I know “happiness” gets thrown around a lot. I see it all the time….”how to live a happy life,” “the keys to happiness,” etc. It’s so easy to get bogged down by things we don’t enjoy….laundry, dishes, taxes. And then we wonder why we aren’t happy.
We’re looking for some magical fix. The one thing that’s going to flip it and magically make us happy little people.
For some, we see money as being the solution. The “if I only had more money” statement.
For others its love or a baby or a new job or or or or.
But I truly believe there isn’t ONE magical fix to happiness. Happiness doesn’t come with some accomplishment, a job promotion, a check mark on the to-do list, a one time vacation of a lifetime, when we say I do, or hold that baby for the very first time.
Happiness comes from consistent cultivation of happiness from the inside. Seriously. You can be happy right now. Right where you are. Even if it looks like kids biting you in the toosh (seriously, if you didn’t see my ig post…this legit happened to me this week). Ok I admit, I wasn’t too happy in that exact moment.
But I want you to know that YOU are in control of your happiness.
You are in control of whether or not you enjoy life or not. You are in control of whether or not you let life happen to you, or if you live life to your utmost fullest capacity.
So if you’re ready to take control of your own life, rather than feeling bogged down by the constant barrage of to-dos, busy, and chaos, you have GOT to start doing these things. Are you ready for them?
1. Take care of the body you’ve been given.
Hands down. OMG! How is it possible that we think we can live life running on fumes? We go all day without eating, or only eating leftovers off the kids plates. We’re filling up on only carbohydrates that are quick and easy to grab (which then only adds to our sluggishness, brain fog, and not to mention added pounds). It’s vicious cycle of coffee throughout the day, a lack of sleep at night. And water?? When’s the last time you made sure you drank enough water in a day? PS- I have anÂ
accountability group of people who are wanting to invest in themselves. W
2. Practice daily gratitude
You, yes you, have so much to be thankful for. No matter how awful your life may feel right now, or what the circumstances are. You could be homeless and still find something to be thankful for. At work this last week, I had a patient who had an injury and could no longer raise his arms without massive pain and burning down his arms. And then he said…”When I was doing well and my arms were fine, I’d look at others in a wheelchair but never think to be grateful for the movement you do have until you no longer have it. I wish I had been more grateful before.” Let me tell you friend….that is not the situation you want to be in…wishing you had been more grateful before. But my response to him wasn’t, oh ya that sucks friend. No! I told him the same thing I just told you…..”But even right here where you are…you have something to be thankful for. You went through surgery and are still alive, you have a wife at home that is there to care for you. You still have things to be grateful for.” So what are you thankful for today?
3. Have a morning routine that starts your day off right
The first 5 minutes will set the tone for the rest of your day. Are you using them to numb out with your phone on social media? Are you fighting with the kids to let you sleep just 10 more minutes? Are you waking up thankful you have yet another day to live? No joke the first 5 minutes are so powerful, but even beyond that and into the first hour. How are you spending that time? If you are frantically putting out fires, you’re going to do that the rest of the day. Center. Focus. Breathe. Relax. Invest in yourself from the very beginning and that will be the tone for the rest of the day. When things throw you off, you just remind yourself of that space in the morning and allow yourself to return to that.
4. Freeing up life from the clutter that keeps you weighed down…physically and emotionally.
You don’t have to live with a spotless, clean freak sort of space….but if you have clutter everywhere, in your schedule and in your environment, it’s going to hold you back. It’s going to take up mental capacity that could be invested in the people or things you love. And let’s face it….who likesÂ
living with chaos everywhere anyway? For me, the kitchen and living room areas are my have to be organized on the daily spaces. Because these are the places I spend the most amount of time. It’s where life happens. So in focusing on those priority areas, I can let some of the other areas (aka the kids bedroom) sort of slide a little. If you’re needing a serious kitchen declutter,Â
you can do it in just 1 weekend!
5. Always living with the goal to grow in some way…living today better than yesterday
When I had kids all my reading time went out the window. There was no way I was going to squeeze in reading when I barely had enough shut eye to keep myself going. BUT, I realized if I didn’t do something different to push my life forward, I was going to stay stuck exactly where I was….unhappy, exhausted, frustrated, and burned out. Podcasts, audiobooks, webinars, seminars, masterminds, 1:1 coaching calls. You name it, I’ve done it in the last 2 years. Why? Because what I was doing wasn’t working. I wasn’t happy going through the motions each day. As soon as I started to grow, I began to see change as possible. I began to see it not just as wishful thinking but something I could create by investing in myself.
PS-I forgot to mention, I created a free course sharing some ideas and ways I’ve been able to create income from home so that I had more freedom to live the life I want to live. I thought I’d pass it along in case you were interested too!