Benefits Of Using The Law Of Attraction

Law of attraction?

What have you heard about manifestation? With so many people manifesting these days, someone you know must be using the power of their thoughts to attain their dreams. What about you, are you interested in accomplishing more and having more happiness in your life? If you feel that you are ready to learn more about the Law of Attraction and how it can benefit you let’s dive in.

The law of attraction and what it is

Simply put, the law of attraction is your ability to attract the results you want in your life by focusing on what you want. The idea is based on the supposition that we attract those things to us that are a part of our intentional focus. So, applying your energy and care to something you aspire to will help it to come back to you. Here is how this works in plain words.

Your positive view and use of positive energy to engage with the world and other people will get you positive effects in return. When you display a negative outlook and use negative energy, you will receive negative consequences in return. It’s simple. But why does this work?

All our thoughts manifest themselves into reality, sooner or later. When your belief, for example, that you are bad at sports, takes hold of you, you become less enthusiastic about playing any sports, you resist the need to practice, you don’t try as hard to overcome the challenges you have on the playing field, and eventually, you stop playing altogether. In essence, you become bad at sports because you believe you are bad at sports. Your thoughts manifested into your expected outcome.

Attracting things into your life is possible, but you must focus on what you want if you expect to realize the intended result. Your choice of what to focus on and that outcome will begin to have a more crucial role in your life, will become the focus of your subconscious as well as conscious thought, will control your choices, and will, over time, lead you to your desired objective.

“Accomplishment of your dreams requires personal sacrifice and hard working. May you have a determined spirit, will power, and a great passion for the accomplishment of your dreams.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

Benefits from the law of attraction

The precepts behind the Law of Attraction can be used to manifest anything that you want into your life. Once you see the power of this force at work for you, you can use it to realize whatever dreams you can imagine.

For example, the Law of Attraction can help you create healthy relationships and attract lasting love into your life. When you use the Law of Attraction, your confidence in yourself and your subconscious will be redirected to help you make better partner choices, and you will be more open to accepting love from people.

The Law of Attraction can also help you to attract prosperity or financial freedom into reality. Whether you are looking to increase your wages or pay off debt or save for the future, the Law of Attraction can be used to help you attain more abundance in your life. Most of us have negative thought patterns when it comes to wealth and money so, by changing your thoughts and energy surrounding these into something positive it can help you attract more resources into your life.

The Law of Attraction can also help you improve your health and wellness. By transforming your outlook, your focus on healthy living can help you make better lifestyle choices, spend time with people who are also interested in healthy living, and learn to listen to and honor your body’s needs. Focusing on health and wellness is a positive mindset that in and of itself can have many healthy side effects, as well.

The Law of Attraction can assist you in your search for a more satisfying career, the right place to live, a new car, or friends who care for and are supportive of you. Whatever you can imagine, the universe is waiting to hear your dreams.

My final thought:

Whatever your dreams, wants or desires are, they can be yours if you keep your thoughts positive and if you consistently put in the work. This shows that you are not just wishing or hoping, but that you truly want it to happen.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you will share it with your family and friends.

Is Patience Still A Virtue?

Tolerance behaving as patience

I believe the most important aspect of tolerance is patience. Instead of patience and kindness, what we see are people seemingly frustrated at every turn and behaving badly. Why? Because they believe they are entitled to instant gratification in every situation and that it’s acceptable to bully others.  

I am pleased to be able to say I am a fairly patient person, but that has not always been the case. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I can wait in the longest of lines, I can get caught in a traffic jam, or wait to finish a project because the person who was to hand it off to me hasn’t finished their part yet.

What I can’t tolerate is the person who huffily waits in the same line as the rest of us making nasty remarks, or the crazy driver who tries to get around everyone else just to sit at the same traffic light, or those who complain that if Bob’s kid wasn’t ill, he might have gotten his portion of the report completed earlier.

Yep, you heard it right. I had a hard time dealing with other people’s impatience. I used to be more confrontational with them and call them out for it. It riled me up, and made no difference. But about 7 years ago I concluded that it was a useless waste of time on my part. So, I stopped.

