7 Steps That May Dramatically Boost Your Happiness
You’ve probably read countless articles that promise you better happiness, only to be disappointed. I know what it’s like to not get exactly what you’re looking for from an article.
When I was reading a lot of personal development articles and books, I was looking for a magic bullet that would somehow infuse my life with happiness. However, it wasn’t until I realized that I alone had to take responsibility that I started seeing dramatic results from the simplest of tips.
The tips in this article are common-sense, practical, and simple. They won’t magically do anything, because the magic lies within you. When you take responsibility, the tips and tools you have don’t matter, because it is you who decide how they impact your life.
- Be Here, Now
Most people are stuck in either the past or the future; recalling bad memories, or imagining bad things happening in the future. The good news about the past is that it’s over. And the future? Well, it isn’t here yet, is it?
By being in the here and now, you will be more aware of what’s going on (obviously), and you will be feeling much happier as you return your awareness to your body. And yes, that means even when you’re feeling bad. It’s crucial to stay aware when you’re feeling bad. What most people try to do is drown their feelings by eating, drinking, smoking, and so on.
It doesn’t help.
- Cherish Your Relationships
Imagine going to the end of your life. If you somehow could imagine the last 24 hours of your life, think about what would be important to you at that point in time. Is it money? Is it appreciating the fact you worked 30 years at a job you despised? Or is it the people around you, and the experiences you’ve had?
When I did this, I realized that what was important were the relationships and connections I have with the people around me. What you do and accomplish is fine, but that too shall pass.
Remember to keep your priorities in check. Discover what is truly important in your life, and it will dramatically increase your happiness, because you will have what most people lack—focus.
- Kindness
Remember an experience when either you gave something to someone or received something. It feels good, doesn’t it? It feels good to give, and it feels good to receive.
Kindness can be tough at first if you haven’t practiced giving, but as you become more comfortable with giving and helping, you’ll come to like it.
There are a lot of different sources that say that what you give comes back to you. The more you give, the more you receive. I’ve certainly found that to be true in my life. Whether or not it’s true for you is up to you to discover.
- Personal Growth
I began my personal growth journey at the young age of 16. I started with lucid dreaming, and followed the clues from there.
You’ve probably bumped into personal growth books, audios, and even videos. Some of them have been tremendous, while others have been let downs. The real secret is to keep going until you find something that resonates with you, because when you do that, your life will begin to change. The only problem is that sometimes it may take a while, and you might run into frustrations, and begin to wonder if all of his personal growth stuff is really worth bothering with.
And believe me, it is.
- See Through Goals
The goals you set should keep you flexible, and not give you tunnel vision. You see, when you set goals, it’s good to be specific, but you also want to be open to all the possibilities around you. You never know where you will have a breakthrough, or where that one idea will come from that changes everything.
You just never know.
And when you’re not as attached to your goals, you will feel freer, and naturally this will lead to more happiness, which in turn will increase chances of your success.
- Embrace Death
You can die at any moment.
A scary thought, isn’t it?
It helps you stay focused on what is important. It also has the tendency to completely melt away your fears. What is it that you really want to do with your life? What are some of the excuses, fears, and obstacles that are stopping you from doing that? And how do you think you can overcome those and start moving toward what it is that your heart truly wants?
If you answer the above questions seriously, you may just find yourself strangely motivated to start taking action. There’s nothing like following your heart when it comes to feeling happy and joyful.
- Follow Your Heart
And that brings us to the last point. Most people are out of touch with their emotions and particularly with their hearts. We’ve been conditioned to be logical and to have everything make perfect sense. The only problem is that life doesn’t really make sense all the time (or most of the time?)
And some of the greatest opportunities and adventures of life are not discovered by logic, but by following your gut and your intuition.
When you consider deep down what it is that brings you happiness, and go after that, you will notice that your life changes in accordance.
Now, you don’t have to change your whole life all at once, because if you begin with only one step today, you will be surprised at how far you can go, and how happy you will feel.
What are you waiting for?
You’re not supposed to have an answer to that question, you know?
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Written on 8/07/2011 by Henri Junttila. Henri writes at Wake Up Cloud, where he shares his personal tips on how you can live the life you know you deserve. When you feel ready to take action, get his free course: Find Your Passion in 5 Days or Less. And if you liked this article, you will enjoy one of his top articles: 77 Great Quotes That Will Change Your Life. | Photo Credit: goaliej54 |
