The secret to happiness? Scientists reveal the four simple steps

What would it take for you to be truly happy?

Forget money, health and success. According to one group of scientists, what you really need is a four-step, 10-week program that changes your mindset.

Created by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the program uses a series of exercises that they say helps train people's minds into choosing happiness.

Dr Amit Sood, who led the research, says 40 to 50 per cent of your happiness depends on the choices you make and where you place your focus each day.

'You can choose to live focusing on what is right and beautiful in your life,' said Dr Sood who is the author of a new book, 'The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness: A Four-Step Plan for Resilient Living.

'Happiness is a habit,' he added. 'Some of us are born with it; others have to choose it.'

Previous research has shown that our minds are hard-wired to focus on negative experiences.

For our ancestors, this helped keep them stay alive, providing an evolutionary advantage in the face of danger.

More