Happiness and self-care go hand-in-hand.
Happiness can seem to be an elusive something that people are trying to achieve. What is happiness to you? That’s the first thing to work out.
Happiness could be enjoying a day with friends; getting the job you’ve always dreamed of; passing the exam you’ve worked hard at; playing sports – there are many many things that could cause happiness.
The other side of the coin is to look at what makes you unhappy. Stress can cause unhappiness; money problems can cause unhappiness; bad health can cause unhappiness.
Here are 4 tools that could help achieve happiness.
1. Affirmations: How to Use Affirmations to Have a Happier Life
The word affirmation means “the assertion that something exists or is true”.
Positive affirmations are positive statements that declare specific goals as if they have already happened.
When you first start to use positive affirmations you begin to realize that you can influence your experiences in life by working on your thoughts, beliefs and feelings. Positive affirmations allow you to manifest your heart’s desires by believing that what you want is indeed possible and feeling as if they were already yours. If you wish to change your life and attain everything you desire, here’s how you can use positive affirmations to reach that goal.
Know What You Want
When it comes to affirmations, you have to know precisely what you want to live a happier life. Are you hoping to land a better job? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to be able to purchase a new home? Not only do you have to know what you are asking for, but you have to be mindful of how you’re asking for it. Too many times, people will list what they don’t want – the trick is to focus on what you DO want.
Feel What You Already Have
If you want to be able to generate a positive emotional state and happiness, you have to be able to imagine how it will feel to have achieved your goal. The feelings you have about achieving your goal are what needs to be manifested to generate what you are asking for. You need to be able to understand what this feels like and practice incorporating it when asking for what you want because it is the emotions and feelings that you put out that will end up in you getting what you want.
Making sure that you know what you want, knowing what you have, and feeling that you have reached your goal already, will help you create powerful manifestations that will work for you.
Download this free guide called Affirmations Made Easy. It goes into more detail about how to make daily affirmations and how this can help you achieve happiness.
2. Set and achieve goals
In life, it’s important to set goals. Without working out what your goals are you will never achieve anything. When you set a goal it gives you something specific to work towards and once the goal is achieved you will experience a sense of accomplishment.
The key is to name a goal. Goals can be long term like training to be a doctor or short term like losing 6 pounds in a month. If it’s a very big goal you’ll need to break it down into smaller goals – and you can even break down those smaller goals into even more specific steps.
For example, your goal could be to get fit and run 5K. A slightly smaller goal would be to be able to run 1K within 1 month. This could break down to the steps you will take this week to work towards your 1K – get some good running shoes, go out every other day and walk/run, establish some stretching exercises etc.
When you’re working towards a goal you’ll find you are much more focussed on what you’re doing AND when you achieve these smaller goals and tick them off you know you’re getting closer to the bigger goal.
As a practical action take a look at a goal you would like to achieve. Write this down. If it’s a major goal write down some sub-goals that would help you to reach that major goal. Now write down some steps to achieve the first sub-goal.
I like to write these things on paper (or on a computer and then print) so that I can tick off each step as they’re done. I feel like I’ve accomplished something and can see what progress I’m making.
3. Improve your physical condition
Being in good physical condition can make you feel good yourself. Conversely, when you’re not in good condition physically it can drain your attention, make you tired, give you pain and a whole lot more – which is a long way from being happy.
If you don’t like being overweight it can cause unhappiness; if you can’t walk up a hill without getting breathless can make you unhappy; having a pain in your back from too many hours at the computer can cause unhappiness.
Depending on your circumstances there are some things you can do:
Start a fitness program – ease into it slowly and then build up to something more strenuous and energetic. Walking is a great way to start getting fit and it’s good for the whole body. You’re getting more oxygen, the blood starts pumping, your muscles and joints get some movement and muscles start to tone up.
Read this article about 6 Walking for Weightloss Tips and 4 Simple ways to get more walking into your day. And if you like dancing read Is dancing a good way to exercise?
Improve your diet. One of the biggest issues that people suffer from is sugar addiction. Sugar affects your body in many ways and can cause tiredness and even long-term health issues. You might think eating that piece of chocolate cake is going to make you happy, and maybe it will for 5 minutes, but it’s actually having a detrimental effect on your body.
Find out more about sugar in this 10 Day Sugar Detox. And here are 5 Recipes to Kick Your Sugar Addiction. Another diet-related issue that people may not realise that have is Gut problems i.e. problems with their digestive system.
For more information on dealing with your gut, you might like this Healthy Gut Bundle. This is a set of 4 guides on how to heal your gut – all Free!
4. The Way to Happiness Booklet
Another factor that affects our happiness is what happens around us. There are actions we can take to ensure our own happiness but what about the actions other people are taking?
The Way To Happiness is a book which contains 21 principles of conduct that, when applied by yourself and others, lead to a happier life.
The idea is first, to apply these principles yourself. As you take each principle and start using it you are likely to notice things in your life improve. It can even help with stress.
The next step is to get others to apply them too. If people around you are not surviving well then it can affect your happiness especially if these people are close friends and family.
On the inside cover of the book, it says “Your own survival can be threatened by the bad actions of others around you. Your own happiness can be turned to tragedy and sorrow by the dishonesty and misconduct of others“.
By applying the principles in the book you can achieve greater happiness for yourself and for your friends and family.
The book is available in pocket-size booklets which can be bought in bundles of 12 and also as a softcover book.
Take these 12 booklets, hand them out to friends and family, and encourage them to read and apply the principles. They, in turn, buy bundles of 12 and hand them out to their friends – and so it goes!
Get your book today and start on the road to happiness!
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