Far too many people waste time trying to buy happiness when it’s readily available without costing a cent. Some people just wish and dream of a day when they’ll be able to afford the things they feel will make them happy and successful, like a new home, exotic vacations, and more.
Happiness and success isn’t derived from tangible things. It’s a state of mind that allows you to further your progress in both your personal and professional life so that every day, you’re achieving goals and reaching new milestones toward a better life.
To get yourself into this state of mind, you have to develop daily habits for happiness and success that don’t hold you back, but instead help you get more done during the day, meet obligations with ease, and lie down at night with a smile on your face because everything’s headed in the right direction.
Account for Your Future
Your life is happening. It’s being lived whether or not you’re in control. Every day that you wake up and go to bed is 24 hours of time that’s passed. For some people, those 24 hours really didn’t amount to anything special except the passage of time.
For others, they accomplished something that brought them happiness and contributed to the success that they envision for themselves. The difference in these two types of people is that one lets life drive him, and the other drives his own life.
Every day that you have to live is a day that you can control whether or not you’re happy – whether or not you’re going to be successful. It begins with a plan. What are you going to do today to take steps that create happiness?
What steps are you going to take to be successful? If you don’t know what steps to take, then you have no course of action. If that sounds like something you’ve struggled with, you can learn how to account for your future.
By doing this, you’ll start planning ahead for what you want – and making it happen. You can plan ahead each day for how you’re going to spend your time. Even your free time (and you should have free time) can be planned so that you’re living a life that’s full of happiness.
Planning ahead is one thing that the world’s most successful people have in common. They don’t fly by the seat of their pants and let things just occur – they craft the kind of life that they want to live.
They know that time is a commodity – perhaps one of the most valuable things to consider. They spend it wisely, just like they do the money they earn. Most people are great at investing in the lives of others.
You spend time doing things that bring happiness to people. You work hard to make others successful – whether those people are your work relationships or your personal ones.
There’s nothing wrong with investing in others.
However, you need to learn how to invest in your own life. If you don’t, you’re actually withdrawing from the stores of happiness and success that could be yours and not making deposits.
Without banking on your happiness and success, it will be a long, hard struggle to get what you want – if you get it at all. Some people make plans well ahead of time, and others do it in smaller increments.
You might plan for something you want to achieve for happiness and success next month, or the next day. But have an idea of how you want your day to unfold. Be specific, not vague – that way, you have a way to measure whether or not the day was a “win.”
Picture the Realization of Your Dreams
This is a way to visualize what it is that you want. When you use visualization, you keep your focus. This works to keep you motivated. Studies have shown that motivated people are happier and less stressed than those who aren’t.
It’s also true that people who have a dream they want to accomplish find more inner satisfaction. The daily act of taking the time to picture your dreams leads you to appreciate the journey.
You’ll be able to find happiness – even when things go wrong – if whatever steps you’re taking focus on seeing your dreams come true. Close your eyes and visualize you decorating your new home, seeing your bank account with a specific amount of money in it, or being welcomed home with open arms by a loving family.
This act of imagination will help you start living the role of the life you want to be in. But you don’t want to stay chained to disappointment for what hasn’t manifested itself yet.
Being appreciative of your current situation and where you’re heading is important, too. Be grateful for the things and the opportunities that come your way that allow you to chase after what you want.
If you have good health that allows you to do what you want to do, be thankful for that. Whenever opportunities come along, recognize them for what they are, a step toward the future you want.
Even when obstacles crop up, appreciate them. Because obstacles mean that you’re moving forward -hat you’re taking action to make the picture of your dreams a reality.
Find a Daily Challenge
When you challenge yourself in any area of your life, you end up growing. If you stick to what you already know and you only do the things you know you’re good at, you stay stagnant
Choose an area of your life to challenge yourself in (and make sure that you cover each of them). For example, in the area of exercise, challenge yourself to do more than you thought you could with your exercise program.
Maybe instead of doing 30 minutes of walking each day, you shoot for 45 minutes. You’ll gain a sense of accomplishment that will make you feel both happy and successful.
Try a new food – something that’s outside of your comfort zone. This broadens your horizons and can help you learn about other cultures. Maybe you find happiness in cooking, so this can bring your family together, too.
Learn something new. People that continually grow in knowledge challenge their brain. This can be a new language, book, or skill. It could be something like taking a dance lesson or visiting a place that moves you, shakes up your life, and gives you a deeper perspective.
Resurrect a failure. Every single person in the world has a failure of some kind in their life. They tried something and it didn’t work. They couldn’t accomplish a goal – couldn’t grasp enough of the knowledge needed to make an idea work.
Look back over something that you tried and really wanted but gave up on. Sometimes the passing of time can add fresh ideas and a better understanding of why the failure happened.
When you look back over your life at something that failed, it could be that you just weren’t prepared for that success. When you challenge yourself to be an “overcomer,” you’ll find a sense of happiness because of the completion of each task.
Finishing something contributes to success. It’s especially rewarding when you go back to something you previously failed at. Remember, it took many tries before the lightbulb finally worked!