The 30 Life Changing and Magical Ways to be Happy in Life
I wrote The 25 Life Changing and Magical Ways to be Grateful in Life because we are so busy with our work and personal lives that we need to think about what is really important in life. Being grateful and practising gratefulness is key to changing a negative life into a happy one. It is your self-awareness of the gifts, beautiful moments, privilege and also luck in life that turns negative thinking into positive thinking. I also believe that experiencing positive emotions like gratitude and compassion decrease our craving for immediate pleasure and make us treasure the future more. Daily thoughts on how grateful you are for daily hot water, electricity and nourishing food can delay your cravings for immediate gratification and help plan for the future.
I also run My Life Changes which focuses on helping clients define their 5 core personal values and develop those values to be their moral compass for a happy and successful life. Some of my core personal values are Health, Friendship and Gratefulness. I would love for you to give it a try. Now for 30 life changing and magical ways to be happy in life.
- Are you happy with the life you are leading? External factors such as material objects and money bring a sense of satisfaction and success but is your inner state satisfied? When you are regularly grateful for your well-being, this reinforces your sense of comfort, joy and even awe with life. We are simply happy to be happy. That is grows into daily bliss.
- Joy can be viewed as seeing our favorite team win, laughing with a good friend or walking your dog in the forest. How about a constant inner joy? A joy that aligns us with your friends, work, community and the universe? A joy of throwing open the curtains each day and celebrating being on this planet together. Feeling grateful is the foundation of joy and bridges the gap between us and the world. Each day we should bring out our joy and remove our negative thinking. We owe it to ourselves.
- Take a piece of paper and write down all the times you feel happy. They may be as simple like taking a hot shower or playing with your child. Now make the list your top 20 times you feel happy. Review that list each day. Replace negative thinking with positive.
- More time, more money, less stress, less debt, less anxiety, more freedom. It all sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Our extra possessions are not making us happy. Sadly they can take us away from the things that do. Once we let go of the things that don’t matter, we are free to pursue all the things that really do matter. Get rid of your baggage, lose your debt, and experience freedom.
- Good health is a core value to happiness. I exercise each day at least 30-45 minutes on the treadmill and elliptical machines while watching Netflix. Happiness is being pain and disease free. A healthy beggar is happier than an ailing CEO.
- Another core happiness value is being with positive friends, family members, and romantic partners that have our backs. We all want to feel we belong and are liked. Having a social support network not only makes us accountable to others we respect, we like friends that share the same adventures and moments of joy. With my friends we talk about music that affects us, we share dinners, relax at the cottage and even soak in the spa and smoke the occasional cigar. Happiness is sharing moments and memories with friends.
- Many very successful and happy people have some form of daily mindfulness or meditation practice. Meditation or mindfulness promotes quieting of the mind, focus, self-awareness, stress reduction and anxiety reduction. We begin to see the world for what it is, not as we expect it to be, how we want it to be.
- Happiness is a made bed. I make my bed every day. No matter how bad my day is, I know I’ve accomplished and controlled one thing today. I am in control!
- Happy people realize that we all share the same planet and are all connected in some way.
- Becoming aware of the miracle of our existence is something that can beautify any moment. It is estimated that the chance of our existence are 400 Trillion to 1. Why waste this chance we are given.
- Laughter is one of those happy times when we lose control with friends or family and allow ourselves to let go and look silly; sometimes with tears streaming down our faces. My best and happiest friendships are bursting with laughter.
- Be happy you were born in this era, in a country that promotes freedom, and with parents that supported you throughout your life. Your happiness is also affected by your genes, environment, education and just plain luck. What if you were born being an Egyptian slave or into terrible poverty and hunger? Instead of comparing yourself to the neighbour next door that bought a Porsche, just be happy for how lucky you are compared to the millions throughout history that weren’t as lucky. Warren Buffett admits he’d never have made it during the Stone Ages because he would have been some animal’s lunch with his slow speed and inability to climb trees.
