One of the key ingredients in living a happy life is having a positive outlook. When you look at the world around you and see all the negative aspects, it can be hard to see the silver lining.

Yet, many of us continue to live with the daily pain that negativity can cause because we don't realize that there are bright spots that exist. Here are five ways that happy people know how to view the world and keep negativity at bay.

They value the small talk. Everyone loves small talk, and yet too often those who are unable to connect with another person on a personal level find themselves drained and angry.

Instead of listening to the negative comments of others, you need to think about what the other person is saying. While it's important not to take offense when others comment on your appearance or your wardrobe choices, it's equally important to see them as having an opinion. If you truly want to enjoy the happiness that life has to offer you need to make sure you're involved in the small talk of others.

They use humor. Happiness is finding ways to laugh at yourself instead of taking yourself too seriously. If you're unable to laugh at yourself because you have a hard time making yourself laugh, then you will be unable to effectively deal with negativity in your life. Instead of using humor to make happy-based decisions, you need to use humor to overcome negativity.

They set goals. Positive people set goals so they have something to strive for. If you're not happy with where you are financially or have financial difficulties, you may find yourself seeking out help.

While it's important to strive for personal growth, it's even more important to set goals to improve the way you feel about yourself. In fact, it's essential that you have a goal in place so that you can get back up and continue to fight off negativity.

They are willing to work for happiness. Although it seems simple to choose to be happy, many of us don't choose to. Instead, we allow negativity to pile up around us and begin to undermine our happiness.

To truly be happy you have to be willing to work for it. This means that if you have issues with your job that you feel is impacting your life negatively, you need to take action in order to make yourself happy again.

They understand their fears. Everyone is scared at some point in time, but not all fear is negative. Many people who are able to face their fears and do great deals with their fears actually achieve more success in life. Therefore, you must learn how to manage your fear in order to be happy people.

They spend money on happiness. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck and find that our finances can often get in the way of being happy. However, you must understand that the more you invest in yourself, the happier you will be.

Therefore, if you are willing to invest a few hundred dollars every month towards your happiness, you will definitely find that you are happier than you ever imagined possible.

They set lofty goals for themselves. One of the biggest reasons why happy people are successful is because they have clear goals that they work towards on a daily basis.

Without having any goals or plans of attack, you find that you are often left on your own to try and figure out what it is that you want to accomplish. Therefore, it is very important that you have a clearly defined end goal that you are going to work towards every day. Once you have this you will be much happier because you won't ever feel like you're working in vain!