You have a power in you greater than you know. You have the ability to turn your life around and become your best self. If you feel stuck in your current life and think there might be something better out there, you are probably not living a very happy or fulfilling life.
This happens to many people because they are not aware of how to change things for the better. The secrets to a happy life are surprisingly simple and methods you probably already know about. These seven methods all work together to make you a better person and improve your life. Use these methods to live your best life and thrive.
Be Mindful
One tried and true way to be your best self that is not often talked about is to live in the present moment as much as possible. This practice, called mindfulness, is all about noticing the little things. It allows you to take control of your life and steer it in the direction you want to go.
If you have ever been driving in your car and suddenly realize that you have gone several miles without noticing, you have a good idea of what can happen when you do not make mindfulness a priority. When your days are the same month after month, it is simply human nature to automatically complete tasks.
The problem with living this way is that it prevents you from staying in touch with your feelings and emotions.
Without acknowledging how you feel and what is stressing you out, you hold those emotions in. They usually end up coming out in a way that is not good for you, such as anger, anxiety, or depression.
Each action you take in life builds on one another and gets you to the point you are in the present. By zoning out and letting life make your decisions, you are handing control of your future to chance.
Taking the wheel of your life by practicing mindfulness allows you to make healthy decisions that lead you to a place you are happy with.
Exercise Often
It is no secret that exercise is important for a healthy lifestyle, but many people do not realize just how necessary this activity is. Yes, working out does give you stronger muscles, and more flexibility and helps keep a trim figure, but the benefits stretch far beyond the obvious.
When you are younger, you never think about chronic diseases that can develop as a result of years of physical neglect. These conditions are extremely debilitating, causing mobility problems, expensive doctor’s bills, and regular use of prescription medications, which can have nasty side effects. Common diseases that can result from a sedentary lifestyle are:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Osteoporosis
- High blood pressure
- High Cholesterol
Being your best self for the long term means treating your body as something valuable and worth preserving. Simply working out for half an hour a day can improve your stamina, boost your immune system, improve heart health and give you more energy.
There is no way to gain the long-term benefits of exercise without putting in the work. It is one of the easiest ways to quickly improve your life.
Set A Routine
If you are not careful, stress can take over your life and eat away at your happiness. One of the biggest causes of stress in adults is feeling overworked but also as if nothing ever gets done. This is because as an adult, you need to set a routine for yourself and stick to it.
If you do not have a carefully cultivated schedule, it is easy to overlook tasks, forget important appointments and feel rushed all the time. This is because it is impossible to keep track of everything by yourself. Setting a routine means ordering your day in a way that makes sense for your life.
When you set a schedule to follow, you do not have to stress over the little everyday details. You know what you will be doing when you get up in the morning and have a basic outline of how your day will go. This frees up an enormous amount of space in your brain that can be used to increase productivity.
You will find having a routine makes you more flexible when something unexpected comes up. Instead of becoming even more stressed that you have to drop everything, it is easy for you to look at your schedule and rearrange it so tasks still get completed, just at a different time than you originally planned.
Listen to Your Gut
If you have ever done something against your better judgment and later regretted it, you have been a victim of not trusting your instincts. Many of us learn to ignore our doubts and intuitions because it feels silly to act based on a feeling we have.
In fact, there may be more to that little persistent feeling than you imagine. Your brain is taking in massive amounts of information from your surroundings at all times. It would be inefficient for your body to consciously process these sensory inputs, but sometimes your brain puts two and two together without you realizing exactly how the pieces fit.
Learning to trust this work your subconscious brain does behind the scenes can save you a lot of trouble further down the road.
For instance, if something feels off to you about a stranger, your brain could be recognizing irregularities in their facial patterns that are not noticeable to your conscious mind. By acknowledging the discomfort this causes, you may be able to get yourself out of a dangerous situation.