“Tolerance and patience should not be read as signs of weakness, they are signs of strength.”

— Anonymous

Unfortunately, it seems there are more and more people who take advantage of the patience and tolerance of others. Me, I never mind waiting until it’s my turn, but just to be clear, I want my turn. Just a couple of weeks ago I overheard a woman at the grocery store in line tell another who cut in that she had been waiting. The woman who cut in line told her to shut up and mind her own business.

Guess what? The cashier called the manager. Kudos to her.

Here are 4 quick tips about patience:

1 | Societal views of impatience. People will generally see the impatient person as being selfish, bad-tempered, arrogant, irritable, and insensitive to the feelings of others. But that doesn’t mean you can’t change. Patience is a learned skill that anyone who desires it can gain for themselves.

2 | Success comes to those who wait. We hear it all the time, “there are no quick fixes.” Hand in hand with that is the knowledge that some things just can’t be rushed. Which is not to say you should sit on your hands and do nothing. Instead, patience in these instances allows you to make better decisions.  

3 | Become more mindful of your world. Mindfulness helps you to be increasingly thoughtful and introspective. This helps you to slow down and see where you and others fit into the world more clearly.  

4 | Journal your feelings. Write down what frustrates you and how it makes you feel. This type of self-reflection written daily can aid you in observing yourself objectively. Work through those things that recur most often first.

A final thought

I am going back to calling people out. Because someone needs to stand up to bullies and remind them that we all can’t be first and that others are just as important as they are.

I hope you found this post of some value. I would love to hear your opinions. Please share this with your family and friends.

10 Tips To Live More Positively

Are you a positive thinker and action taker? Maybe you want to be, but instead, you often fall prey to the negatives you see and hear around you. It’s your life. It’s time to throw off any negativity you feel and replace it with a positive outlook that makes your life feel less reactive and more under your control.  

How you view life affects your physical and mental health as well as your emotions. It also raises or lowers your blood pressure, cholesterol, and stress levels. Feeling negative about things makes your life harder. You may get sick easily and find it difficult to face the adversities and hardships in your life.

Thinking negatively makes it more difficult for you to enjoy the little things in life. Whether it’s by focusing only on the negative, or by blaming everything that goes wrong on yourself, making things seem even worse than they are, or seeing things in only black and white. If you do one or some of the above, then you’re setting yourself up to fail even before you begin.

But anyone can instill positivity into their lives if they so choose. The power of positive thinking might seem the typical cliché, but it truly does work wonders for your self-esteem, overall mood and thereby reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

“Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.”

— Roy T. Bennett

Here are 10 ways to assist you to cultivate a more positive life.

1. Learning experiences not failures

Acknowledging that no one is perfect puts things into perspective. You’re going to make mistakes, we all do, but instead of focusing on your failure, break down what went wrong so you can learn from it, and use it to your advantage.

2. Positive friendships

Surrounding yourself with people who are grounded, upbeat, and positive themselves, helps you to maintain a positive outlook. Positivity, as is negativity, is contagious. So, choose your friends wisely.

3. Know what you are grateful for

Every night before going to bed, write down 3 things you’re grateful for. It may be as small as a pleasant walk or something bigger such as getting your project done on time at work. It’s a fact, that the more you declare your gratitude, the more you have, to be grateful for. Making gratitude a habit, is one of the most beneficial additions to your daily routine.

4. Laughter is still the best medicine

Watching stand-up comedy routines or funny movies opens you up to laughter which signals the brain to release ‘feel-good’ hormones. This reduces stress levels and allows you to see the silver lining, even in the most difficult of situations.

5. Appraise what you need to change

This could be hard to do at first and may require several attempts, but it gets results and you’ll feel empowered. Maybe your job is ill-fitting and fills your life with negativity. You may want to do something else, but fear is holding you back. Maybe it’s your car, your apartment, the color of your walls - many things affect the level of negativity in your life, but once you put your finger on it, you can consciously change it for the better.

6. Start your morning with positive affirmations

Begin your day on a high note by affirming that this is a great day and you are confident that good things will happen throughout your day. Pessimists tend to start their day worrying and thinking about all that can go wrong. This makes them see everything in a negative light and causes a series of unfortunate events like a domino effect.

