feedback that damage is being done and if the source/cause of that pain can be discovered then maybe removing the impingement. So every time you walk the nerve being agitated and can never recover. Suppose the nerve was damaged during the surgery and the myelin is inflamed.

    Maybe an EMG on the limb causing the pain and having that nerve identified could help in identifying and defining the problem. Then a solution is possible.

    Maybe high doses of Acetyl-L-carnitine, B6, B12, ALA, DHA and EPA could help reduce inflammation and repair the afflicted nerves.

    Chiropractor that specializes in kinesiology; basically using resistance training to balance the muscles of that joint as there are 3 hamstring muscles and 2 inner quads and 2 outer quads, etc., so increasing their mass should help as well as making their strength balanced. Tendonitis of the patella can be caused in over development of the 2 outer quads and by making the 2 inner quads stronger can balance the joint. Tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome are caused by muscle imbalance on the joint; once the weaker muscles are strengthened and time to reduce the inflammation then the problem is solved.

    Then there is the option of permanently disabling the nerve, but then you might be walking with a numb or disabled leg.

    DMT, Dimethyltryptamine, may be able to reprogram the brain, physically restructure the synapses by creating new routes while disabling others when the spiritual/mystic realm is reached. Many anecdotal testimonies of success with cessation of addiction and pain abatement but not much science to render efficacy. So, chronic pain is processed in the brain and by disabling or muting that pathway, then maybe pain abatement can be achieved, so goes the theory. The use of this molecule should be studied extensively before choosing to use it.
    I would like to see the before and after SPECT scans of people with addiction or chronic pain that have their afflictions abated using DMT.

    Comment by Mark — September 21, 2019 @ 7:52 AM

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