“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Anais Nin One of the most common questions people ask me via email is how to become more of an optimist. So this week I'd simply like to share three habits that can help you to get started with that. I use these myself just about every day to stay optimistic in … [Read more...]
3 Simple Habits for Daily Mindfulness
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Buddha “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.” Jon Kabat-Zinn One of the most common habits that make life miserable is to not be where you are. What do I mean by that? That your body is right here, right now. But that your … [Read more...]
How to Live a Happier Life: 3 Quick Things You Can Do Today
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius Antoninus “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 someone else.” Chinese Proverb “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door … [Read more...]
9 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Start Living a Happier and Self-Kinder Life
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”’ Helen Keller “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi Living a life where you're happier and kinder towards yourself is not just about what you can do. But also about what you are already doing. And especially those habits that do have a … [Read more...]
How to Stop Being a People Pleaser: 7 Powerful Habits
“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” Eleanor Roosevelt “When you say “yes” to others, make sure you aren’t saying “no” to yourself.” Paulo Coehlo When you get stuck in the habit of being a people pleaser then that can have a sneaky and negative effect. Not only on you but also on the people around you. Because as you try to please the other people in your life: You put on a mask and try … [Read more...]
How to Overcome Victim Thinking: 3 Powerful Steps
“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.” Helen Keller How do you react if something in your life doesn't go as you wish? Well, at first you’ll probably feel pain of some sort. But what happens after that? What do you do after the initial pain? Do you think of yourself as a victim, as someone with little or no control or power? Do you slip back into a familiar headspace where you feel … [Read more...]
Don’t Compare Your Life to Someone’s Highlight Reel
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” Lao Tzu Today I’d like to focus on a negative habit that creates insecurity within, erodes self-esteem and can make you feel quite unhappy with your own life. It’s something that has sprung up as we have moved a part of our lives on to the internet and social media. And that habit is to compare yourself and your life to other people’s highlight … [Read more...]
10 Things to Do on Days When You Just Want to Give Up
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe Some days are light and filled with inspiration. Some days are simply routine. And on some days you may think to yourself: “I give up”. You may feel like just giving up on… Your new … [Read more...]
The One When My Body Started Falling Apart
Well, I am just a big old mess right now. And for once, it's actually a physical mess instead of mental ;) Mentally, I have been feeling pretty good for a while now. No depression, anxiety is under control, feeling relief after my candid post about my weight, finding excitement and joy in running again... it's so nice! I've been staying super busy, which I think is the reason that my anxiety is minimal--my mind has been on all the good things I … [Read more...]
How to Stop Being Pessimistic: 10 Positive Thinking Tips
One of the most powerful habits that I’ve picked up in the past 10+ years is to stop being pessimistic and to think in a more optimistic and constructive way instead. It makes life feel lighter and not so burdensome. It opens up new paths towards where you want to go and it helps you to more easily overcome setbacks (and often get something good out of them). You’ll feel less worried and sorry for yourself and more motivated to keep taking … [Read more...]
7 Small Habits That Will Steal Your Happiness
“Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.” Wayne Dyer “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius It is usually pretty easy to become a happier person. It is also quite easy to rob yourself of your own happiness. To make yourself more miserable and add a big bowl of suffering to your day. It is a common … [Read more...]
6 Questions to Help You Simplify and Focus on What Truly Matters This Fall
“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” Charles Richards There are many important things in life. Your family and friends. A hobby perhaps. Working out and staying healthy. The most important relationship in your life. And reading, learning and growing as a person. But finding the time for … [Read more...]
10 Simple Things You Can Do to Make You Happy
Happinessis about what you think and what you decide to do. Thinking and doing the right things will bring you happiness abundantly. Here are 10 simple things you can do to make you happy: 1. Think positive thoughts: When you get up in the morning just make up your mind and decide to have a happy day. This is a choice for you to radiate joyfulness throughout the whole day. Happiness will transform a normal day into a delightful day in … [Read more...]
Do You Feel Guilty about Being Happy?
By Elizabeth Spevack — It doesn’t take much to increase your anxiety these days, especially if you’re already sensitive to it. Look at the news for a just a few minutes, and you can easily feel a mix of sadness, anger, pain, resignation and fear. When you see everything that’s happening in the world, you might wonder what you can do about it in your small corner of the world. It feels like so much is out of our control. Maybe … [Read more...]
21 Quick Ways to Make Someone Happy Today
“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.” Eleanor Roosevelt One of the best ways to create a happier life for yourself is to make other people happier. Why? You see it. You’ll feel happier as someone’s face lights up with joy. You did a good thing. You’ll feel happier because you feel you have done a good thing. And so your self-esteem … [Read more...]
10 Productive Ways to be Happy
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. Dalai Lama XIVYou are responsible for your own happiness. It is a by-product of your positive mental attitudeand doing the right things in life. Be wise and choose the productive ways to happiness: 1. Calmness: You are in a state of tranquility and serenity. Your mind is clear and you can do things with concentration and make decisions wisely. Calmness, like meditation … [Read more...]
Go Easy on Yourself
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Buddha “People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have, and looking for it where they will never find it.” Edith Schaeffer One common way to get things done, to achieve and to motivate yourself is to be kind of hard on yourself. To set very high standards for yourself that you want to stick to every time. Now, … [Read more...]
Here You Are: 3 Essential Habits for Being in the Present Moment
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Buddha One of the most common habits that make life miserable is to not be where you are. What do I mean by that? That your body is right here, right now. But that your thoughts are elsewhere in time and space. They are in the past, reliving an old, painful memory. Or replaying an argument – that you still want to win – for the … [Read more...]
The Happiness Checklist To See If You’re Truly Happy
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” —Mahatma Gandhi Answer this question with 100 percent honesty: Are you happy? To understand that, you need to know what happiness truly is. What are the universal things we share that embody the concept of being happy? Sometimes the answer isn’t as obvious as we think. One thing’s for sure though: happy people do things differently. They think differently. They … [Read more...]
7 Reasons Why You Should Be Happy Right Now
Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. -Abraham Lincoln Happiness is the universal feeling we all aspire to experience more of, yet, we can be an angry, moody, depressed bunch, can’t we? The science of happiness tells us that being happy is, indeed, a choice. But if you’re still struggling to make lemonade when life hands you lemons, maybe you just need a little swift-kick-in-the-pants motivation. Here are 7 reasons why … [Read more...]
7 Habits of Highly Positive People: The Secret to Constant Happiness
This is a guest post by Celestine Chua from Personal Excellence. One question I often get is, “Celes, how do you stay so positive?” Reason being people often see me bright and cheery every time. I’m rarely unhappy, and even when I am, I don’t stay that way long. I didn’t used to be positive though. I wasn’t hopelessly negative, but I wasn’t positive. When I was an adolescent, I would complain, harbor … [Read more...]