7. Cease the stream of negative thinking

It might need lots of practice at first but be patient and make the effort. Observe your thought patterns. You can do this by taking down notes each time you focus on the negative. Every time you feel negative self-talk creeping in by being overly critical or judgmental, or focusing only on your failures, write down a positive affirmation to counter each negative thought.

8. Discover a new hobby

Hobbies are something we don’t hear of so much these days since we’re all so busy. But taking the time to engage in something you’re good at and enjoy, fills you with a sense of joy and fulfillment.

9. Lead a beneficial lifestyle

Eat right, exercise regularly, and sleep more to see a definite boost in your mood. Plus, you’ll feel more confident and this helps you see things in a brighter, more positive light.

10. Practice until it’s natural

Reinforcing positive living requires practice. Like anything the more you do it, the better you’ll become at it. Then, one day when you’re facing a crisis, you’ll find that the first thing that comes to your mind is not what can go wrong, but how can I use my strengths to overcome this challenge.

No one ever said life was easy and sometimes we become overwhelmed with what life throws our way. But the choice belongs to us as individuals whether we are to meet life with a smile in a positive way or a complaining negative manner.

I hope you found this post beneficial and will share it with your family and friends.

Forgive Old Injuries And Let them Go

Gram’s wisdom 12: Offer forgiveness

My Gram saw forgiveness as an extension of kindness. Just as you would offer your hand in friendship to someone who needs it, you should offer your forgiveness to people who ask. We are all human and we are all prone to making mistakes she said.

From my Gram, I learned we frequently see ourselves as more aggrieved than necessary and nurse the wounds needlessly. Instead, she told me we are the beneficiaries when we forgive others, and let the hurts go.

The end of the year is a particularly good time to forgive old injuries. Don’t begin a New Year with thoughts of past offenses. You deserve to forgive yourself and others and begin with a clean slate.   

Forgiveness in everyday life

The easiest path to forgiving big things is by routinely forgiving small things. Practicing the art of forgiveness in everyday life makes it easier to draw on those experiences when you need to forgive bigger offenses.

People who forgive easily have some things in common:

●       They see life as fallible and know everyone takes missteps

●       They see people as generally good rather than bad

●       They understand that their perceptions play into whether they feel offended

●       They don’t sweat the small stuff

●       They don’t expect perfection

●       They are not overly sensitive people

People who find it easy to forgive have a corner on the happiness market because they use their underlying morals and values to move through the day and offer forgiveness inwardly and outwardly and let it go.

Here are some ways to forgive and adopt an emotionally mature mindset each day:  

For poor service- when you are treated poorly by waitstaff or a clerk at a store, consider what might be driving their negativity. Having compassion can make it easier to forgive poor behavior. Instead of assuming the clerk is a disconnected jerk, imagine he/she is working overtime and has been berated by many customers.

For rude gestures- If someone cuts you off in traffic, takes your parking space, or gives you a smug look - forgive them. Try to not to take things personally. The sooner you can let it go, the sooner you can replace anger with a better-suited emotion for your day. Being able to forgive rudeness frees you up for a better mood.

For mistakes- Mistakes happen it’s a fact of life. You make them too. Berating someone for a mistake rubs their nose in it and makes them defensive. To the best of your ability, forgive mistakes quickly and appreciate any gestures to make amends. Allowing grace and a chance to do the right thing should help wipe away the sting of a mistake.

Learning to let go of righteous anger or sadness that comes from being offended does yourself a world of good.

“Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.”

— Jonathan Huie

Ask for forgiveness when the mistake is yours

It’s easy to stand behind your own anger and offense when someone has hurt you. It isn’t nearly as easy to be the one who needs forgiveness. When you’ve made a mistake, many things come into play - anger, shame, defensiveness. These things make it hard to ask for or receive forgiveness.

One of the keys to receiving forgiveness is to practice it. Forgiving people are better able to understand that mistakes and missteps happen, and sometimes we step in it metaphorically. By offering forgiveness regularly, they see that it is possible to do something regrettable and be absolved.

