--- title: The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People description: You can use these techniques to increase positive feelings canonical: https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-23T04:01:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:17:14.046Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People og:description: You can use these techniques to increase positive feelings og:url: https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98b305ea6d909a82/69878495cd1bba7ef36f5cb0/478161363-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: woman-jumping-rear-view og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People twitter:description: You can use these techniques to increase positive feelings twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98b305ea6d909a82/69878495cd1bba7ef36f5cb0/478161363-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Mar 23, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Rear view of woman jumping against cityscape Rear view of woman jumping against cityscapeGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Mar 23, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Naturally happy people unconsciously engage in: 1. Social comparison (or the lack thereof) 2. Retrospective judgment Via [Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405146613/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1405146613): --- > “” --- Even if you’re not a naturally happy person you can use these techniques to increase positive feelings. So what the heck do those fancy words mean and how can we leverage them? 1) _“Social comparison”_ means don’t compare yourself to others: Via [Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405146613/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1405146613): --- > “” --- Or only compare yourself [to those worse off than you](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-there-a-quick-and-easy-way-to-overcome-dis): --- > “” --- 2) _“Retrospective judgment_” means reevaluating events and putting a positive spin on them: Via [Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405146613/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1405146613): --- > “” --- This is very effective with [the minor problems of everyday life](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-best-to-evaluate-bad-experiences-accura): --- > “” --- **Join over 175,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) [The 8 Things The Happiest People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/happiest-people/) [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/"},"headline":"The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People","datePublished":"2015-03-23T04:01:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:17:14.046Z","description":"You can use these techniques to increase positive feelings","url":"https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98b305ea6d909a82/69878495cd1bba7ef36f5cb0/478161363-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98b305ea6d909a82/69878495cd1bba7ef36f5cb0/478161363-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"woman-jumping-rear-view","caption":"woman-jumping-rear-view","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3753061/two-techniques-naturally-happy-people/","name":"The Two Techniques You Can Learn From Naturally Happy People"}}]}] ```