You are responsible for your own happiness. Your habits are the reasons for your happiness or unhappiness. Unhealthy habits lead to unhappiness and vice versa. Health is not solely about the things you digest into your body system. It’s also about the things you constantly think about and say. The things you think about and say to yourself can either set you free or hold you captive. It is for your own good to fix your mind on positive thoughts. Positive thoughts will push you into taking productive actions. Negative thoughts prevent you from taking any action. Lack of committed action is often the main reason most people are unhappy with themselves. Without purpose and committed action, you will find yourself running around in circles without any direction. Practice these healthy habits to experience true happiness.
Take a look at ten (10) habits for happiness;
1. Think positively.
Your life goes in the direction of your thoughts. Everything you are experiencing in life is as a result of your dominant thoughts. The thoughts you allow to dominate your mind are the thoughts that will affect you. They can either make you happy or make you sad. Most times we find out that when we are happy and at peace with ourselves, good and nice thing starts happening to us. But when we feel sad and hopeless, we start experiencing disappointments and bad breaks. Your thoughts affect everything around you. Whenever you start feeling low and dejected and compelled to think negatively, substitute those negative thoughts for positive thoughts. No matter how bad the situation may seem, don’t get lured into a state of hopelessness. Discard every negative thought that tries to take root in your mind, in order for there to be room for positive and productive thoughts.
SEE: 3 Ways to Discard Negative Thoughts
2. Exercise self-discipline.
Self-discipline is a virtue. It defines who you are. It is the root of your self-esteem and self-confidence which lie deep within your own character. Your level of self-discipline has a major impact on what you will accomplish in every area of your endeavor. Someone who is self-disciplined is like a city fortified with protective walls and well guarded against negative influences. He does not just receive anything that comes his way, or accept every word he is told. He is trained to possess full control over his mind, body and spirit. Whenever you encounter challenging situations that makes you start thinking negatively, use it as an opportunity to exercise your self-discipline. Hold your peace. Don’t let what happens to you on the outside affect your inner peace of mind.
3. Be patient.
Patience is also a virtue. I like to call patience “Staying Power”. It is the ability to keep doing something or keep trying, especially over long periods of time without being annoyed without complaint or lose of temper. Sometimes when things don’t work out the way we plan, we tend to lose our peace. You spend time worrying and complaining rather finding effective ways to solve the problem. Without patience, you won’t truly be happy with yourself. You will find yourself moving from one place to the other without achieving results. Staying power is the ability to stay with something until fruition. Whenever things don’t go the way you plan, take a deep breath and be patient. By being patient during those trying times, you will become enlightened on what next step to take. True happiness comes from doing what you love. Be patient with yourself. Don’t give up.
4. Don’t make excuses.
You will never reach that goal you set for yourself until you break free from the habit of always making excuses every time your focus is needed. Excuses are the little setbacks we set for ourselves that pushes success further away. Anytime you make an excuse to avoid responsibility, you impress your mind to believe that you are unfit to handle success at that time. When next you are faced with another responsibility, “Unfit to Handle success” is the code word you mind will automatically process, and then give you all reasons your plan will not work. If you truly want to be happy, avoid making excuses. Go right at it.
5. Let go of the past.
The past is gone forever and never to return; whatever happened in the past should stay in the past. Let go of the past so that you can truly live in the moment. Clinging to the past will keep you stuck in the past, preventing you from hoping for a better and brighter future. The future begins with a better today. The pains of the past are nothing compared to the blessing of the future. When you start living in the moment, you will get a chance to experience life’s manifold blessings; you get to experience true happiness from within. The future has beautiful things in store for you, but you will never find out what that is if you still cling to the past. Let go of your past so that you can be happy and free to live the kind of life you truly deserve.
6. Love yourself.
You are your greatest asset. No one knows you better than you know yourself. Loving yourself is the secret to happiness. No matter where you go or what you do, if you don’t truly love yourself, you won’t be a happy person. You will keep seeking the approval of others to be happy. True happiness lies within yourself, it doesn’t come from others. You will discover true happiness in life when you realize it only takes you to be happy. Learn to love yourself. Take good care of yourself. Do the things that makes you happy and glad to be alive. When you love yourself fully and truly despite all your seeming flaws and imperfections, you will become the best version of yourself.
SEE: 5 Ways to Become the Best Version of Yourself
7. Smile often.
Smiling does a lot more than just telling others that you are happy. It also helps improves your stress level and your health in general which should be you top priority. Just merely smiling can have a great impact on your well-being and both your social and professional life. Studies have shown that cheerful people are 35% more likely to live longer. When you smile, your heart rate and blood pressure are reduced. Happiness is the highest level of success. You can only succeed and do great when you are happy. You don’t only need to be happy to smile. Learn to smile to stay happy. Happiness is a personal job which should involve smiling. Smile often.
8. Judge less.
Whatever energy you give out is the same energy you will get back in return. If you make judging others a habit, you will always be judged and criticized by others in everything you do and everywhere you go. You won’t be seen as someone worthy. People will be quick to put you off or turn you down for no apparent reason. This will always make you unhappy. Don’t be compelled to judge others when you feel you should. When you practice this habit, you will find yourself talking less about other people’s affairs and focusing more on yourself; which you should actually be doing.
9. Forgive easily.
It’s not an easy journey to get to a place where you forgive the people that hurt you. But it’s such a powerful place because it frees you. Forgiveness is the best and final form of love. It frees you from all the heaviness you carry within. Learn to forgive others so that you can be free and happy with yourself. Accept that we all make mistakes. No one is entirely perfect. We all have flaws and imperfections. These seeming imperfections are what make us unique. When you get to understand this, you will be more forgiving. It’s such a beautiful thing to forgive. You can only experience true happiness when you forgive.
10. Show gratitude.
Showing gratitude is evidence of happiness. Gratitude opens you to a world of endless possibilities. When you are always grateful, life gives you its best gifts. When you give a gift to a grateful person, they will appreciate you by expressing thanks. This makes you happy and want to do more for the person next time. But when you give a gift to an ungrateful person, they will always find a reason to complain. This attitude will make you hold back from giving the ungrateful person a gift next time. This is how life treats us. Life gives you more when you form the habit of showing gratitude for what has been given to you; even when you do not get what you desired. Trade your expectations for appreciation and your world will change instantly. Practice showing gratitude, it’s one of the best habits for happiness.
Thanks for reading.
SEE ALSO: 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO GIVE UP