You can ask for and receive forgiveness. Consider these tips as you go:

Tip #1. Make a Sincere Apology- Forgiveness comes best following an apology. The sooner the better and the more specific the apology the better. If you know what you did, be sincere and specific about why that was wrong and how you plan to ensure it never happens again.

Tip #2. Hear Your Impact- Forgiveness usually comes after an apology and clearing of the air that includes the offended person feeling heard and validated for their pain. Be willing to hear the impact you made and don’t let pride or defensiveness diminish the feelings of the other person.

Tip #3. Be Willing to Not be Forgiven- Asking for forgiveness is a question, not a command. That means hearing “no” can be one of the options. It is entirely possible that the person you hurt is unwilling or unable to move on now or yet. Be patient.

Asking for forgiveness is a mature and humbling experience. If the person you offended is unable or unwilling to forgive you, you have done the most important thing you can for restoration by atoning and asking for grace. You can sleep well knowing you’ve done what you can. Modify any behavior that got you into that mess and become a bigger and better person. Offer forgiveness to those in need and realize it is all a cycle and what you put out into the world will eventually come back.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will share it with your family and friends.

For more forgiveness look here.

How Forgiveness Makes Us Happier And Healthier

Reflect, Change, And Grow

Grow beyond your comfort zone

With a New Year just around the corner, many of you are forming plans for what you hope to achieve, and who you hope to become in the future. It’s important that before you finalize those plans, you have spent some time in reflection on this year’s accomplishments.

You will want to ask yourself these questions first. How have you have grown this year as a person and what did you contribute to the world? And lastly, did you bring your previous year’s plans to fruition or are you still the same person who had big dreams last December?

If you succeeded in your aims this year, then I am positive you know the amount of effort it will take to repeat it. If not, it’s time for you to move from your comfort zone because it’s not serving you. Make some scary changes, or just one, if more seems too overwhelming.

Here are some reasons to change:

1.     Growth takes change

Change is necessary for growth, in fact, growth is impossible without change! You can choose to stay safely in your familiar comfort zone, but if you do, you’ll be missing out on all life has to offer.

The challenge of a new job or moving to a different city might be uncomfortable, especially at first. But it’s guaranteed that change is likely to lead you down all sorts of unexpected paths, with rewards you could never have imagined, just waiting for you. Wouldn’t you rather be a butterfly than remain a caterpillar?

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

— Margaret J. Wheatley

2.     Flexibility aids resilience

Change forces you to become more flexible. Faced with large unexpected changes, you learn to adapt and move with the flow. And once you’ve learned to roll with whatever the circumstances are, you begin to see the positives and rise to the challenges. Even something as negative as losing your job can open you up to new prospects and exciting opportunities, such as changing industries, furthering your education, or starting your own business.

3.     Focusing on your values creates change

There’s nothing quite like change either good or bad to make you focus on what’s genuinely important in your life. Negative changes like illness, divorce, or business reverses can help you recognize the importance of relationships, with family, and friends. Having to make tough decisions can sharpen your focus on what your ethical framework is, what you will and won’t stand for in your life.

4.     Small steps can accomplish big things

Not all changes are big or life-changing. Small incremental steps, made over time to your habits and routines, can add up to huge changes in the future. You might start getting off the bus one stop early and after a few months find yourself walking to the office every day.

Making small changes often has a snowball effect and before you know it you have accomplished that big, seemingly impossible task.

5.     Confident as you meet life’s challenges

You might be surprised to discover how strong you are. Your confidence will increase as you deal with life’s challenges and you’ll quickly learn what you can handle and what you can’t.

And as a bonus, change can make you a more compassionate and kinder person and give you more insight into other people’s circumstances and choices.

Learn to see change as an opportunity, not a threat, and you will live a much more fulfilled and exciting life.

I hope you find this post valuable and share it with your family and friends.

For further reading check out this post from a year ago.

Using Self-Reflection To Your Advantage

Give Yourself The Gift Of Journaling

Gram’s Wisdom 10 A Gift of Journaling

My Gram didn’t keep a journal as far as I knew, perhaps she did earlier in her life but that was not something she shared with me. None the less, the Christmas before I turned eleven, she gifted me with a diary. They were very popular in those years and every young girl looked forward to receiving one either for Christmas or her birthday.

