Every year, it is on everyone’s resolution list to become a nicer person. Who wouldn’t want to be, right? This trait comes naturally for other people but for a select few, being sugar and spice and everything nice takes a bit of practice. Since not everyone has the cheery disposition of Mary Poppins, here are ten ways to become a nicer person:
1. Have more patience.
When the person in front of you is taking too long to order, have patience. When the old lady trying to cross the street still hasn’t gotten to the other side, have patience. When you’re waiting in a cramped and musty room for your appointment, have patience.
The first step to becoming a nicer person is to embody patience. Being patient enables you to think before saying and to reflect before taking action. If you are not a naturally patient person, try counting to ten when you feel like you are hitting a short fuse, it might just change your day.
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2. Learn to understand others.
A nice person is not a judgmental person. Always place yourself in another person’s shoes. Try to see the situation from their perspective. This will help you to stay away from judging other people quickly.
Always remember that you see the world only through your own eyes. You do not know what other people’s intentions are. When you learn to understand where other people are coming from, it does not only make you a nice person but a compassionate one too.
3. Open up to different people.
Being more open to different people does not mean sharing your secrets with the world. This means that when you meet other people, you should shed away your prejudice and embrace them with no reservations. Every person is a closed book that you are about to open and learn.
When you open up to different people, you will be exposed to other knowledge or culture that you may not have known before. With these newfound experiences, you will be able to apply these learned traditions when you travel to different parts of the world. Remember, a nice person is a respectful person.
4. Try to do a good deed every day.
There is already so much pain and suffering in this world, why would anyone add more to it, right? People are not saints, but it does not hurt to try and do a good deed every day. To be a nicer person, try infusing this simple activity into your daily lifestyle.
You do not need to donate millions of cash to a charity for this exercise. You do not need to find the cure for cancer in order for it to be called a good deed. All good deeds, whether big or small, are counted. Whether it’s helping an old lady with her groceries or helping your brother with homework, a nice person will always try to do good all the time.
5. Avoid toxicity
Learn to avoid toxicity. Toxicity means toxic people and relationships. This can be a manipulative co-worker, a bad-mouthed friend, or even an overbearing relative. Toxic people are all around you and your relationships with them are as bad as they are. Learn to identify these people.
Toxicity drags you in and drowns you. If it’s your friend who is only the toxic person now, wait a while and you might just find yourself doing the same things. Nice people are not toxic people, so in order to be a nicer person, you have to know the poison intoxicating and influencing your life and you cut those connections off.
ALSO READ: 11 Ways to Deal with Toxic People in Your Life
6. Don’t be a bully.
Nice people are not bullies, so do not be a bully! But even if you do not consider yourself a bully, you might find yourself doing things a bully does. Do you belittle your friend? Do you take advantage of another person’s weakness? Do you laugh when a person humiliates him or herself? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you should reflect on your actions more.
If you have been a bully in the past, try your best not to bring it to your present. People are capable of change. Believe in yourself that you can be a nicer person and that you can always do better.
7. Be more caring.
A nice person is a caring person. Try not to put those tall walls around you and please do not shut other people out. To be a nice person is to be a vulnerable person. When you care for other people, you put yourself and your emotions at risk. But it is all worth it, especially for the ones you love.
Caring for other people is a whole new level of niceness. There is a different kind of commitment to this kind of devotion. A caring person is not only a nice person but also someone with a big heart.
8. Remove your own negativity.
Look within yourself and remove all the negativity from your mind and soul. Resist the urge to shout at that slow driver. Do not mock people who speak differently from you. Lose your privileged sense of living. To be a nice person means to erase those bad things in your heart.
Try to have a pure soul. It may sound impossible but it is not. By removing the negativity, you are already purifying yourself from the negativity and toxicity you carry. Learn to let go of those weights and allow yourself to fly and be a renewed person.
9. Pour your energy.
Do you feel like you haven’t done enough? Then try to place your energy into good use. Nice people contribute all they can and all they have for the betterment of society. You can do this by volunteering at shelters, donating goods to organizations for the homeless, or helping underpaid workers get their justice.
The point of this is that you are using your energy for the greater good. In order to become a nicer person, you must be able to put the needs of the many before the needs of one. Pour those positive energies you have into good works.
10. Share your happiness.
The last step to becoming a nicer person is to share your happiness. Share what you have and what you can. When you infect people with your happiness, you do not only feel good about it but you help people have a better outlook in life.
Surely there are times when you don’t feel happy about the position you are in, but nice people will always look at the brighter side of life and feel grateful.
There are two major things to remember in order to become a nicer person. One is to have more patience and two is to have a bigger heart. Always remember these core values when you journey through your life, meet other people, and have all kinds of experiences. Now that you have read this, that is one more thing to check off your resolution’s list.
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