Often times we think that we will be happier when something really big falls into place— finishing a degree, getting a job promotion, or meeting the love of our life.

The truth is, happiness is found in subtle, mundane, daily details and we could be giving up quite a bit of joy by not doing the little things that actually can make a difference.

Here are my top five tips for feeling an instant sense of happiness now:

1. Solve the problems you can solve. Do you have a leak in your kitchen sink? Does your car need a diagnostic to figure out what is draining its’ battery? All the little things that take a little time each to be solved can seem really overwhelming when they accumulate over time.
2. Question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: “One bite at a time.” With anything you have to deal with in your life, just focus on the very next step you have to take. Take just one step and one breath at a time. Although looking at the bigger picture is very important when developing a life or a business vision, it is often the little steps that we take (one at a time) that add up to providing us with the puzzle pieces that make that bigger picture our reality.
3. Train your brain to look for the good. When anything uncomfortable happens, acknowledge the discomfort but challenge yourself to come up with five good things that came along with any unfortunate turn of events.
4. The dictionary definition of “mastery” is: “The comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment.” When something you are focusing on is not working out for you, you can get an instant sense of accomplishment by switching your attention to something you are very skilled at. Whether you go dancing at your favorite studio, bake the amazing cookies that everyone raves about, plant a new garden patch, or organize a closet, I promise you, if you can occupy your existence with one act of greatness, you will feel re-energized and infused with extra positivity and ready to tackle the world again.
5. If all else fails, take a hike! No, I am serious… I know we all suffer from a significant deficit of time, but I promise you, a mere thirty minutes walk in nature is one of the most potent anti-depressants. It will help you put things in perspective and it will totally re-calibrate and balance your nervous system.

Every now and then things may go according to plan, but most of the time we have to deal with situations that don’t necessarily turn out the way we would like them to.

From ancient wisdom to the latest neuroscience research, it is clear that whatever we focus on becomes our reality and determines our emotional state.

We can choose to reinforce our evolved brains’ negative bias by ruminating and investing our energy in challenges, or we can focus our attention on actions to improve the outcomes of our circumstances. Research has shown that looking for the good in life, even in bad situations, can actually reset our propensity to filter life through our negative bias.

Over time, experiencing more positive emotions has been shown to increase our cognitive ability and emotional resilience, as well as our sense of meaning and purpose. So if you would like to find more happiness now, forget about the big fish and look for the subtle shifts of focus and attention that literally have the power to transform your life.