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Article snippet: Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter. Editor Tim Herrera emails readers once a week with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Monday morning. Are you happy? It’s a question we might ask ourselves here and there when something great (or awful) happens to us. But think about it in a general sense: When was the last time you evaluated your overall happiness and satisfaction with life? There are so many factors to consider when answering that question that it can feel overwhelming or, even worse, become yet another stressor weighing on your happiness. But it’s a topic that’s ripe for introspection, so we’ve put together the official New York Times guide on how to be happy. In it you’ll find guidance ranging from tips for conquering negative thinking to assessing the effect of marriage on your happiness. But today we’re going to focus on the four things you can do right now(ish) to improve your happiness. Because you deserve it, friends. Humans have evolved to focus on the negative. If we overlearn a bad situation, we’re more inclined to avoid those situations in the future or react more quickly, writes Tara Parker-Pope in our happiness guide. But, as we all know, that isn’t always helpful in a modern world. When something bad happens, we tend to overanalyze and have trouble getting our mind off it. The trick to avoiding those spirals and rabbit holes of misery is to acknowledge and challenge our neg... Link to the full article to read more