I admit to making entries in a very spotty manner. Yet, I had several instances where I wrote faithfully for weeks at a time. And guess what? It wasn’t always about who had a crush on who at school this week or an outing canceled due to weather.

Some of those entries were about the very things that Gram had been teaching me. What I didn’t understand then, was the lesson I got in self-development. Luckily for me, my Mom must have felt I got enough use out of that first diary that, she gave me one the following Christmas.

To this day my stream of consciousness journal is a spotty affair. I only write when I feel I have something to say or remember. My gratitude journal, on the other hand, gets entries every single day. Both of these, I feel help me to continue to develop into the person I want to be.

Nine styles of journals you can create

When you begin journaling it will occur to you that having more than one kind of journal could be best to keep everything organized. When you have more than one style of journal you can simply go to the specific journal to work on one issue at a time.

1. Bullet Journals – This type of journal is useful for anyone who has lots of to-do lists, loves using a pen and paper, and who enjoys goal tracking. Your journal should have a table of contents that you create as you add to the journal so you can find things. You’ll use symbols, colors, and lines to make your bullet journal. You should be able to understand at a glance what’s on the page.

2. Vision Journals – You may have heard of vision boards and this is essentially it, except it’s a journal that helps lead you to your vision. The way it works is that you set up the journal to have only one goal per page. Then you can write words, add pictures, or draw something that enables you to make plans to reach that goal. When you do reach the goal, be sure to go back and add the date of achievement.

3. Line a Day Journals – Basically this journal is what it’s called – you write down only one line a day. You will simply write in the journal a short line about what you did that day. It should be only a sentence or two at the most and should not take up that much space in your journal. Some people like using a calendar and a pen for this.

4. Classic/Stream of Consciousness Journal – This is simply a diary, and you can write whatever you want in it every day. It can be long, short, or you can skip days if you want to. The classic journal is just like the diary that you may have kept as a child. You write whatever you want, as much or as little as you want, as frequently as you want.  

5. Dream Journal – Some people really like tracking their dreams because they believe that dreams provide signs for life. If you want to track your dreams, you should train yourself to write in your dream journal every morning while you still remember the dream. Write about the dream and then research what it means and write about that too.

6. Food Journal – Write down everything you eat every day. Some people like to include the calorie contents and so forth. It can also help to write down why you eat it, how you felt about eating it, and things like that.

7. Travel Journal – A wonderful way to remember your travels is to keep a travel journal. Some people like making one for each trip so that it’s easier to remember. You can write your thoughts in your journal, but you can also attach tickets, photos, and memories.

8. Gratitude Journal – This is just what it sounds like. It’s a journal where you record each day what you’re thankful for and grateful for. Nothing can be negative in this journal because it’s designed to help you think more positively.

9. Project Journal – This is a handy journal to keep, especially for anyone who regularly works on projects. Keeping a journal of each project you work on that records actions taken, results, and data will help you improve every project but will also help you look back on this one with excitement.

Your journal helps you to work through a problem. It’s also a great way to store your thoughts and memories in an organized and useful manner.

“A diary is useful during conscious, intentional, and painful, spiritual evolution.”

— Andre Gide

Daily routine journaling tips

The best way to ensure that journaling is working for you is to do it long term. Long-term journaling gives you more insight into your life as you write in the present. In the future, when you read what you’ve written, you can see how your development is shaping up.  

* Make It Easy – Don’t make it a huge deal, and it’ll be simpler to get done. For example, it’s easier to use a notebook and paper than a computer for most people. You can have the book in your bag or on your bedside table or wherever you plan to write in it.

* Choose a Time That Works – The best times to do it are early morning, first thing, or the last thing before you go to bed. However, that might not work for some people. If you know a better time, do it. For example, some people like journaling while on lunch at work in the park. It’s up to you.

* Get a Drink and Eat a Snack – You don’t want to have any excuses or extraneous thoughts while you’re writing in your journal. Make sure you’re fed and hydrated.

