I wrote a post, Keys for Skilled Happiness, on Sources of Insight.  Some people are born with a better disposition, while others have to work at it.  You don't have to work harder, you have to work smarter.  Luckily, we have a great body of knowledge on happiness to draw from now.  My notes are based on Carlin Flora's article, The Pursuit of Happiness in Psychology Today.   Some insights are obvious, while others are surprising.

Here's a summary of the keys:

• We're lousy at predicting what makes us happy.
• Improve your self-talk.
• Find engaging activities.
• Feel your full range of emotions.
• Practice mindfulness.
• Work towards goals.
• Be generous.
• Be careful who you hang with.
• Limit your choices.
• Build your relationships.
• Evaluate your well-being at the macro as well as the micro level.
• Leverage your natural coping style.