We all strive to be happy. In fact, it’s most likely the number one aspiration that many of us want the most. So, what does it take to be a happier person? What are the things that make you happier, or what can you do to make yourself a happier individual? I mean, who doesn’t want to be a little bit happier in their everyday life? So today, I am sharing with you 5 habits that will boost your happiness – all of which have definitely made a big impact on my overall happiness.
When I talk about the ways to boost your happiness, I am not talking about the illusion of making every situation in your life all sunshine and rainbows. That’s not very sustainable for many people. Therefore, I am talking about the deeper things that shift us internally, which allows us to experience a better sense of well-being. It allows us to go through life with less emotional drama and more emotional stability. Which in return creates a greater feeling of confidence and comfortability with ourselves and our lives.
Of course, these 5 habits are not the only ones that will help boost your happiness, but they are the ones that have made the most significant impact on my life thus far. So let’s dive into them so you can begin utilizing them too!
1. Set goalsÂ
This one may sound very basic and unoriginal, but please just hear me out. đThe first thing that many people think of when the hear the word “goals” are feelings of success, strength, accomplishment, and/or higher self-worth. However, setting goals are actually not about either of those things. I know what you may be thinking, lol, but let me explain. If the point of having a goal equals those things, then what happens once you reach your desired goal?
After you get to where you want to be, you feel good, you feel successful, you feel accomplished, etc. but only for a short amount of time if you truly think about it. Because after that excitement is over, you’re most likely thinking: okay what’s next? You’ve set that bar at a higher level and now you feel as though you need to get to the next thing and raise the bar again in order to feel good and happy about yourself and where you’re at in life.
Therefore, we oftentimes don’t feel happy until we have accomplished our set goals.
So it’s only in those moments when we accomplish our set goals when we allow ourselves to feel happy. But what about the other moments in our lives? We’re missing out on everything else in between because we believe that we’re only allowed to feel happy, proud, and successful when we get to these desired points. We’re wasting all of that extra time and space in between when we could be happy.
The point of having a goal is not just to reach the goal. Reaching the goal is important, it’s good that we sometimes reach our set goals. And it is also great to feel good and proud when we reach our goal. But, the point of having a goal is about the process of how we need to grow, how we need to stretch ourselves, what we need to overcome, and the obstacles we need to face and deal with, in the process of getting to that goal.
If we are able to recognize ourselves in that process, we are going to get way more happiness and satisfaction out of our goals! If we recognize each little bit of the growth, knowledge, and overcoming that we are doing along the way!
Related Post: “7 Powerful Habits You Need To Be Successful”Â
2. Learn to quiet your inner criticÂ
Unfortunately, we all have an inner critic. It’s that unconscious, corrosive voice in our brain and that negative bias that we all have. Your inner critic is most likely the primary obstacle that stops you from achieving self-acceptance, inner trust, and the expansion of your dynamic potential. It halts growth, steals our confidence, and makes negative self-talk more abundant and normal. Not to mention, a loud inner critic impedes our ability to connect and empathize with other people.
Therefore, if you are extremely critical of yourself, then chances are you’re a harsh critic to others as well. And you may not even notice it that much! The judgment of others can pop up in your brain just as quick as it does when you judge yourself.
Nonetheless, to free ourselves from, or quiet, our inner critic, we have to become aware of its origin.
How we were impacted by something and how we can successfully disengage from its negative influence. We have to ask ourselves: who says? Who decided that negative belief or whose opinion is this? Is this me, or is this someone else’s issue that my subconscious has absorbed? Are these messages that I have been told from a parent or close friend who had their own insecurities? Insecurities that were wrongly taken out on you, that you have now blindly accepted as your own truth. But…what if it’s their issue, their truth, and their insecurities that you no longer need to take on?
So the inner critic that likes to come in and tell us that we are not good enough, successful enough, attractive enough, etc. whatever that is, do not let that inner critic take over. Unfortunately, we cannot stop our inner critic all together, since it is something that we will always have no matter what. But, we can learn how to handle it better! We can learn how to stand up to our inner bully/mean girl that likes to come in and tear us down.
