Life is beautiful. Life is about love, nature, and giving back. It’s about loving yourself and people around you regardless of their demographics. It’s about appreciating and enjoying nature for what it is, it’s also about giving, giving to your loved ones and giving to people, animals and the planet.
Maybe you are struggling through life, or it seems like the odds are not in your favour; take a step back and realign yourself to live a life of true happiness and I’ll show you how in these top tips:
#1. HAVE A GOAL/REASON/PURPOSE FOR BEING IN LIFE
A very important factor in leading a life of happiness is discovering your reason for being. If you don’t know what your purpose is, it can be hard to keep going. When you discover your purpose in life, you’ll live a meaningful life; in-fact, studies show that discovering your purpose can lead to a longer life span.
Do you feel lost or as if something is missing in your life? Maybe you want to make a bigger difference in the world than you feel you are, but you aren’t sure how. I want you to know that you are not alone in this. So many of us walk through life, feeling numb and desperate for a deeper connection, but aren’t sure how to get it.
Everyone has a purpose, so discover yours. How can you do that? Well, here’s something that can help you: WHAT YOU LOVE + WHAT OTHERS NEED = YOUR PURPOSE. And yes, it’s that simple!
So what should you do? Discover what you love (your gift, passion, hobbies, etc) and find out what people need and you’ll be on a sure way to living a happy and meaningful life.
#2. WALK IN NATURE
Have you ever noticed how awesome you felt after taking a long walk, even when you had to drag yourself outside to do it? Why is it that we all love the endurance nature walks so much?
Research shows that walking in nature really does blow your mind and your body. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that taking nature walks is connected with a whole host of physical and mental health benefits.
The benefits list is endless- you name it- reduces cancer, reduces fat, boosts immunity, improves memory, controls depression, reduces stress, and increases happiness, there’s a lot a ‘walk in nature’ can do for you.
If you are feeling a deluge of negative emotions, get off that place of isolation and take a healthy walk in nature, feel the breeze on your skin as you walk by trees, enjoy the movement of birds in the sky, let your soul connect with nature and feel its healing power. And guess what? It’s an inexpensive and risk-free exercise!
#3. GET AWAY FROM SOCIAL MEDIA (FOR A WHILE)
Okay, I know this one seems like an impossible task, especially if you consider yourself to be a total introvert, but trust me you can. We live in an internet age and while it has so many good sides to it, it’s not a true reflection of reality. These days, all we do is live ‘virtual’ lives online, having so many ‘followers’ but still feeling a deep sense of loneliness and depression.
Putting down your mobile device or PC for a while, and going for walk, observing nature as you go, or going out to make new friends and connecting with people is a really important step to keeping your well-being in check and topped up.
#4. LOVE & ACCEPT YOURSELF
A major step in expressing love is to love yourself first. You cannot give what you don’t have. First take out time to identify yourself and understand why you are the way you are, then accept and love yourself for who you are. If you don’t remind yourself of who you are, the world will tell you who you are not!
The author of the bestseller ‘Love yourself Like your life depends on it’, Kamal Ravikant, said in his book that after he had hit rock bottom and was tired of feeling miserable about himself, he took out a pen and his diary and wrote down notes on self-love which he read aloud to himself every day. Positive affirmations about yourself, are hugely powerful and when repeated each day, they become a mantra from which to encourage self-love.
When you accept yourself and practice self-love, you’ll feel a deep sense of fulfilment and improve your overall well being and more importantly be able to give love and be compassionate and understanding to others.
#5. GIVE AT ALL TIMES, WHENEVER YOU CAN
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” The secret to happiness is helping and giving.
Give all the time and in any way you can. You don’t necessarily have to give money, you can give a smile to the cashier at the supermarket, give a compliment to a total stranger, give help- to people, to animals, to the planet. And when you do, feel how much joy you get in return!
#6. CREATE A SPECIAL TIME TO RELAX AND MEDITATE
Set aside a time of the day to relax and meditate or practise yoga, this helps to focus and channel your energy, relaxing your body in the process.
If you cannot assign a specific time of the day because of your busy schedule, just find any time during the day to be quiet, rest, and still, allowing yourself a moment of reflection and focused breathing.
#7. DETERMINE WHAT YOU SHOULD AND SHOULDN’T CARE/WORRY/GIVE A F*CK ABOUT
Have a creed or set of principles and follow through. Mark Mason in his no bullsh*t bestseller explains this more. He gets that life has become overwhelming and the only way to ‘find our centre around the things that really matter to us’ is to not give a f*ck about everything. Focus on the things that are important to you, things out of your control or trying to give a f*ck about everything only leads to more stress.
If you want to get ahead in life, find something or a few things worth struggling for. Focus on great things that make you happy and don’t give a f*ck about everything else.
#8. LEARN FROM PEOPLE OUTSIDE YOUR NORMAL CIRCLE OF LIFE
A great habit to have is to meet people that you can add to your circle of friends. In reality, not all the people you meet will become your friends and not all your current friends will be around forever.
Go out there and make new friends- expand your circle. Have a mentor you can learn from. Life is much easier when you have people you can look up to; people that have gone through the struggles of life and have a solution; people that can guide you through life.
#9. STOP ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF, THINK ABOUT OTHERS
Yes, learning to self-love is extremely important but don’t forget to check in with others. Treat yourself well but don’t always let it be about yourself alone. Try to be selfless, in this current world in which we live, helping each other is needed more than ever.
When you’re angry about something someone did to you, put yourself in the position of the person and understand the reason for their action before lashing out, you might be surprised at the conditions that made them take such actions. Showing empathy will benefit you more in the long run,.
Think about the good in others and appreciate all the talents and gifts that people have! Be that shining light on others!
#10. LEARN TO LOVE OTHERS
In the course of our journey through life, we’ll meet different kinds of people and it’s easy to discriminate. Choose to be different. Have an open heart. Love people for who they are irrespective of whatever demographic they are from.
It’s in you to love. Show acts of kindness to people whoever they are; the universe, life has its way of repaying you. When you show love to others, you’ll get love in return.
