This is Probably the One Thing Holding You Back From Happiness

5/5/2019

Maybe you are in college, maybe you are in a job or maybe neither is the case for you. Whatever the reason you sought out this article to read, I wish you the best because sometimes life is just a grind and we catch ourselves going through the motions on a day to day basis.

Too many people head to a job they hate on a daily basis in order to pay bills and just survive, maybe looking forward to one vacation a year where they go to Florida or some beach and then spend the rest of the year waiting for that same vacation next year. Soon you look up from the computer at your job and you realize 20 years have gone by, you haven't done that much notable work or experienced that much of life but you are just waiting until retirement in order to do so.

What if you die before you retire, or a year after retiring? It's sad but it is a reality that could happen, do you really want to be sitting on your death bed thinking how you waiting so long to find happiness and finally you got the time to do so and now that time is being ripped away from you by the event we call death?

Sounds like the scariest thing in the world, to look back and realize you were always looking towards the future to be happy, because that next promotion, that next job offer or retirement was going to be when you found happiness.

Let's not allow that to happen, and the simple fact of you reading this post right now is a sign that you are taking action towards more happiness, I applaud you for that.

While I am not going to talk about starting to add more meaningful work into your life in this post, I am going to talk about finding more peace and happiness inside of yourself and your thoughts. When you start to take control of your thoughts rather than passively observing them, so many opportunities and emotions unlock that you never knew you had.

If you are interested in adding more meaningful work into your life, I wrote a post about that already which you can reading by clicking right here >>

image: https://www.bradaronson.com/happy/

Overview

What is Holding People Back From Happiness
What is Wrong With Looking to the Future for Happiness
Spotting and Recognizing this in Your Own Life
The Importance of Enjoying Your Day to Day
An Action Plan for Your Day to Day Happiness

What is Holding People Back From Happiness

It held me back for way too long.

"Once I get ________ I will be happy."

Insert whatever that house, degree, job, relationship, vacation, piece of clothing, etc is for you into that blank. We all think it, and many people never realize the harm of constantly looking to the future for happiness.

Reality is that once you get that "thing" there is going to be something even better that you see, you are going to see one of your friends with a bigger house or a nicer car and you are going to want that next.

This cycle never stops, there is always going to be someone with more than you that you can compare yourself to or there is always going to be a better "thing" that you can buy.

The reality is that you can buy as many things as you want and it will never make you truly happy, maybe you have realized that by now if you are reading this post.

It is something that many college kids need to realize, everyone is looking to graduate to be happy or they are trying to buy that Gucci belt in order to be more happy and be accepted. In reality, someone is probably going to have a better job out of college and someone probably has a better belt than the cheapest Gucci one you can buy, and you are going to want that next.

Once you get the item, you may feel a little happiness for a week or so but eventually you will discount it because there is something better out there.

What is Wrong With Looking to the Future for Happiness

Know where you are headed but enjoy the process to get there.

What is wrong with this "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality?

You will constantly be chasing what you don't have, rather than seeing what you do have and that means you will never take the time to be grateful, a key foundation to happiness.

When you are constantly chasing that next relationship, next job or next purchase to make you happy, you never stop and take a look around to enjoy the journey and where you are at currently.

It is not that item that will make us happy it is the journey to get to that item or relationship or job opportunity that will, and if we never stop and look around to see the progress and how great life is, we will get to the end of life having constantly chased and never stopped and lived.

When you are constantly chasing you start to strain relationships, habits and everything in life that makes us happy and fulfilled in order to get those material possessions and then once you get them you realize that in order to do so you sacrificed your happiness.

Spotting and Recognizing This in Your Own Life

This is the first step to enjoying more of your day to day.

How do you know this might be happening in your own life? It is not super hard to spot but it is going to take some real emotional intelligence and being honest with yourself, which can be very hard sometimes. Here are some things to look for:

Not having habits in your life that ground you and force yourself to be in the present.
Always looking for that next purchase, never enjoying what you have at the moment.
Always at the mall trying to buy new things that you think you need and think will make you happy and accepted.
Not stopping to admire your accomplishments while being driven by the vision for your future. You are constantly looking towards your future rather than seeing all you progress every once in a while.
Always thinking about building new habits or finding happiness but never taking action because you are too busy.
Not taking time out of your day for yourself and to ground yourself
Spending too much time on social media comparing your life to other people's lives, wishing you had more.

The Importance of Enjoying Your Day to Day

When are you going to stop and enjoy your life?

Why would you not want to enjoy your every day life?

Wake up every day driven and inspired and grateful for the opportunity to attack another day, grateful for the opportunity to learn that day and work on something you love?

Why would you want to wake up stressed about the future every single day or your life and never realize all you have and how great this world and life is?

I am not saying that looking towards the future is bad at all, you actually need to be doing it in order to have goals and ambitions, you just can't constantly be looking there for happiness and fulfillment because it is not there.

You have everything you need to be happy in the now, it is just your job to find it in your own life.

An Action Plan for Your Day to Day Happiness

Start enjoying your days more.

So, how are you going to find this happiness in your day to day life? This is what you were waiting for so here are some strategies that I have used/ use on a daily basis that will help you do just that.

The most important, get off of your phone for an extra few hours each day.
1. It can't be good for your happiness to constantly be comparing yourself to the lives of others on social media.
Take a walk, go on a run, ride a bike, go hiking.
1. Just get out into nature, you will not regret it and you will start seeing how great the world around you is.
Meditate each and every day.
1. In the morning and or at night, I enjoy the mornings to appreciate and be grateful for life and then the night meditation helps me to organize my thoughts and think more clearly.
Take a car ride and listen to music.
1. Clear your mind, enjoy the sunshine and scenery in your area and enjoy the simple things in life.
Start doing yoga.
1. Connect with yourself and your body more, realize all the things you can do that you ever knew you could.
2. There are free ones on YouTube you can start with, you don't need to sign up for a class.
Start a gratitude journal.
1. See what you are grateful for rather than constantly looking at that next thing to buy, maybe you will realize that you don't even need to buy that one thing.

For all of these things, I would recommend doing them or at least trying to do them in the morning, it is just the optimal time of day to get your mind right before you jump into the work you need to get done that day. You build the momentum for the day in the morning, so why not have it be more positive energy compared to starting the day off stressed?

Thanks for checking out the blog, if you enjoyed this and are looking for more ways to find happiness and just experience more life in general. I would love to send you some strategies and resources each week in order to do so in your health, relationships, income, travel and more. It is time we start experiencing all life has to offer.

To get those resources click here >>

Thanks,
Taylor

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