The 3 Easiest Ways to be Happier in 2026

Just before the holidays I had lunch with a friend who I see only a couple of times a year. We laughed so much that I felt happier for a day afterwards. I suggested that we make a promise to connect more often in 2026.

“That’s a resolution I can get behind. Much better than the usual ‘lose 15 pounds,’” she said.

If one of your resolutions was to be happier in 2026, the news of the past week isn’t necessarily making that easy. But sometimes it’s okay to focus on the smaller things we can actually control. From the research I’ve done for my recent book What Your Body Knows About Happiness, I know that small changes to our body and environment can often do the most to improve our mood and well-being. Laughing and smiling, being outdoors, and simply moving more can have greater effects than you may think.

Here are three little tweaks that can give big benefits:

—Smile Like You Mean It (even if you don’t)

Emotions get formed in the brain but they don’t necessarily start there. One neuroscientist described the brain to me as a prediction machine, taking in information and trying to figure out what it all means. Your brain is constantly scanning your body and muscles in your face for clues on how to feel.

Endless research shows that when your face is forced into a smile (even a fake one), your feel happier and have a more positive attitude. The brain takes in the message from your facial muscles and makes the conclusion: Smiling? Great, we’re happy!

The lunch with my friend left me happy for many reasons, but spending the better part of an hour laughing and smiling certainly helped. Make a resolution to find reasons to smile and laugh a little more this year.

—Let Your Body Talk Be Positive

While your brain gets busy scanning for information, it checks out your posture and comes to the same conclusions as a 1950s gym teacher. Standing tall=good. Slouching=problem.

As you’re reading this now, sit up a little straighter and you’ll like what you’re hearing better. Professor Erik Peper of San Francisco State University has shown that you have better access to positive emotions when you sit or stand straight. Being hunched over sends a message of defeats and hopelessness that your brain receives (and everyone else notices, too).

It’s about the easiest fix imaginable. When you’re walking down the street feeling the weight of the world, you’re probably leaning forward and stoop-shouldered. Stop and readjust. Standing up straighter won’t (alas) change the world, but it will give you the positive energy to go forward and fix it.

—Go Outside

When it gets cold, I like to huddle inside, but all the research I’ve encountered says that bundling up and going out can have big benefits. One study found that the biggest connection between happiness and location is simply being outside. Psychologist George MacKerron collected four million pieces of data connecting mood and location found dramatic improvements in well-being when people are outside in nature.

“We’ve evolved to find natural spaces restorative and restful. They create happier moments,” says MacKerron.

Poets and philosophers have extolled the virtues of being outdoors for centuries, and it’s nice to have rafts of data confirming that they were right. MacKerron’s data shows that being outdoors increases happiness as much as being with friends (instead of alone) or doing an activity you like (versus one you don’t).

Being in nature actually changes your brain physiology and improves your mood. So don’t lose hope just yet for being happier in the year ahead.

I’ve traveled a lot in the past year and I’m awed by the power of beautiful places to change your mood. My husband I spent a week in Vienna gorging on fabulous museums, great music, and endless pastries. Each night we went back to the Imperial Hotel, walking up an elegant staircase to our beautiful suite with double height ceilings, dazzling chandeliers, and gracious furniture. Our environments do more than we realize to make us calm or tense, happy or not. (I expect that the chocolate tortes left at turndown service every night also helped.) If you want to feel happier in the coming year, don’t overlook the power of place—a sense of openness and a vast scale have been shown to be mood-enhancers. I don’t know how much of my new devotion to Vienna comes from the joy I felt in that royal hotel, but I’m sure it helped.

I’m glad to be back from my travels and writing again. Thanks for joining me in finding more ways to be happy in 2026. If you haven’t already subscribed, please do (it’s free) and share with friends.

love, Janice