- A core value promoting happiness is finding a purpose in life. My 91 year old father’s purpose is taking care of his cat Peanut. He finds purpose in brushing and feeding his beloved pet. It matters to him. Some of my friends drive older or incapacitated people to important appointments. They have found purpose in helping others. I find purpose in writing these articles and promoting inner happiness.
- Instead of thinking about all the things you don’t have, consider how much you would miss the things you do have, if you didn’t have them any longer. Picture yourself for a minute with no arms or legs. Now be happy and thankful for having them.
- Navy Seals do something very simple to keep going when the going gets tough. They practice positive self-talk. Think like The Little Engine That Could. You can either think positive or negative. Positive talk will always win.
- Happiness is the absence of unhappiness. What will you do to be happy? It’s more inner work than external factors. This whole list is almost inner work.
- Following the rules doesn’t always create happiness or success. Sometimes you have to go outside the box and look for something no one else has accomplished. You won’t be happy doing the same thing day in and day out. Maybe it’s time to break a few rules (within the law).
- Unhappiness happens when your reality does not match your hopes and expectations. Happiness happens when life seems to be going your way. You feel happy when life behaves the way you want it to.
- Regenerate your happiness with a daily nature walk. I enjoy walking in the forest for 30 minutes near my house. Our human senses are born to experience nature not traffic jams, closed offices or cubicles. When you walk in the forest, swim in the ocean or hike in the mountains, our minds relax and anxiety leaves us. We become quieter and ready to take on the world.
- Take responsible action first, then release the need to control. It is the need to control that often makes us unhappy.
- Smile and the world smiles with you.
- Happiness is being in the right atmosphere. People can never be happy if they go against their nature. When was there a time you were unhappy at a party, with friends or on a certain project? What in your nature makes you happy?
- Unhappiness is becoming a slave to money. Once we have our basic needs met, find happiness with family, friends, passions, and inner lives.
- Having happy friends increases our probability of being happy, while each unhappy friend makes our happiness drop. Get happy friends!
- Happiness is remaining in your circle of competence. A single outstanding skill is better than a thousand mediocre ones. Every hour invested into your circle of competence is worth a thousand spent elsewhere.
- Rules for happiness: Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s partner) says, “…it’s just so useful dealing with people you can trust and getting all the others the hell out of your life… wise people want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison, and there are a lot of them.” A related life rule is “Only work with people you like and trust.”
- Happiness is mostly about inner work and attitude. Victor Frankl, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, famously wrote: “the last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude to things”.
- We are bombarded by E-mails, Social media updates, texts, tweets, alerts, news items from across the globe, video clips and advertisements on websites in airports, train stations—all of them competing for our attention. We are slaves to technology. Happiness is shutting all this off and focusing on what’s important in our lives.
- Having too much technology can make you unhappy at times. 80% of the apps I have uploaded are not in use anymore. I get emails from apps or subscriptions even if I have asked to unsubscribe. I’m not sure about having a smart home either. The more things in your home that are connected to the internet the bigger chance that they can be hacked. Right now I don’t have anything in my home that requires a continuous update. Sometimes a simple manual system is easier and safer.
- Ninety percent of Tweets are meaningless. Ninety percent of e-mails are useless. Ninety percent of advertisements are wasting your time. Ninety percent of meetings are a waste of time. Best be happier and avoid getting trapped into all these time wasters. Get rid of the junk and be happier.
In conclusion, the sun is always behind the clouds and rises every day. Replace negative thoughts with happy ones by listing the happy ones down and reviewing your happy list daily. Material objects, monetary success, fame or recognition are all external factors that you think brings you joy but it’s our inner lives that bring us long lasting joy. Use gratitude and compassion to fight immediate gratification, read to gain spirituality and self-awareness, use positive self-talk, smile and remember the positive stories in your life. Find the happiness, joy, love and peace buried deep in your heart. Like the sun rising each day, it’s always there.
Terry Vermeylen is the founder of My Life Changes and wants to help you to cultivate new habits to bring infinite joy into your life. Please like and share this article! Oh …and sign up for the newsletter!
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Tags: core personal values, core values, find joy, gratitude, Happiness, joy, peace