We’re such gullible creatures really. If you tell us anything enough times, we’ll start believing it. So why not use this to your advantage? If you keep telling yourself you’re happy, you will be happy. Try it, if you don’t believe me.

It takes a little while to build up of course. And if you tell yourself you’re happy 10 times a day, and then tell yourself 20 times a day how miserable you are, guess which one will win. But if you’re serious about it, yes, it will work.

Think about it. Imagine the toughest parts of the world to live. The favelas of Rio, the deserts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Delhi slums, Siberia, the sink estates closer to home – do you think you’d be happy living there? No. And yet, do you think everyone there is miserable? No, they’re not. Of course some of them are, and with good reason, but there are always people who can smile and find enjoyment in any kind of life. Sure, their expectations may be lower than yours (which I think gives you something to be happy about), but it’s more than that. They choose to believe they’re happy. You see, happiness is just a belief, and you can indeed choose it.

You can also think about what makes you happy, and arrange for more of it to happen: being with people you love, keeping busy, doing something you’re good at, helping other people, eating chocolate.^* That’s what those people with tougher lives than you or me do, and if it can work for them, it can work for us.

Here’s a trick I’ve learnt. I do this every night, and it’s almost like a meditation in the sense of how good it makes me feel. Before I go to sleep, I run through the day and recall all the good bits. I resolutely ignore anything negative, however large a part it played in my day. I simply remember everything positive, from the big stuff down to a friendly checkout person or a nice hot coffee after coming in from the cold.

You can do this in your head, or it can help to tell it to someone – even someone who isn’t actually there but who you’d like to be with. There’s something extra convincing about the objectivity you get when you relate it to someone else. It’s hard to find a better way of ending the day, and waking up happy the next morning.