* Create a Comfortable and Accessible Space – It’s easier to get into your thoughts if you’re comfortable and not thinking about how bad your tailbone hurts or your wrist hurts. Some people like using a desk, some a comfy easy chair, others their bed.

* Combine It with Something Else You Enjoy Doing – If you enjoy cleaning the house, then reading in your clean house with the windows open and the breeze flowing in, why not journal at that moment? If it’s a daily thing, add journaling to it, and it’ll create a habit fast.

* Add Some Relaxing Music to Set the Mood – Now it’s true that some people prefer silence, so that’s fine if you do. But consider trying some music that doesn’t have words and that is relaxing, to help you gather your thoughts and stay calm and focused. 

* Consider Using Journaling Prompts – You can also find journaling prompts online for any type of journal you want to use.

* Reward Yourself – When you have been diligent for a month writing in your journal, take some time to read what you wrote, then reward yourself for doing it. You might buy some colored pens or some fun stickers so you can add some definition and interest to your journal.

For more information on journaling:

Five Reasons You Need To Keep A Gratitude Journal

I hope you enjoyed this post. I would love it if you let me know what your favorite idea or part of it was.

Prioritize Your Happiness

Are you wasting your precious time wishing that you had more things to make you happy? How’s that working for you? Life’s short hadn’t you heard. If it’s happiness you want then that’s the feeling you need to prioritize. Not the ephemeral feelings from a string of new things. So, to become happy it’s best you start with gratitude for what you already have.

Happiness increases with gratitude

You may not realize that noticing the good things in your life can make you happier. But when you do, you’ll approach life from a much more positive viewpoint so that your daily tasks and goals feel joyful and less burdensome.

Here are four ways practicing gratitude can make for a happier life.

1.     It sets up a virtuous circle

The more you appreciate the good things in your life, the more you’ll see. And by focusing on things that make you happy, you’ll become more optimistic and expect to see good things! And then you have more to be grateful for and so on. Before you know it, you will have set up a lovely self-fulfilling cycle of positivity and happiness.

2.     You’ll attract more friends

People who are cheerful and optimistic tend to have more friends. Think of Big Bird and Oscar, the Grouch – who’s more fun to be around? Who has more friends? The person who’s cheery and singing, or the grouchy complainer?

3.     You’ll be more resilient

When you are grateful for what you already have it sets you up to be better able to deal with difficult times when they come along. Instead of focusing on the heavy rain during your drive to work, you are grateful that your lawn will be green without having to turn on the sprinklers.

4.     You’ll live longer

Perhaps the most surprising benefit of practicing gratitude is the impact it can have on your physical health. Gratitude primes you for happiness and being happy sets off a whole train of positive chemical interactions in your brain and body. Research has shown that happier people live longer, healthier lives.

“The thing everyone should realize is that the key to happiness is being happy by yourself and for yourself.”

— Ellen DeGeneres

Happiness provides health benefits

Instead of the stress chemical cortisol, which can lead to inflammation and poor immune response, your happy brain will increase levels of dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals lead to lower blood pressure and heart rate and improved immune function.

If you are happy you set yourself up for a better, more positive aging experience. Unhappy people are more prone to chronic illness, depression and even earlier death.

Encourages Healthy Living

According to studies, happier people are almost twice as likely to eat more fresh vegetables than people who state that they are not happy. Eating more produce will automatically improve your health over those who eat a diet high in processed food.

Provides Energy

When you eat better, you tend to end up with more energy. It’s hard to imagine it but being negative or sad can literally drain your energy out of your body while being happy can give you more energy.

Boosts Immunity

Eating better, moving more, and feeling happy will also increase your ability to fight off illness and disease because it improves your immunity. A study showed that people who report happiness tend to fight off illness faster than people who report sadness. They literally gave people the cold virus and the happy people were three times less likely to catch the cold.

Lessens Stress

If you’re happy, you’ll have a lot less keeping you up at night, to worry about, and therefore you’ll end up with less stress. However, it goes farther than that because happy people tend to report less stress even when they are facing stressful situations. Due to the strength that happiness gives you, you’ll experience less stress.

