Life is a journey we all have to get through, so why not make it a little bit easier? There are many things we do that inhibit our own happiness and sometimes, the happiness of others. By adhering to just a few lessons, you can learn how to be happy in yourself. You can live life to the fullest, experiencing everything that you can, in the best way possible!
How to be Happy in Yourself in 17 Steps
1. Find Your Passion
Don’t waste your life doing something just because it pats the bills. Find what your true passion is and what changes you can make to turn it into a career. Life shouldn’t be about slaving away at something you hate. If your job is something you love, you’ll never really ‘work’ a day for the rest of your life.
2. Learn Something New Everyday
Life is a journey of learning. Try to learn something new every day, even if it’s as simple as looking up the capital of a country, or watching a video on learning a basic knew skill. Just make sure you’re taking in some new information every day and you’ll be surprised at how fast it builds up.
3. Interact With People In Person
Connections are made face-to-face, stop living your life through a screen. The best memories we have with people are when we get to spend physical time with them, not through messaging. It also cuts down on the number of misunderstandings you’ll experience, it’s much easier to read someone in person, and all too common for someone to find meaning in a message or email that was meant to come across completely differently.
4. Laugh at yourself
5. Is this really a big a deal?
If you find yourself panicking over a situation, stop and ask yourself – “Is this really such a big deal?” “Will I even remember this next year?”. The chances are that you won’t, and getting worked up over something doesn’t change it, in fact, it only limits your ability to apply rational thought to it and solve the problem.
6. Appreciate The People In Your Life
7. Don’t Waste Time With People Who Aren’t Good For You
Following on from the previous point, if someone doesn’t love and support you, or even makes your life a little bit tougher, then why are you wasting time with them? It may sound harsh but relationships should leave both parties happy and better because of knowing each other. If you’re not feeling it, then it’s time to cut ties.
8. Don’t Live In Debt
By living in debt, you really are tying yourself down and increasing the pressure that’s in your life. Live within your means and if you want something, make sure you have the money from it. Otherwise, ask yourself, do you really need this? Is it worth getting into a ton of debt for and stopping you from doing certain things in the future?
9. Travel As Much As You Can
Go as often as you can and as far as you can. Even if it’s only a couple of hours away, getting to go somewhere new and exploring is invigorating. Go and see other countries, meet different kinds of people, try different foods and experience other culture. This is truly living and gives you a great perspective on what matters in the world.
10. Don’t Let Mistakes Hold You Back
Never let a previous mistake or failure hold you back. Instead, learn from them and let go. No one gets through life without tripping up at some point, it only makes you stronger. You’ve heard it a million times but you truly will regret the opportunities you didn’t take, rather than the times you did try and it didn’t work out.
11. Stop Trying To Make Everyone Happy
That’s impossible. You need to make sure you’re happy and as long as you treat people respectfully and with compassion, then it’s absolutely fine to say ‘No’.
12. Don’t Be Judgemental
13. Collect Memories, Not Things
Think about it. When you’re lying on your death bed, would you be happier that you accumulated a lot of ‘Stuff’, or that you lived your life in a way that you experienced everything you could? That you met awesome people along the way and weren’t afraid to try new things?
14. Form An Opinion and Learn To Respect Others
Don’t be afraid to form your own opinion on something and to express it. However, you should also be respectful of other people’s opinions. It’s perfectly acceptable to have a friendly debate with someone, you both end up learning a lot more! But it’s not acceptable to force your opinion on someone and not give them a chance to explain theirs.
15. Don’t Put Things Off
Even small things, putting things off can be extremely de-motivating. When something crops up that you have to do, plan when you’re going to do it and stick to it. This makes you far more reliable, avoids the anxiety that comes with letting things build up and also gives you a strong feeling of accomplishment.
16. Your Body Is A Temple
Your mind and soul are important too but your body has to get you through the years so make sure you’re taking the best care of it. Exercise, eat healthily and don’t put it under too much stress. Being healthy is a wonderful feeling and it allows you to accomplish a lot more than you could if you were;t keeping in shape.
17. Be Grateful
Always take time to think of all those things in your life that you are grateful for. People, your health, the opportunities you have. Being grateful keeps you grounded and gives you a swift kick up the bum on the days you start feeling a little sorry for yourself.