Find Your Happiness!
We all want to be happy.
We all have our own criteria for what experiences make us happy. It doesn’t matter your age, race, or income - everyone can site their own experiences that make them happy.
So while there might be differences between the lifestyles of happy people, there are many things they share in common, too.
But to think you can go out and pursue, track down or find happiness - it doesn’t exactly work that way.
Common Myths When it Comes to Happiness
Happiness isn’t a thing that can be pursued because it’s not a tangible thing. Happiness is the result of moments, experiences or living life in a particular way. That “way” is different for everyone, but able to be experienced by all.
Part of what makes it hard to find happiness is that so many times we are looking outside of ourselves to find it. Happiness is already inside of you.
It’s not something you need to “find” out in the world and capture. You only need the circumstances and moments that bring you joy to experience it.
THINGS don’t lead to happiness. You can’t buy it at a store or order it on Amazon. Buying things might give you a temporary rush of excitement or pleasure, but the pleasure is temporary and short-lived.
Tips To Find Your Happiness
While there is no surefire way to guarantee you happiness - a couple of guidelines to help make happiness easier to access always helps.
Mind Your Money. While money doesn’t buy happiness - having sufficient financial resources to meet your basic necessities, fund a comfortable lifestyle, and pursue your hobbies and interests. It’s even been well-established that happiness doesn’t increase with income. Studies have shown that once an individual reaches a level of roughly $75,000, their happiness plateaus as income increases after that.
Relationships. Meaningful relationships and interaction with others are important parts of happiness. There are few people that can be truly alone in life and be happy. This is one of the core reasons highly successful people are often miserable. They frequently lack meaningful relationships.
Give of Yourself. We like to feel needed. We like to believe that our existence matters to someone. Volunteering is a simple way to fulfill this need. Caring for a pet is another way to feel needed.
Gratitude. When you have a positive outlook on your future, it’s much easier to experience happiness in your life. Optimistic and hopeful people are more likely to be happy.
Power of Anticipation. Knowing that you’re taking a great vacation in a few months is another type of positive expectation that can increase the level of happiness you feel. What do you have to look forward to in your life?
Momentum with direction. A little progress can unleash a lot of happiness. Even if you still have 100 pounds to lose, losing just three pounds this week feels pretty good. Set a few goals and make progress toward them. You’ll feel great.
Separating yourself from toxic people and situations that bring you down. This is important. Happiness isn’t just about attaining a set of criteria in your life. It’s also about not having negative things in your life that block happiness from shining. Ask yourself what the worst parts of your life are and fix the things you can.
What actions do you plan to take to start creating more happiness in your life? Whatever you choose - start small, simple, and slowly scale. Let me know in the comments below.