Accentuate the good
There's a reason people tell you to stop and smell the roses: It's not just the flower's perfume that makes life better, but also the appreciation of it. "Gratitude is the cornerstone of happiness. It's all about noticing what's right in our lives instead of what's wrong," says Ryan. In a study from the Universities of Miami and California, Davis, people who were instructed to keep gratitude journals, recording every instance in which they were thankful, reported higher levels of enthusiasm, optimism, and energy than those who did not keep such diaries. The lesson? "Don't wait for something big to happen to you to feel happy," says Ryan. "Make yourself happy by noticing the good that's already there." To do so, start a simple ritual. Write a phrase like "Be grateful" on a piece of paper and put it in your pocket or another place you'll notice it. Each time you touch or see the note, name one thing you appreciate. Before you know it, gratitude-and daily bliss-will become automatic.

Match your intentions to your actions
You have goals, both big and small; you make to-do lists and set priorities. So why don't you feel fulfilled? "We find happiness when we derive pleasure as well as meaning from what we do," says Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D., who teaches Harvard's popular positive-psychology class. In other words, you may say family comes first, but if you work 14-hour days, you're creating an internal conflict that chips away at your chances of happiness. When researchers from the University of Georgia examined the lives of people who reached 100, they found one of the most common things the centenarians shared was a sense of purpose they continued to pursue. If you work long hours but want to spend more time at home, start by leaving the office 15 minutes earlier each day until you're there for just eight hours. And instead of saving all of your vacation days for one trip, set a few aside for your kids' school events or for spending an afternoon lounging with your partner.