“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 thing, people do it every day all over the world.
So this week I’d like to combine these two things. I want to share 7 happiness stealing habits that I have had quite a bit of trouble with in my own daily life (and I know from the emails I get that many of you do too).
But I’d also like to add what you can do instead if you find yourself being stuck in one of these destructive habits.
When Wednesday rolls around your motivation to keep getting things done may have lessened considerably.
I know that is sometimes the case for me at least.
So in this week’s post I’d like to share the top 20 tips and habits that help me to refuel my motivation to get past that midweek hump and keep working in a focused way until Friday afternoon is here and the weekend awaits.
I hope you'll find something here to help to make your Wednesday even better.
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” Albert Schweitzer
“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” Amelia Earhart
A very simple way to spread more happiness in your own little world is through kindness. It's often an easy and quick thing you can do as you move through your daily life.
But we sometimes forget about it. Or don’t remember how it can help us all.
“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fear.
It's so easy to get stuck in it. To let it hold you back.
I have been there many times in my life.
The fear has, for example, held me back from:
Trying new things. It has held me back from trying something new for lunch or a new hobby because I feared I would have a bad experience or fail. And so I stuck to my usual routine and choices.
Asking someone out for a date. Because I didn’t want to risk being rejected or looking like a fool in eyes of other people.
Living my life like I deep down wanted to. The fear has held me in its grip and calmly explained to me that it would be best and most comfortable for me to stay where I am and to do nothing new. And many times I have sadly believed the fear and gotten myself stuck in a place where I honestly deep down didn't want to be.
The fears we have are based in how we think about things. Destructive thought habits can create a lot of fear that is really unnecessary and damaging.
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Leonardo Da Vinci
One of the biggest and most common problems with improving your life or the success you want out of it is that you may not take consistent action over a longer time period.
Now, consistency isn't the sexiest or most exciting word.
But it is, coupled with time, what will give you real results in your life.
Sticking with the program and doing something consistently – and not just when you feel inspired or something like that – is very, very powerful.
This is something I have struggled with a lot in the past. And on some days I still do.
