Making good informed smart decisions in life certainly has it’s benefits.  These important decisions we all make is a fundamental life skill.  The choices we make impact our lives in many ways.  It can impact our income, family, health, career, and overall happiness.

However, don’t expect to be perfect in your decision making, it is fine to learn from our mistakes, just don’t repeat them.  The goal should be to increase the odds of having a better and best possible outcome in our decision making.

Therefore, as a senior who has made my share of mistakes and good decisions over a lifetime, I would like to offer 12 tips for happiness, your personal happiness checklist that could make a positive difference in your life and mindset.

1. Smile more often and eat healthy nutritious foods.
2. Surround yourself with stable and trustworthy company.
3. Find good friends and faithful relationships.
4. Enjoy nature and the outdoors, birds singing, garden flowers, watch the sunrise and sunset, walk a hiking trail, waves breaking along the shore, a Carolina blue sky, or the sound of children’s laughter are all soothing and good for the soul.
5. Make more time for travel and adventure, even spontaneously.  Also, Keep it simple!
6. Seek out people, places and situations that give you an authentic honorable feeling and make you laugh.
7. Don’t get yourself into financial debt, having less debt will reduce stress tremendously.
8. Pursue and follow your passions.  Life can have more than one pursuit to make you happy and become fulfilled.  Therefore, find your purpose and make the most of it.
9. Learn how to manage your money and put a percentage aside for savings regularly.
10. Fill your life with enjoyment including good decent honest people.
11. Help others often and don’t expect a thank you all the time.
12. Last but not least, be grateful and thankful for your family and keep faith in your life.

There are plenty of books and experts available to reference, however, some practical common sense is really all you need to make better decisions and improve your life and happiness.  Remember, our life’s journey has a lot to do with the choices we make.