Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now

Sometimes it is what you don’t do that will make you happier.

That is what Jeff Haden says in Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now for Inc.com.

Haden writes that happiness can be achieved easier by subtraction–removing some of the bad habits that keep you from truly enjoying your work and your life:

Sometimes the route to happiness depends more on what you don’t do.

Happiness–in your business life and your personal life–is often a matter of subtraction, not addition.

Consider, for example, what happens when you stop doing the following 10 things:

1. Blaming.

People make mistakes. Employees don’t meet your expectations. Vendors don’t deliver on time.

So you blame them for your problems.

But you’re also to blame. Maybe you didn’t provide enough training. Maybe you didn’t build in enough of a buffer. Maybe you asked too much, too soon.

Taking responsibility when things go wrong instead of blaming others isn’t masochistic, it’s empowering–because then you focus on doing things better or smarter next time.

And when you get better or smarter, you also get happier.

Read the rest of Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now at Inc.com.