Ten Ways to Become a Happier Person

Happiness and well-being aren’t just buzzwords; they’re the secret sauce to surviving life’s chaos, especially if you’re juggling stethoscopes, bedpans, and studying during caffeine-fueled all-nighters. Happiness and well-being are fundamental if you’re to live a fulfilling life. They’re the cornerstones for physical health, mental resilience, and productivity. Research shows happy people live longer and resist illness better, yet 27% of medical students battle intense stress, risking burnout. The unique challenges associated with a career in healthcare, including intense academic pressure, long and irregular hours, emotional exhaustion, and the weight of responsibility, are all contributing factors.

Osmosis is here to provide practical, actionable tips for cultivating your happiness and well-being. By integrating these strategies into your daily life, you’ll be able to navigate the challenges of a demanding career path more effectively, improve your emotional resilience in stressful situations, and improve your long-term mental and emotional health.

1. Always Prioritize Self-Care

Self-care helps you maintain the energy and focus you need to treat patients effectively. Neglecting self-care can profoundly affect your well-being, worsening the effects of stress and diminishing your ability to perform your job well. Remember, self-care isn’t a luxury, and it’s not just for well-meaning yoga practitioners. Self-care is your lifeline to stability, especially when you’re elbow-deep in textbooks or dodging a patient’s flying IV pole. Self-care includes:

Physical Self-Care: Regular exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve your mood and reduce stress. A quick jog, some yoga, or even a brisk walk around the block can release the body’s natural mood elevator: endorphins. Pair this with a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains (instead of the super-processed, sugar and sodium-loaded treats in the nearest vending machine), and your energy levels and cognitive function will improve dramatically. Add a good night’s sleep to the mix, and you’ll be ready to take on the world!
Emotional and Mental Self-Care: Journaling, therapy, or simply taking time to reflect on the challenges of your day can help you process the emotional weight of patient interactions. Setting (and keeping) boundaries—like saying no to non-essential commitments—protects emotional energy. Most importantly, remember that self-care isn’t selfish; it’s the best way to avoid burnout and ensure your life doesn’t turn into a walking soap opera.

2. Cultivate Daily Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the conscious practice of being fully present and engaged in the moment instead of being in your head and stressing about that upcoming anatomy exam or the attending who yelled at you during morning rounds. Studies show mindfulness lowers stress hormones and increases activity in the prefrontal cortex, improving emotional regulation. Mindfulness practices include:

Mediation: Spend 10-15 minutes daily in guided or silent meditation to create deep restfulness. Apps like Headspace or Calm offer beginner-friendly sessions tailored to busy schedules, and YouTube has thousands of meditation videos. Try meditating before studying or taking 10-minute mental health breaks to help reset your mind and improve focus.
Deep Breathing Exercises: Box breathing (which involves inhaling for four seconds, holding your breath for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds, and holding your breath again for four seconds) is a quick, effective way to manage acute stress, especially during clinical rotations or exams. Practicing this technique for five minutes to lower your heart rate and promote overall relaxation.
Mindful Walking: Take a walk outdoors while focusing on the sensation of each step, listen to the sounds of nature, or note the rhythm of your breathing as you move—all great ways to take a meditative break. Set aside some time for a short walk between classes or hospital shifts to reduce anxiety and restore mental clarity.

3. Build a Support Network for Yourself

Loneliness can creep up on all of us, but friends, family, and mentors are the answer. A good support network is a powerful buffer against stress and one of the key drivers of happiness. For medical, nursing, and health professional students, isolating yourself from your friends, family, and peers can damage your overall well-being and intensify the emotional toll of your work. Building and maintaining a support network that offers encouragement and perspective while fostering a sense of belonging is essential.

Consider joining study groups, professional organizations, or campus clubs to foster camaraderie and share problem-solving. Reach out to mentors for guidance, inspiration, and practical advice. And don’t forget to check in regularly with family and friends, who will help keep you grounded and remind you that you aren’t alone.

Learn more about mentorship > How to Find the Right Mentor for Your Healthcare Career

4. Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic goals is a great way to foster a sense of accomplishment and minimize feeling overwhelmed, an ongoing issue for a lot of current and aspiring healthcare professionals. Achievable goals will keep you sane and give you those sweet, sweet dopamine hits of accomplishment! Unrealistic goals, on the other hand, can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression.

Setting realistic goals is important because it helps break down large tasks—like mastering complex medical concepts or completing clinical rotations—into smaller, actionable steps. Using the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) ensures goals are clear and attainable. Breaking down goals into daily or weekly tasks, such as completing 10 practice questions or attending a workshop, creates a sense of progress and reduces anxiety.

Track your progress toward your goals with a planner or app to reinforce motivation, and don’t forget to celebrate your victories!

Learn more about time management > Time Management 101: How to get (and stay) organized while you’re in school

5. Engage in Hobbies and Interests

Hobbies and personal interests are often a balm for the soul and can be your secret weapon to happiness. It can seem impossible to fit in the fun stuff for healthcare professionals and students, but ensuring you have other outlets to explore is vital to keeping your sanity intact. They’ll help recharge your emotional batteries and prevent burnout.

Taking up hobbies like painting, playing a musical instrument, cooking, or hiking provides you with a creative outlet and a sense of fulfillment unrelated to grades or patient outcomes. These types of activities trigger the release of dopamine, enhance your mood, and reduce stress. Make sure to make time to pursue hobbies and interests, and treat it as a non-negotiable appointment.

Joining hobby-based clubs on campus, like photography, gardening, or gaming groups, can combine social connection with personal enjoyment. While pursuing your outside interests won’t solve your clinical rotation nightmares, your outside interests will remind you that life isn’t all about scalpels and sleep deprivation.

