By Angelica Ribeiro, PhD

“Should you listen to music more often?” The answer is yes, and here’s why: to create moments of joy. Kelly McGonigal, author of The Joy of Movement, says, “Listening to music that you love is one of the simplest ways to produce joy.” What’s impressive is that the benefits of joy go beyond making you feel good. According to McGonigal, “Joy also affects things like your motivation.

So, when people have a fleeting moment of joy, they

• want to take on the challenges in their lives,
• want to pursue their personal goals, and
• are more willing to take action and exert themselves.

Also, after a moment of joy, people are more likely to be pro-social. So, they are more interested in being good, doing good, and making a difference, and more likely to help people. Joy, basically, makes you the best version of yourself.”

Needless to say, I’ve been listening to music more often to create moments of joy and try to be the best version of myself. What’s one thing you can do to create a moment of joy?

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Angelica Ribeiro is a professor and the author of How to Create Happiness at Work: Seven Evidence-Based Strategies to Enjoy Your Day, Running into Happiness and My Happiness Habit Journal. When Angelica was a PhD student, she found that her academic commitments were throwing off her work-life balance. That experience led her to go through a determined journey to increase happiness in her life. Her happiness journey was so successful that, as she completed the PhD coursework and dissertation, she wrote and published her book and journal to share her experience with others and inspire them to bring more happy feelings into their lives. Visit https://www.creatinghappiness.today