What is the best way to achieve happiness?

While there are several ways people define happiness and how to achieve it. Its been my experience in general for most people that the following statement applies (I have no idea who originally wrote it).

"Happiness is achieved when a person is making progress on achieving a personal dream or goal of theirs."

I've seen that statement to be true many many times in my life.

So what are your dreams in life and what are your goals?

Develop a plan to achieve one of those... and get started.

Big goals that tend to take a good long time tend to make people happier while they are achieving them.

Not saying that a short term goal (winning a game) does not make people happy. Both do; but the longest and most memorable happiness is from goals that take real effort and time to achieve.

Example: I have been numerous times a race official at a local race where beginners to moderately experienced people enter. That has made me happy for a short period of time.

I have been an Official in the same sport at the Olympics and 2 World Championships... which took me many years of efforts at becoming a good official in that sport and years of time and money to volunteer at higher level (including international level) races across the USA where only really experienced and good racers entered - not to mention the best in the world. In the end I volunteered in that sport as an official for 3 decades (judging/officiating 29 of 30 years as I had medical issues one year). I also trained the next generation of judges and officials that took over after I peaked out. That level of achievement has made me far more happier and for a longer time than just working a local race.

I now see the same thing with people building successful businesses (which takes multiple years of efforts: and of course many people drop out along the way).

I wish you well on this...

Doing what makes you happy, and not just following what society tells you you need to be happy.

Use plenty of lube.

Accept yourself as you are but never stop learning to improve.

Having a goal and completing it.

For temporary happiness: Do whatever you feel like doing. Live in the moment but be prepared to face any consequences that may come your way.

For long term happiness: Do what is necessary to achieve a goal you seek to accomplish, but be prepared to suffer in the short term.

The best form of happiness to find find a mixture of both.

Find a purpose, look after yourself physically, focus on a few genuine connections rather than being liked by everyone and generally expect less to minimise disappointment.

Building an intimate emotional relationship with yourself.
Healing.
Practicing gratitude.

Enjoy the simple things in life.

Doing what you want.

Drugz.

Doing a hobby you enjoy

In my experience, gratitude and having a positive mindset/attitude. I know it sounds cliché, but these two things have been essential for my happiness.

Even when I'm not having the best day, I like to stop and think about everything that is still going right in my life and all that I'm blessed with. There are so many things, especially the things we take for granted every day, like our family and friends, having a roof over our heads, food and clean drinking water, etc. Just knowing that there are people out there who don't know when their next meal will be, or are dealing with tremendous loss/tragedy, etc. really puts things into perspective about how grateful I should be for the life I have, even when it seems like things keep going wrong. This, of course, doesn't mean that I don't process my anger, grief, sadness, etc. during hard times in my life, but it helps me stay happy most of the time and not allow small things to have such a hold over my attitude and my day (which I have struggled with for years as a naturally negative thinker, but have really been working hard to reframe my thinking into a more positive outlook).

I've also realized that for the most part, my attitude is my choice. We all have days where we're not feeling our best or we have things going on in our lives that are really bothering us and we do need to process those things, but most days, whether I decide to be in a good mood or not is ultimately up to me. I can choose to go to work thinking about how much I don't want to be there and how much everything sucks, or I can choose to be thankful and count my blessings, and choose to see the good side of things, and to be friendly to my coworkers and our customers, which typically results in a much better atmosphere, and therefore a much better day for me. My late grandmother always came to work in a good mood, and when questioned about why she was so happy to be there, said something along the lines of, "If I have to be here, I'd might as well be happy". I'm sure that's not verbatim, but essentially she was saying that she had the choice to control her mood, and made the best of her situation. Unfortunately, this is something that is very hard, and especially so for those with depression/mood disorders, but it is so worth it to at least remind yourself of some positive things in your life every day until it starts becoming a habit. That is how I have done it!

I have found that there are a lot of things in my life that are in my control, and my ability to change those for the better also brings a lot of happiness. They may not be easy, but they're possible! From what I've seen, a lot of very unhappy people seem to think they have limited to no control over their lives and just kind of let things happen rather than taking control of their lives. Obviously not everything in our lives is in our control, but there are so many things that are, or at least can be improved upon.

Freedom and purpose

Buy a sportbike and you will know what happiness actually is! And plz plz dont put those stupid loud exhausts.

Try doing something you actually enjoy and good at. Drawing always keeps me sane, for instance.

Don't look for it, and don't be dismayed if you never achieve it. It happens as an indirect consequence of other things, and cannot be an end of itself. Just do those other things and don't think about it too hard and you might find it.