Listening to your gut is not often as dramatic or life-saving. Sometimes it simply helps you choose between two decisions when one feels right. Developing the skill of listening to your intuition while also using common sense can go a long way toward helping you be your best self.
Practice Self Compassion
Imagine having someone following you around at all times, and every time you make a mistake they ridicule you, call you stupid and tell you that you deserved to fail. This is a terrible way to treat someone, yet this is exactly what many of us do to ourselves.
Learning to accept yourself as is, is an essential step in becoming a better, more emotionally fulfilled person. To many people, the act of self-compassion can seem conceited or undeserved. Yet, they have no problem extending compassion toward their fellow humans. If this is you, ask yourself why you feel you deserve love and understanding less than others.
The answer generally lies in behaviors learned in childhood. Learning to accept yourself and make allowances for humanity can be a turning point in your life.
Making space in yourself for forgiveness, empathy and compassion suddenly allow you to let go of emotions that have no place in your life, such as insecurity and anxiety.
You will find that when you are compassionate towards yourself, you are able to learn more from your mistakes. Instead of beating yourself up, you can ask yourself what steps led to the mistake and how you can do better next time. This is a much more productive way of looking at the world and models good behavior to those around you.
Work-Life Balance
You may have heard the old phrase, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” a million times, but it has some very relevant wisdom. Being your best self is impossible if you are constantly working.
If you are working all the time, there is no room in your life for success. In a world where our email comes straight to our phones, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of working at all hours of the day. It might even make you feel productive to tackle work as fast as it comes in.
The reality is that your tendencies to overwork are holding you back. You need time to unwind, engage in fun activities, and maintain your household.
Working too many causes stress to exponentially build, leaves your family feeling neglected, and drains your ability to be productive. This means you are probably working far less efficiently than you could if you brought more balance to your life.
Your brain needs to be refreshed and explore new things. This translates to more creativity and better production in the workplace. Limiting your work-time to appropriate hours each week also has other benefits such as:
- You stay healthier
- Improve your concentration
- Reduce anxiety
- Reduce depression
- Increase your motivation
Pursue Your Passions
When people reach the end of their lives, one of the things they most often say they regret is not following their dreams. When someone tells you to follow your dreams, it often seems trite and cliche. It may bring to mind all the obstacles in your way that prevent you from doing what you love.
There may be legitimate reasons why you never followed your passions.
Family expectations, financial difficulties, and fear are some of the top reasons that keep people from following their dreams. These are all good reasons, but when you look back at them in the future, they may seem more trivial and more excuses that you made to yourself. This is easy to do if you are unsure what will happen once you take that first step.
There are always ways to get over your fear and work around obstacles. It may take years, but you can set small tasks for yourself that help you work toward your ultimate goal.
Many people find that getting started is the most difficult step. A good way to get your foot in the door is to talk to people who are already doing what you want to be doing.
You can use their wisdom and experience to refine your goals and your long-term plan. Ask them what advice they have for you and what the best way to proceed is given your specific circumstances. You will find that people who are passionate about their careers are happy to share and point you in a positive direction.
Setting goals to get where you want to be is made easier by using a planner to organize your time and your life. A good planner, like the Clever Fox Planner, has a calendar for you to organize your schedule as well as great tools for helping you achieve your goals. Some of the tools include:
- A daily habit tracker
- An end-of-the-week review
- Gratitude journal
- Blank dotted pages to create your own spreads and artwork
- Monthly and weekly goals
- Room for improvement
- To-do lists
Using one of Clever Fox Planner is the best way to bring these seven life-improving secrets into one place. It will help you develop your routine, start good habits, schedule your exercise and make a note of the milestones you pass as you work towards your goals. You can take it with you, so you can refer to your goals whenever you want.
You need a method to keep you accountable and clear evidence of the progress you are making. An organization system, like a planner, is the perfect way to do that. You can be as creative as you want with a planner while following the easy-to-use built-in guides that help you increase your productivity. With the help of your friends, family, and a planner, you can take on the world.