|HOW TO RECLAIM YOUR HAPPINESS AND JOY! |

Have you ever found yourself treading water and not going anywhere? I know I have– I have found myself obsessing over the thought what is happiness? Is it a tangible object, is it something I should be feeling all the time or is it a gift to be given to me by someone? The beginning of 2020 was full of introspection for me and I was able to realize happiness doesn’t have to look like what we perceive it to be in a fantasy storybook. Happiness is simply the realization that life is what you make it to be. Below I have outlined 5 simple ways to guide you back to reclaiming your happy!

1. Define Happiness : Truly define what happiness means to you and what you being happy looks like. If you don’t define what makes you happy you will always be on a conquest to fill some sort of void in your life– and how to achieve said happiness!
2. Evaluate Yourself : Are you happy or content? Do you like the direction your life is headed in? Is there something in your life that is missing? What weaknesses have you feeling content and not making progress? After answering those questions for yourself just remember–Everything in life is cyclical and that process will continue until you make an intervention – change that puts you on a new course, think of it as a NEW beginning!
3. Stop comparing Yourself to others: No one is perfect, no one has it all together and we all have weaknesses. The sooner you come to that realization the easier it is to stop playing the compare game. I know it is easier said than done, we hear that someone got a new car all of the sudden we are looking at our ride differently. You’re happy with the growth of your endeavors until you hear of someone else’s growth. You don’t know where that individual is on their journey or what season they are in. If any comparison is ever made, make it be a comparison with no one but your former self it will help to keep you motivated!
4. Curate the life you want: Now that you have defined your happiness, and took a long hard look at yourself. Start to envision the life you want and that you are already living it. Author, Charles Duhigg, wrote The Power of Habit, said to identify your Keystone Habit — the most important habit you want to change about your life. If you don’t know what that habit is, ask yourself, “What constantly gnaws at me?” Is it something that you have been dreaming to do or achieve? Or maybe it’s something you want to cut out of your life all together. Nonetheless, only focus on one alteration to your life at a time that way you can focus better.
5. Think about all of the experiences in your life that made you happy: Through the process of creating the life you want and making small changes to do so, make sure you reward yourself . Think about all of those experiences that have made you happy in your life. Those experiences made you happy for a reason, recreate those to keep your joy and happiness!

I want to sign off with this– Only you have the propensity and power over your happiness! No ones opinion should dictate the trajectory of your success! No external factors can make you feel anything you don’t want to feel, you have the choice to choose happiness. Hey, we have all survived the first half of 2020 YOU are stronger than you give yourself credit for!!

Xx,

Amanda M.