HOW TO ACHIEVE HAPPINESS

PSYCHOTHERAPIST OWEN O’KANE REVEALS TO OK! HOW TO STOP BLOCKING OURSELVES FROM FEELING HAPPY

It’s that age old question many of us find ourselves searching for an answer to. How do we achieve happiness in our lives? Owen O’kane is a Sunday Times best-selling psychotherapist and his work has been praised over the years by celebrities, including Sheridan Smith, Joe Wicks, Eamonn Holmes, Ashley Banjo and Saira Khan. Using his 25-years’ experience within the NHS, Owen has identified the key points that can hold us back from happiness and how to overcome them in his new book, Ten Times Happier.

He tells OK!, “We may feel that happiness comes from material things, such as a high paying job or a big home. But when I thought back over my years working with different clients, fame, fortune and background didn’t seem to make a difference. Many of us don’t realise we have a lot more control over how we manage our thoughts and feelings. We weren’t put on this earth to suffer.”

EXAMINE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

“I have a chapter in my book called Hell Is Other People. It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t have difficult people in their lives. A lot of people stay in relationships or friendships that are not healthy, but there’s importance in recognising and evaluating them. As a counter argument, if someone is very difficult to deal with, they are likely to be struggling themselves. We don’t know what someone is going through behind closed doors. But it’s still important to take power back and realise you don’t need to surround yourself with people that are not good for you. The older we get, the more we must understand that some relationships have a sell-by date. We’re changing all the time and it makes sense that our friendships will too. You should never hang on to a relationship that is draining you.”