Eleven Practical Steps To Say Yes To Happiness

Eleven Practical Steps To Say Yes To Happiness. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing eleven practical steps to say yes to happiness. Think about it … every single thing we do is intended to make us happier. And yet sometimes, we get diverted and do things that move us away from this goal. We all have the potential for genuine happiness. No gene or DNA marker determines who will be happy and who will not. We make choices throughout our lives, and the result of all these choices combined determines our level of happiness. Make the right choices, and joy can be yours.

Eleven Practical Steps To Say Yes To Happiness

Here are just a sampling of some of the tactics we can employ in an 11-point roadmap to help guide us toward genuine happiness:

Look For The Positive In Everything

There is an old saying that nothing is inherently good or bad—what makes it one or the other is merely your reaction. Find the positive, and you will be happier. Those who soar against all odds do so because they look at the positive that could come out of their situation and how bad it may seem to others.

Accentuate The Positive

We all grow up with a “positivity imbalance” resulting from society’s norms and rules based on restriction and punishment more than approval and reward. We are taught what we must not do instead of what we may do from a young age. Even in day-to-day life, there is a more negative influence than positive. Luckily you can work to improve the balance. Celebrate the positive and work to get more of it. When you achieve something, congratulate yourself! Look for things you find uplifting that make you happy. Get more of that! Simultaneously, reduce your exposure to negative input, whether the daily news or people you don’t feel good around. You know your buttons…make sure the positive ones are pushed more than the negative ones.

Practice Good Selfishness

When we were young, we were taught that putting our interests before others were wrong. This is particularly true for women, many of whom sacrifice their dreams and ambitions to help others achieve theirs. It is also common in the corporate world where the company’s good is considered more important than the individual’s interest. It is good to help others, yet we should have boundaries to protect ourselves from being manipulated or abused by others. You are essential, and if you don’t look after yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually, you cannot expect anyone else to do so.

Listen To Your Feelings

All feelings are good. Every sense occurs for a reason: it is delivering a message. Sometimes that message is pleasant, other times not. We tend to distract ourselves from unpleasant feelings, often through smoking, drinking, or drugs. When you feel bad, avoid distracting yourself, and identify why some need not be met.

Give Of Yourself

The more you give, the more you receive. There is probably no scientific study proving this to be so. Still, unconditional giving is hugely rewarding—the more of yourself you give, the more incredible the thrill and uplifting effect on your psyche. Help the needy. Give time if you can. Give anonymously, even if you lose the tax deduction!

Make It Happen

You can make things happen using your mind. Top sports stars and business people use it, and so can you. There are many ways of doing this; one of the standard methods is to use visualisation—getting a picture of whatever you want to happen in your mind. It does not have to be a visual picture; it could be a feeling, a smell, a sound, or a combination of the senses. Imagine finding the perfect parking near the entrance as you arrive at the supermarket or mall … the sky is the limit, but persevere! We are not used to utilising this tool, so it takes practice.

Accept The Things You Cannot Change.

We resist things we don’t like and often expend tremendous energy on this resistance. Whilst this can be good and has resulted in remarkable advances through history, we should understand those things we cannot change and then move on. Instead, use the saved energy on something more worthwhile and productive. This is not to say that you should complacently accept anything. If you truly desire change, you should work towards that change; but worrying about something without actively working to change it is unproductive and damaging to your wellbeing.

Take Responsibility For Your Choices

Everything that you do, or don’t do, is because of your choices (or don’t make). It is more comfortable and convenient to blame external causes for things that go wrong in life, but your life is the sum of all the choices you make along the way—sometimes, that choice is to let somebody else choose on your behalf. If you tend to blame other people or things, it may be scary to take responsibility for what happens in your life. Still, it is pretty liberating because instead of seeing yourself as an effect of outside forces, you realise you are the cause of everything good you achieve. Don’t abdicate responsibility for your life.

Schedule Regular “Self Time”

Spend some time analysing where you are in life, your strengths and weaknesses. How can you turn the latter into the former? Think about your views on everything from your job to global warming and the existence of aliens—then work out why you feel the way you do. Is your reasoning sound? The better you understand yourself, the better you know the world.

Make Time To Meditate

We spend almost all our time thinking of the past or planning for the future. We seldom spend time in the present. It has reached a point where it seems impossible for most of us to keep our focus on what is happening right now. Your meditation could be formal meditation or prayer, but it could be as simple as merely focusing on each breath as it goes in and out for five or ten minutes, dismissing past and future thoughts as they arise—and they will!

Remove Your Limitations

We don’t believe we can or are worthy of whatever we fail to achieve when we die. This belief is often false, resulting from negative programming received since childhood. The truth is that most of us can do most of what we want to do … you have to believe. The best way to start is with small things, working your way up as you notice the limits dissolving.

The more successful you are at assimilating the concepts and processes described in these eleven points into your life, the more genuinely happy you will be, and the happiness will last!

I hope you enjoy that.

Talk soon.