Tag: happiness

Decide. Commit. Figure out.

Decide what you want. What gets you excited? What do you dream about or wish you had more time to do?

Commit to achieving that goal. Say it out loud, write it down, and task someone to hold you accountable.

Figure out how to do it. You know what you want the end result to look like, so how do you get there? What milestones do you have to hit along the way? Figure out what it looks like by breaking it down into simple goals (in order to do that, I need to do this).

Lastly, change your mindset. Be positive and think big. If you really want something, don’t let anything stop you from getting it as long as you keep your morals.

Consumption

Consume less, save more. This will help not only with your financial success but with your happiness and with helping to protect the earth.

Instead of mindlessly spending money on things that sometimes bring fleeting happiness, take some time to think about what you’re buying and why you’re buying it. Get rid of subscriptions if you don’t use them. Get out of habit spending and avoid lifestyle creep when you can. This will help you financially, but it will also allow you to enjoy things more as they come into your life. Your life will be less cluttered and, therefore, allow you to see clearly. And when you have more money in your bank account, you can spend money on things you’re actually excited about or give money to charities/causes you believe in. Lastly, if you buy less products/live a minimalist lifestyle, you’ll contribute less to the wasting of resources and the increased pollution of the earth.

Hardship

“A happy life exists not in the absence of hardships, but in the mastery of them.” – Helen Keller

What better feeling than facing a challenge and overcoming it? If you don’t know the taste of defeat, how much can you really enjoy victory? Of course, I’d rather win than lose, but it’s because I’ve lost before that winning means so much. When Michael Jordan finally defeated the Pistons, after years of them beating him, do you think that meant a lot more than winning any other playoff series?

Do not avoid facing challenges. Don’t run away from them. Often, they are what you need to do the most. And even if you do not accomplish everything you set out to do, it will bring you more happiness knowing that you tried to do something about it rather than wondering “what if…”

10 tips to happiness

10 tips to happiness:

1. Spend time by yourself in solitude (preferably outside). Get away from the noise, even if for only 10 minutes per day.

2. Always be learning. Just because you’re out of school doesn’t mean you should stop learning. In fact, now you can learn about subjects of your choosing! Pick something that interests you and dig in.

3. Give (volunteer time, money, material items/goods, or advice). We are meant to be part of a community or tribe. Don’t only live for yourself. That’s lonely. Live to help others – family, friends, and strangers.

4. Do something hard everyday. Try challenging yourself and overcoming obstacles. Go work out, build something with your hands, read a novel that makes you think, plant a garden…the bigger the hurdle, the bigger your reward when you overcome it.

5. Live/act in alignment with your morals…do what is right, even when it’s tough and even when nobody else is looking. Do not boast about this. You are doing what you’re supposed to do. Don’t do it for the reward of other people’s approval. This also involves “tough love.” Doing or saying what needs to be done or said for the betterment of that individual, even if it means telling them what they don’t want to hear.

6. Treat others with kindness, regardless of their status or what they can “give” to you. Think of “The Golden Rule.”

7. Do not attribute malice to what could be ignorance. Especially in today’s world, where it seems we assume anyone with a different opinion than ours is evil, maybe they just don’t know what they don’t know. Maybe they don’t have the life experience you have. They may be blind to certain situations because they haven’t seen it first hand. And guess what? The same can be said about you. You’re not an all-knowing, perfect, empathetic individual. And hopefully as you go through life you figure some new things out and change your opinions from time to time. It’s not flip-flopping. It’s growing.

8. Avoid comparing yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy. Be happy with what you have.

9. Care about/for something. If you have interests/hobbies, you will have something to look forward to. If you have to take care of something (like a pet, child, or parent) or if you have a cause you believe in, then you will find purpose in life.

10. Smile…it will make you feel better and it will make others feel better. Smiling is contagious. Try to spread it.

Striving for more

“You’re really good where you are, but you’re way to good to stay there.” – Tom Ferry

Be happy with what you have, but always strive for more. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more, for wishing for a “better” life, but remember that your life is already really good!

Try to find the positive in any situation. Don’t make the mistake thinking that you’ll be happier when you have “X” or when “Y” happens. You can (and should) be happy now, and enjoy the process of trying to get whatever else you are striving for.