Protects Cardiovascular Health

Because you’re eating better and moving more due to your happiness, you are also protecting your cardiovascular health. You’re less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other issues related to heart health and the cardiovascular system.

Increases Longevity

Because you’re eating right, exercising more, and you’re feeling great about life, you will likely live longer. According to one long-term study that tracked the lives of 32,000 people to find out who lived longer, the people who report happiness, or the people who report being less happy. It's not surprising that happy people tend to live 14 percent longer.

Diminishes Pain

People who have chronic pain have a right to be mad about it or feel sad about it. However, the fact is people who report being happy tend to deal with their chronic pain (and other illness) better than those who were not happy to start with.

When you are happy, you’re more likely to eat right, drink enough water, and move. It’s mostly because you have more energy to do active things. For more information on nutrition see my past post The Right Nutrition Will Make You Healthier.

Happiness is its own reward

Many people believe that success will guarantee happiness. But delaying being happy until you’ve got that promotion, or a bigger car is a mistake. Tying your happiness to achieving your goals almost guarantees you’ll never be happy. Here are three reasons to choose happiness over success.

1.       Are we there yet?

Have you noticed that there are always more goals to achieve? As soon as you get that job, your eye is on the next promotion. Setting goals and achieving them is important but waiting to be happy until you’re successful is like chasing butterflies. There will always be another better butterfly just out of reach.

2.     Choose happy

There’s increasing evidence that happy people tend to be more successful. By focusing on being happy and living life on their terms, they are already successful. Choosing happiness in your current circumstances creates greater self-confidence. You will act and talk like you’ve already made it. And that sort of confidence is contagious and inspiring.  Simply by choosing to be happy you have a competitive edge!

3.     And the definition of success is…

Ask ten people for their definition of success, and you’ll get ten different answers. For some people, it is the consumer dream of an executive job, a fancy car, and a big house. For others, it will be the freedom to travel or paint or write or own their own business.

Probably the most important decision you’ll make is to work out what success means for you. And the most meaningful success is to choose what makes you happy. What is your passion? What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning?

It’s up to you to decide what makes you happy. It’s still okay to want to have the trappings of success but think about why you want them. Chances are it’s the feeling you want rather than the thing itself.

If you think making more money will make you feel secure, or enable you to travel or support your favorite cause, maybe there are other ways you can do those things right now? Maybe you can volunteer for your charity, or choose cheaper vacation options, or start a savings plan.

There’s no need to delay being happy until you’ve reached a level of material success. You can choose to be happy right now and find contentment in the things that already make you feel good!

Happiness habits for the good

There’s increasing evidence that it’s not enough to learn a new skill or sign up for the gym. To succeed you need to turn that skill or commitment into a habit. Here are four benefits of forming good habits.

1.     Habits are easy to create, and change!

It’s easy to form a habit, whether it’s good or bad. You can choose to form a habit of getting up early for a run or staying in bed. It’s totally up to you, and you can choose to change a habit any time you like.

You can choose every day whether to eat healthily or not. But the more you choose the positive option, the more it becomes second nature, and before you know it, you’ll be reaching for the smoothie instead of the doughnut.

2.     Reach your goals with good habits

Once you’ve set your goals, you can adjust your behavior to make it more likely that you’ll achieve them. Establishing a daily habit is the first step to achieving success

If you want to lose weight, you can choose to get into the habit of exercising and eating healthier. Running every day will mean you’ll become ready to compete in that triathlon.

3.     Habits keep you focused

Once you’ve set a good habit, it becomes much easier to stick to your plan. If something is part of your routine, you don’t have to convince yourself to do it every day. You can also build new habits onto old ones, such as making sure you do meditation or yoga routine immediately before you brush your teeth. That way you’re much more likely to stick to your commitment.

4.     Habits are foundational

If you want to achieve your life goals, setting positive habits can become your building blocks to success. Make it a habit to pay bills straightaway, and you’ll never pay penalties or jeopardize your credit rating. If you get into the habit of getting to the office early and clearing your emails, you’ll become known for your dedication and efficiency.

