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I don't believe in New Years' resolutions. They just seem so wussified, you know? Only lazy guys wait until a predetermined time to take initiative, change habits, or start something new. And the funny thing is, people who make these resolutions rarely stick to them. Hell, it's already mid-January and I'm willing to bet more than half of the people who've set their New Year's Resolutions have already given up.

What a waste of time. What a waste of life.

So instead of setting meaningless goals at the beginning of each year, I like to go back and think about what I've learned and what I plan on doing the following year. And unlike the physical counterpart, this mental masturbation actually leaves me feeling satisfied and not like a loser

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My co-workers think I'm insane.

In the past month, the Northeast has been assaulted by snow, ice, and bitter cold. Doesn't matter-I am compelled to hike. A nearby wildlife refuge, with its forest, hills, and river, feeds my compulsion.

While everyone else heads to the cafeteria for lunch, I pull on snow pants, heavy socks, thermal mittens, and hiking boots. I zip my ski shell and smear Vaseline on my nose and cheeks so I won't get frost bite.

I trudge into the woods, endure fifteen minutes of biting wind and wonder if maybe I am insane. The endorphins suddenly kick in, with an avalance of body heat. I rip off as many layers as I can without getting arrested. Skin stinging, heart pounding, I breathe freedom.

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As an experimental social psychologist who has been doing research on happiness for 20 years, I can say with confidence that lasting happiness is attainable, if you are prepared to do the work. Much like with permanent weight loss and fitness, becoming lastingly happier demands making some permanent changes, requiring effort and commitment every day of your life.

How precisely can one go about doing this? Allow me to describe some of the happiness-increasing strategies that researchers have studied and concluded to be most successful. This list won't make any of you spill your evening tea, but take note that all the strategies have been supported by empirical research. (They are discussed in a lot more detail in The How of Happiness.) Also, as I argue in the book, you do not need to attempt the entire list of happiness activities, but should choose to focus only on the 1 to 4 strategies that "fit" you best - the ones that seem most natural and enjoyable to you