Happy 4 Life

The way you react to challenges—in particular, having a severe inner critic—greatly affects your happiness. Bob Nozik, M.D., author of Happy 4 Life: Here's How to Do It, explains: If "you reach for something and you knock over your cup of tea and your inner critic starts screaming, 'you idiot, look what you’ve done! You can’t do anything right,' that's really going to interfere with your ability to develop happiness."

If you want to be happier, convert this inner critic into an inner colleague, a change that Nozik describes as one of the quickest and easiest to make. He explains how:

For a week or so, simply listen to the voice of your inner critic so that you really hear it every single time without trying to change it. Then you can say out loud if you’re alone, or to yourself, "Don’t talk to me that way" or "I won’t put up with that stuff any more." And so you stop it. If you do that for another week or so, you'll have changed.

Read more expert advice from Dr. Bob Nozik on Being Happier.