You can learn how to defend yourself, talk back to that inner critic, and challenge it. Simply by not allowing that inner critic to have complete control over you and have the final say!
You can either decide not to pay attention to it or put it in its place. And even if that inner critic is strong, we still do not have to let it make our decisions for us! We can still decide what we are going to do even with that self-doubt and fear. You can beat your inner critic simply by still doing what you plan to do and telling yourself that you are doing it whether you feel comfortable or not. That inner critic no longer has power or control if you choose to do what you want to do anyway. Despite that negative voice in your head telling you not to.
Because the truth is, unless you learn to quiet that inner critic, you are never going to be satisfied or happy with your life.
3. Stop comparing yourself to othersÂ
Comparing yourself to others in your life, or on social media, is the ultimate fast track to unhappiness. Whether you are comparing yourself to somebody else’s financial situation, success, job, appearance, relationship, etc. you automatically allow self-doubt and unhappiness to take over your mindset. But you need to remember that we are all taking our own different paths and courses through life and we all have our own, unique timelines. Someone else’s journey is none of your business. Just how your unique journey and life decisions are nobody else’s business either.
If you find yourself constantly comparing yourself as you’re scrolling through social media, try to break or stop those thoughts in their tracks. Remind yourself that everyone is different, but most people post their highlight reels on social media. You rarely ever see what’s going on behind the scenes. So keep your eyes on your own practice, and try not to invade anyone else’s space with your comparison. In other words, do not compare yourself to anyone else.
What someone else has going on, someone else’s success, someone else’s failure, etc. is none of your business. It has nothing to do with you so why waste your time and energy as if it does? In fact, Diane Passage, an empowerment life coach, once said, “the more you intercept this way of thinking, the sooner you will break that habit and build a healthier and happier outlook on life.”
Related Post: “How to Finally Stop Comparing Yourself with Others & Celebrate Your Originality”Â
4. Appreciate the small thingsÂ
This is probably one of the simplest, but commonly overlooked, habits that will boost your happiness! One thing many happy people all have in common is that they take time to stop and smell the roses. But what exactly does that mean? In scientific literature, stopping to smell the roses ultimately means to “savor.”
Savoring is all about recognizing and appreciating something that’s good in your life, and then relishing the positive feelings associated with it. Instead of letting the positive experience go by as if nothing happened. Happy people take time to acknowledge, appreciate, and fully enjoy every little positive thing that happens to them.
For example, the weather, a co-worker bringing you coffee, a sweet text message, flowers, the leaves changing in the fall, etc. One of the most common habits in happy people is that they appreciate the small things in life. They don’t let the little, positive experiences go unnoticed.
5. Take care of yourselfÂ
Taking time each day to take care of yourself is going to have a major impact on your overall happiness! It is a fact that your brain and your body are interconnected. Therefore, I believe that you cannot experience optimal happiness and wellness without moving your body every single day. In our lives, we are absorbing different emotions and energy all around us every moment of the day. Even if we have good boundaries with people, different energies still get absorbed. And if we are not moving the energy through, it can get stuck in there and cause us to feel overwhelmed. Believe it or not, this can eventually increase levels of anxiety, stress, procrastination, frustration, and even depression.
Therefore, we have to be able to move it through our bodies, move our bodies, and let go of these outside emotions and different energies. I’m not saying that the exercise you do has to be intense, but it has to be a little bit of something every day. Activities such as walking, bike riding, yoga, stretching, etc. are all excellent ways to promote your emotional, physical, and mental health. And all you need is about 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day to reap the numerous health benefits that exercise can give you!
Not mention, eating a balanced, nourishing and mindful diet is going to boost your energy, mood, and overall happiness as well. It is the best way to promote health and happiness from the inside out, to allow your inner sunshine to peek through!
Which one of these 5 habits really connected with you?Â
Let me know in the comments!
xo, Cydney
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