4 Happiness Hacks to Free Your Inner Optimist

4. Give it away. Giving has been shown, time and time again, to benefit the giver even more than the recipient. Research bears this out: Neal Krause of the University of Michigan followed nearly a thousand adults over a period of three years, and found that offering social support to others reduced their anxiety when they were under economic stress. Stephen Post wrote about this and other studies in his book, Why Good Things Happen to Good People, in which he cited a study that found that teens who are giving, hopeful, and socially effective are also happier, more active, involved, excited, challenged, and engaged than their counterparts.