Everything you need to know about happiness and how to get it.

Who doesn’t want to be happy, to feel joy, to jump out of bed excited at the prospect of the day ahead? I sure do and over the past few months I’ve been on a mission to discover just how to be happy, or should I say, happier.

Come on get happyyyeee…

If only it were that simple.

Happiness is an emotion. It comes and goes. It’s not a state of being. However that doesn’t stop us from regarding happiness as our ultimate goal. The problem is that each of us needs different things to feel happy.

For some of us success equals happiness.

For some of us family equals happiness.

For some of us money equals happiness.

For some of us good health equals happiness.

For some of us losing weight makes up happy.

For some of us buying “stuff” makes us happy.

Or so we think.

The problems begin when we get some of those things, or all of them, and we still don't feel as we should - happy at all times.

Now Harvard University has tasked itself with solving the problem of attaining happiness for all by opening a Centre for Health and Happiness and they've pumped $27 million into it.

So far they've discovered that the following factors contribute to happiness:

Sense of purpose;

Optimism;

Vitality;

Good health.

Surprisingly, success isn't on the list.

All it takes to be happier is to change up your morning routine...or not. This is what working women actually do in the morning.

In his book If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Happy? University of Texas business professor Raj Raghunathan says being better educated, richer or more accomplished doesn't necessarily lead to happiness.

Raghunathan interviewed some of the most successful people in the world including Fortune 500 employees as well as undergraduate students. He concluded that it takes meaningful social relationships, being good at something you can do daily and and having the freedom to make to make life decisions independently to be honestly, truly happy.

It's also about mindset.

Raghunathan suggests we look at children for guidance when it comes to how to stay happy on a daily basis. "When you observe children, they are very good at this," he told Joe Pinsker at The Atlantic. "They don't get distracted by all those extrinsic yardsticks. They go for things that really bring them a lot of enjoyment."

What makes you happy?