4 Top Tips For Finding Happiness
In the world we live in, many of us believe that we will find happiness if we have more money that will allow us to buy more stuff! You know a new phone, a nicer car, a bigger house… the list goes on. However, to be honest, more “things” won’t always make you happier.
Having more things may make live a little easier, as a better car ensures you get to your destination safely, more money means that you don’t have financial worries and can easily pay the bills which is often a major headache for many people. So money and “things” can make live easier and thus make you feel more happy, but in and of themselves they won’t make you happy! I hope that is not too confusing!
Below are my top 4 tips for being happier (and they won’t cost you a penny!)
A person to love. You may remember the song from the Blues Brothers which had they lyrics “Everyone needs someone to love.” It is so true, having the love of another person is the most amazing thing ever. If at the moment you have no one to love, go and find a new love in your life! The world is a big place and there is someone out there waiting for you!
When we love someone one they normally love us back!
Finding something you love to do. What always amazes me is that there are many people out there with lots of money – celebs, millionaires etc but they seem so unhappy. They drug themselves up and do crazy things, yet they have all the money in the world. I’ve come to the conclusion that you have to love what you do in order to be happy. If you are doing what you love you won’t be unhappy.
Ideally if you can find your ideal job that will make you happy then you should do it. If not make sure that you find something that you are interested to do in your spare time or at weekends. You always need to have something to look forward to!
Looking forward to something. Talking about looking forward to something… make sure that every day and every week you have something to look forward to. The truth is we spend so much time working and trying to make money that we have little or no time to actually enjoy it. Life can get very habitual – doing the same thing day in day out, and it is easy to fall into a routine. Therefore make sure you have a little something to break the routine and make sure it is something you really enjoy!
Make time for downtime. Downtime is so important. It is time to relax, disconnect and recharge. A lot of people can’t handle or don’t understand downtime. They have to be busy, always! But you need your downtime. However, many people shy away from it because it also gives them time to think. This may not be so good if they get bored easily, feel lonely or are anxious. They believe downtime is grabbing a few beers, which becomes a habit, which can lead to problems!
Ensure your downtime is for you but is also productive and positive and not destructive and negative. I can tell you from personal experience that it is so easy to reach for a beer, a bag of chips or the remote and waste 2 or 3 hours doing nothing on a sunny day.
You need to make sure that your downtime does not actually bring you down. So plan it out and meet up with a friend for coffee, go for a walk in the park, beach or mountain. Don’t every get down in your downtime – I can’t emphasis this enough!
Things and money will not make you happy, or at least not in the long term – sure for a few minutes, days or weeks, that new phone will make you feel great but then you will just feel an emptiness inside and need to purchase something else. This shows you are lacking true happiness.
Reflect on the tips above and consider how you can find true happiness. Remember it does not come at the bottom of a glass, bag of chips or on the touchscreen of a device. It comes from within!