6. Practice Gratitude Every Day

Gratitude isn’t just for the holiday season; it’s a powerful tool for enhancing happiness, shifting your focus from what’s stressing you out to the positive aspects of your life. For healthcare professionals, who often face high-pressure environments and challenging emotional dynamics, cultivating gratitude encourages resilience and helps you maintain a more positive outlook.

Still not convinced? Research shows that practicing gratitude increases serotonin and dopamine levels, improving mood and reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Consider keeping a gratitude journal, where you write down three things you’re grateful for daily. Take note of some great advice you got from a supportive mentor. Speak to a patient’s nearly miraculous recovery or something as simple as the joy of a great meal with a friend. Reflecting on these experiences during stressful times can help you reframe challenges and boost morale. Sharing your gratitude with others, like sending a thank-you note to a mentor or expressing appreciation to a peer, strengthens relationships and spreads positivity.

7. Limit the Negative Influences in Your Life

Potential stressors are everywhere. Between competitive peers, overwhelming workloads, and negative news cycles, proactively limiting your exposure to negativity is vital for maintaining happiness and mental health.

Social media, for instance, can amplify stress through comparison, unrealistic expectations, or exposure to distressing content. Taking regular breaks from online content, such as a 24-hour digital detox when you’re feeling overwhelmed or limiting screen time to 30 minutes a day, can reduce anxiety and improve focus. Muting or unfollowing accounts that trigger negativity and following feeds with inspiring or educational content can create a healthier online environment and help reset your mood.

In face-to-face situations, it’s essential to establish boundaries with the people in your life who tend to be more negative. Instead, try engaging with peers and professionals who offer a positive outlook and encouragement. Managing who and what you’re exposed to can lower your stress level, protect your emotional well-being, and create space for happiness while dealing with a demanding schedule.

8. Seek Professional Help When Needed

Asking for help when you need it isn’t a weakness; it’s a strength. Maintaining your mental health is as crucial as your stethoscope, and it’s totally normal to need a hand as you navigate your career. In addition, normalizing the need for therapeutic support reduces mental health stigma and encourages everyone to prioritize their well-being, too.

Most universities offer counseling services for medical, nursing, and health professional students, often at no or low cost. These services give confidential support for issues like anxiety, depression, or burnout, with options for individual therapy, group sessions, or crisis intervention. National or campus-specific 24/7 hotlines (988 in the US, 111 in the UK, and a variety of international crisis support services) can offer immediate aid. Online platforms like BetterHelp or Telus provide online counseling and can accommodate busy schedules.

View these resources as helpful tools, and reach out if you feel overwhelmed. Timely intervention can prevent escalation and help sustain long-term happiness and success.

Learn More > How to Choose the Best Therapist for Your Needs

9. Help Yourself By Helping Others: Volunteer and Give Back

Volunteering and helping others have a profound effect on our happiness. Helping others can foster a sense of purpose and connection when you’re feeling lost. Helping others aligns you with your healthcare goals and gives you a warm, fuzzy glow. Not only that, but research shows that altruistic acts increase oxytocin and serotonin levels, enhancing mood and reducing stress.

Joining community clinics and health fairs, mentoring younger students, or donating time to a charity will lift your mood faster than a double espresso. Getting involved with patient support programs or community outreach can remind you why you signed up for a career in healthcare in the first place and help you gain perspective on your own challenges while making a difference. Volunteering won’t cure your sleep deprivation, but it will fill your heart with joy and maybe a few laughs from grateful recipients.

10. Embrace a Positive Mindset

A positive mindset isn’t about ignoring the chaos. It’s about dodging the gloom with a mental shield of optimism. Reframing negative, anxious thoughts like, “I’ll never pass this exam,” and shifting them to, “I’m fully capable of learning this material, and I wouldn’t have made it this far if I couldn’t,” can turn a meltdown into a mic drop moment.

Choosing to focus on the positive can shift your perspective and help build your confidence. Affirmations like “I am capable and resilient” can be used to pump up your self-esteem. Say them to yourself in the mirror, write them in your notes and journal, or whisper them as you fall asleep at night. Use visualization techniques, such as picturing yourself acing a rotation or nailing a patient interaction, to assist with motivation and to limit stress. Remind yourself that you’ve GOT THIS.

While a positive mindset won’t stop a 4 AM panic, it will keep you grinning through the grind. By intentionally cultivating positivity, you can navigate a challenging career more easily, maintaining happiness despite occasional setbacks.

The Benefits of Embracing Happiness Best Practices

In the whirlwind of health professional training, happiness and well-being aren’t luxuries; they’re essential lifelines to help you face ongoing stress, long hours, and emotional trials with resilience. While it may feel strange initially, reframing challenges, using affirmations, and visualizing success don’t just patch up the cracks; they build a sturdy foundation for mental and emotional health. There’s plenty of research to back this up. Positivity lowers stress hormones, boosts prefrontal cortex activity, and enhances emotional regulation, equipping you with a buffer against the genuine risk of burnout.

While no mindset can erase sleepless nights, a positive mindset helps you thrive rather than simply survive. It isn’t about toxic positivity or denying the chaos, but transforming those moments into growth opportunities. A simple shift from “I can’t do this” to “I’m learning, and that’s okay” can spark confidence and comfort, even at 2 AM.

Take some time to weave these practical strategies into your daily life. In doing so, you can transform what may seem like a grueling journey into a life filled with purpose and fulfillment. Ultimately, happiness and positivity extend beyond mere self-care; they’ll provide you with a professional edge, equipping you to heal others while maintaining your own well-being.