Tag: happiness

Success, money, and fame

“I’d rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” – Sophocles

Don’t trade your integrity for fame, money, or “success.” Those things come and go, but you’ll always have to live with your decisions. Outward success does not mean you’ll feel inward contentment. It may take longer, but if you live in a way where your actions align with your values, you’ll end up happier without sacrificing your honor or time with loved ones. And, to me, that is a truer measure of success than only counting fame or money.

Labeling

Avoid tying your identity to a group or characteristic. Stop labeling yourself. For example, do not view yourself as smart. This will get you in trouble eventually. If say you are smart, or let other people’s kind words influence your opinion of yourself, you could fall into the trap of viewing your decisions as always being right and be close-minded to others’ suggestions.

On the flip side, don’t label yourself as your feelings either. Instead of “I’m depressed,” you should say, “I feel sad right now because X.” It is important to understand that you are not what you feel. Your feelings fluctuate throughout the day – they are temporary, but if you dwell on the bad and tell yourself that is who you are, your mind will work hard to keep you in that rut.

Lastly, do not identify yourself with a political party. Why should you have to choose between labeling yourself as a Republican or Democrat? Shouldn’t you come up with ideas and solutions on your own instead of having answers fed to you? Don’t follow the herd and just say or do whatever a party leader says. You don’t need to have an us versus them mindset. Instead, try aiming for a more inclusive mindset. How can you include more people in your life and improve their lives? Don’t follow others blindly. You can take the best from one person’s/group’s opinions and merge it with the best from another to develop your own guidelines. Make sure that what you say and do aligns with your core values – who you are and who you want to be as a person.

Hobbies and interests

Have healthy hobbies that energize you. It is healthy to have interests that are different than your profession, but it is also healthy to be interested in your profession. If you don’t like what you do, good luck not burning out working 40+ hours per week for the next 20+ years of your life. But if you are consistently looking forward to doing something for your personal and professional growth, if you have hobbies that you enjoy doing and people you can share that excitement with, you’ll last much longer in whatever field you choose.

The Golden Rule

“But to you who are listening I say: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…Do to others as you would have them do to you.’” Luke 6: 27-31

This is The Golden Rule, taken straight out of the Bible. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Treat others the way you want to be treated. And in today’s world, where everything is politicized and people who have opposite opinions than you are considered “evil,” the best thing we can do for each other is to treat others how we would want to be treated – with kindness, compassion, and understanding.

It’s ok if someone believes something different than you. And instead of trying to shut down anyone who has ever made a mistake (which is everyone, including you), try forgiving them. It’s time to stop being deliberately disrespectful to others (we see this online the most, where everyone is a “tough guy”). Maybe try showing a little compassion for a change? Instead of refusing to listen to different viewpoints, try listening to opposing thoughts – actually listening, not just waiting for your turn to yell at them for not thinking the same way you do.

If you can be more kind, compassionate, and generous, all without the expectation of anything in return, the world will be a better place for it.

The weekend

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

No matter what happened yesterday, no matter what you did or didn’t do, today is a new day. Don’t dwell on the past. You can’t change what happened last week, but today you have a new opportunity to do what you need to do.

I agree with Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote above. Each day brings you new opportunities to reset. But there’s something different about the weekend. It feels easier to hit the reset button because you’re able to take a breath and take a step back from work. Now that it is the weekend, try doing things that you don’t have as much time to do on a typical weekday. Weekends don’t mean you should just sit around and do nothing. You get an extra 8 hours per day back (more if you count the drive time) since you’re not going into work! Take advantage of it. Go work out, read a good book, clean the house, meal prep for the week, start on the project that you’ve been meaning to…Sure, you can still catch up on a show or two, but try to improve yourself. Now is when you have the time and the strength (mentally and physically) to follow through with your ideas. Don’t waste it.