Interpersonal habits can be important too. So, don’t forget the people in your life. Make it a habit to acknowledge the things your partner does for you, or when your children behave well, make them feel appreciated.

Was this helpful? Leave me a comment and don’t forget to share it.

Happiness Begins Within You

Gram’s Wisdom Number 5

“Fix it or Forget it.” Is what Gram told me when I complained of an unhappy day or experience. She told me my happiness was within me and not for others to direct, that I must choose my own path, if I truly wanted to be happy. She said that I should fix things that made me unhappy where possible and forget those things I couldn’t control. Many happy years later we heard “Don’t Worry Be Happy” on the radio. She laughed and said to me that song carried the right message.

So, you might think you know what happiness is but is that necessarily true?

What isn’t being happy?

1.     “Stuff” won’t make you happy (for long anyway)

You won’t find happiness in getting everything you want or having things your way. Money doesn’t buy happiness: in fact, getting a raise or a windfall can increase your dissatisfaction as your expectations expand to exceed whatever money you have. That new car or larger house will soon start to feel like not enough.

You get the same goal displacement when things go your way. It’s human nature to keep pushing the boundaries and asking for more!

2.     Happiness isn’t cloud 9

People who are happy don’t live in a constant state of ecstasy! Life isn’t like that. Some days you feel great, other days not so much. And everyone has seriously bad times, that’s just the way it goes. Happiness is way more than just feeling good. It’s feeling contented and satisfied with what you have while living a meaningful life.

3.     Happiness isn’t the end of the road

Happiness isn’t something you arrive at, or you achieve, and then it’s done. It’s not something you can check off your to-do list. Happiness is more like a habit or method you can learn, a special routine way you have of looking at the world and your relationships and being happy.

Happy people are at peace with the highs and lows of life and find joy and contentment whatever their circumstance.

Recognizing happiness

It’s within you

By the fact that you’re a human being and you can experience feelings, happiness being one of them, you know that true happiness does exist. You can probably write down many days and things that have brought happiness to your life over the years since you were born up until today.

Who is happier?

It’s amazing but while it’s easy to say that people cannot be happy unless they have their basic needs met. You’ll find that there are people all around you who do not have their needs met but who are very happy. That bears out as true when you study rich people and realize they are not happier than poor people overall.

It’s about appreciation

If you look at a list of the happiest countries in the world, you will realize that being happy isn’t about the stuff you have. The happiest people right now happen to live in Denmark. Most people who live there pay high taxes, live in small homes and tend to not be as consumer-driven as people in the USA, for example. But the USA is 17 on the list. That shows that happiness is not about stuff.

It’s about your path

You may believe that happiness is about reaching your goals too. But, it’s not. If you often say things like “I’ll be happy when…” then it’s not likely you will ever be happy. You can be happy today, before reaching your goals, if you enjoy the path taken to those goals. It’s honestly more about the day to day living, not the goal achieving moments.

It’s internal feeling not external circumstance

Now, of course, some things in life can really get you down. However, for happy people, even the worst events will not make them unhappy, at least not permanently. A happy person usually has the skills to navigate negative things about their circumstances. Dr. Gillian Mandich, a happiness expert, states that our circumstances account for only 10 percent of our happiness.

Many people who have struggles in life often pooh-pooh happiness and like to claim that true happiness is not even possible. The truth is there are different levels of happiness that you can experience in your life. A happy person isn’t going to be the same level of happy 24/7, 365 days a year.  It’s not a straight line. There are highs and lows that you will experience all throughout life but whether you are happy or not is all about your feelings.

“We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”

   Thomas Merton

So where does that leave you?

Studies have shown that happiness comes from a combination of factors, from finding deep satisfaction and meaning in your life, to appreciating the things that are good, not focusing on lack or what you haven’t achieved.

True, lasting happiness seems to depend on some things such as mindset, expectations and how you feel day by day.

·        If you put more store in relationships and connections with the people you love, you’ll be happier than if you expect possessions to make you happy.

·         If you expect things to go your way they often do, and if you notice the things, you’re grateful for, you’ll find more of them. If you need things to go your way all the time, then prepare for disappointment.

Did you enjoy this post? Then please share it with your family and friends.