I hope my article Be Happy 5 Easy Tips has been helpful to you. You may now like to try some more of my suggestions for improving your mood - they have come from many sources and have helped me at various times.

1. Give yourself regular small treats: what are the little things that give you pleasure? It may be reading a glossy magazine, sipping a cup of coffee, playing with your dog, walking in the countryside, taking a long bubble bath, chatting to a friend. Notice all the little things that please you and make sure you do several every day.

2. Face up to your problems and take action: just letting a problem rumble away in the background and trying not to think about it takes a huge amount of energy and makes you miserable. Acknowledging there is a problem and thinking of ways to deal with it will improve your confidence and self-esteem straightaway.

3. Be grateful for what you already have: it is human nature to believe that other people are happier and perhaps to envy their good fortune. But you cannot know the reality of their lives I once heard someone say If you are feeling envious, you obviously arent in full possession of the facts. What a wise observation. You are, however, in full possession of the facts about your own life, so start feeling gratitude for what you do have - your health, your friends, your children, your great legs, your ability in sport, art or work.

4. Take a look on the bright side: the saying about the glass being half-empty or half-full really is true. It all depends on your own perception of the situation. I once met a woman who delighted me immediately with her love of life and interest in others. It was not until years afterwards that I learnt I had met her only weeks after her husband died and her son were killed on the same day. I resolved I would try to be as positive as she was and never let lifes trials drag me down.

5. Read uplifting books and listen to positive music: reading a few pages of your favourite spiritual books or about the lives of those who have achieved great things will inspire you, and reassure you that others have also suffered and risen above it. Start to pay attention to the lyrics of your favourite music. Do you find yourself singing words like Why does it always rain on me? over and over again? Is that the message you really want to be absorbing? Scientists have proved that Mozarts music has all kinds of positive effects on the brain see what effect it has on you!

Andy Britnell

Andy Britnell has worked as a professional musician, a cheesemonger and in hotels, including Claridges and the Savoy in London. He spent 15 years with BT, latterly designing and delivering international management, sales and graduate development programmes. He now lives in Cornwall, UK, where as well as enjoying the surf and the coastal footpath, he runs a training and coaching practice specialising in sales, customer service and personal development training for the private and public sectors. He is an accredited coach and trainer of the Insights Discovery System which is a model based on the pioneering personality profiling work of Carl Jung. Using colour as a common language for better understanding of self and others, it helps people operate and communicate more effectively. Andy gains great satisfaction from helping his clients to grow and learn, and from the rapid progress they make in their business and personal lives. He works constantly on his own development and practises Ki Aikido, the ancient Japanese art of working with energy.