Happiness Bottled (even without a Bingo Win!)

Did you know that schools are now offering courses in happiness to ensure shiny, happy, well-rounded young adults – it's actually the most popular course at Harvard! (If only they knew about the great Littlewoods Bingo prizes and games – guaranteed to make you a happy chappy!) But you don't need a higher education qualification to attend this class.

Here's Littlewoods Bingo's six-step programme to achieve an elated state of mind. Because, at the end of the day, it's all about the bingo fun and being happy! You may think that the Littlewoods bingo jackpot is the key to eternal happiness – and yes a bingo cash prize wouldn't be the worst thing in the world - but it's proven that Quantity not Quality unlocks an everlasting smile.

Bingo Tip: Raid the sale racks for some bargains, download you favourite tunes to your ipod (the cheesier the better!), watch one of your favourite films or have a quick game of bingo. Despite the bitter weather, one sure-fire way to cheer up is to Go Au Natural.

Now we're not encouraging you to don the streets in your birthday suit. No, we're telling you to get back to nature. Studies have shown that hospital patients with a natural view, be it of a stretch of lawn, a tree or maybe a pond, have a faster recovery rate than those who just stare at the walls or a TV screen.

Bingo Tip: Ignore the temptation to stay inside. Go for a walk in your lunch hour to clear your head, or sit by a window when you're playing online bingo. Wrap up warm at the weekend and take a stroll around a nearby park or beach. Now it's that time of year where we take a look at everything we don't like about ourselves and resolve to change it all!

The list is endless and usually unrealistic. And if we slip up on any of these, we feel guilty and unhappy. We all have our flaws and it is only natural to use the dawn of a new year as a marking point to change them.

But forget all that now and focus on your strengths. Maybe you're the one people talk to in our online bingo chat rooms when they need to comforting shoulder. Perhaps you've got the knack of tackling a problem head on. Or maybe you've been a really lucky bingo player.

Bingo Tip: Pin down everything that's positive about you and refer to them when you're feeling a bit blue. And if you get stick thinking, ask your bingo chat room friends – bet you a bingo jackpot they'll think of loads!

And this leads us nicely on to step four - Set Challenging yet Appropriate Targets. Believe it or not, we all crave a challenge and we all feel happy when we meet a target. The trick is to find the middle ground between setting testing but achievable goals.

Raise the bar too high and you'll run the risk of falling short; place it too low and the win will feel less creditable.

Bingo Tip: Stick to a predetermined food budget when you do the Friday big shop or do an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill if you're hitting the gym. Doesn't sound much but it'll give you a happy, proud feeling.

The Feng Shui phenomenon may be so last decade but the principle behind it should be alive and kicking so start Sprucing up your Pad! If you think about it, our environments are vital to our wellbeing – otherwise why would we spend so much on exotic holidays?

So your home needs to be a well-equipped haven to help ease your work place trouble, especially during the winter months and drab walls are hardly going to cut it.

Bingo Tip: Have a DIY weekend, stick on some of your favourite songs, arm yourself with a paintbrush and roller and off you go! Light, airy colours are best in winter. If you're not feeling quite this energetic, pop in to good ol' Ikea and brighten up your home with some new knick-knacks and pictures.

And finally, probably the most sensible one of the lot – Remember What Last Made You Happy. If you're feeling a bit fed up, bit down in the dumps remember what it was that last made you smile. A joke, the feeling you got when your bingo numbers are called or a cuddle from a loved one. Hold on to that memory and it'll put a smile back on your face.