Bringing More Joy into Your Life

Put yourself and your happiness above everything else.

Not enough can be said about the benefits of joy in our lives. The list is endless – top reasons are below:

Mental Clarity
Energy
Combats stress
Supports a stronger immune system
Fewer aches and pains
We become naturally more sociable and friendly
We grow to be more accepting of ourselves and others

Let’s looks at how we can achieve and support more joy in our lives.

Gratitude is key.

This sounds too simple to be true. However, seeing the glass as half full repeatedly, being grateful for what you have, not focusing on what you don’t have can change how you think in the long term.

…seeing the glass as half full repeatedly, being grateful for what you have, not focusing on what you don’t have can change how you think in the long term.

Each day create a short list. Even if that list only as positive as listing the bad things you aren’t experiencing:

I’m not sick.
I’m not broke.
I can breathe.
I don’t hurt today.

If you work with your brain to list positive items of real gratitude, it will affect your brain all day and you will begin to automatically look on the bright side of life!

Confidence helps: Remind your self how great you are!

Essentially this is taking an inventory of you! All the good things you are and have done. Write them down for reference when you forget.

Bearded Man holding and pointing to the number 1

List the personality traits that you like in yourself.
Keep track of the compliments you receive. Start with ones you receive often and add to them as you hear new ones. Include any awards you’ve received.
Track everything you’re good at – cooking, singing, dancing, keeping a clean house, etc.
Create a list of the obstacles you’ve overcome in your life and add new obstacles as they occur. Soon enough you will overcome them as well!

Put yourself and your happiness above everything else.

More lists! To put yourself first, it helps to define what makes you happy and what’s important to you. Here are ideas to prime the pump:

Activities you enjoy.
People that you like being around.
The little things you love in your day-to-day life – like flowers, morning coffee, shopping, or exercise.

Work on creating habits that make for better health and happiness.

Smile! Smiling is not overrated! Try smiling and thinking of sad thought. It’s impossible! You will either stop smiling or your attitude will start to get happier.
Exercise, moving around. You want to change your attitude, change your physicality! Find the physicality that goes with you at your happiest and most energetic. Adopt that physical stance to kick in the energy and joy. This was part of a training led by Tony Robbins. It works! Simply harness your imagination and memory to access the posture, the way you hold your head, hands, and body when you are at your best and happiest. Then do it on purpose!
Get enough sleep – it’s hard to be at ease when you’re sleep deprived.
Focus on others and give compliments freely – spread the benefit to those around you. It’s surprising how a compliment can help people feel good about themselves and others.
When you start your day – get the tough stuff out of the way, don’t let these tasks cause you to be stressed and worried.
Declutter – It’s amazing what being in a clean and neat environment can do for your state of mind.

Blue Sky Background, hands held up to the sun

Take in the beauty around you and create moments of awe.

This is a more recent discovery and happiness tip and it’s easier than it seems. The word “Awe” conjures up images of starry nights, ocean waves, sunsets, cities lit up at night, babies, appreciating excellence, and beautiful music. Every day, find awe in something. If the ones above are easy for you to see and appreciate, it can make this easy for you to do daily. If not, look more closely at the little things you might take for granted normally, like a blooming flower, a cloud formation, the wind in the trees, the kindness of strangers that you can recognize from a distance. The delight of a delicious, fresh fruit, or burger if that makes you happier. A great joke, or spontaneous laugher. Just take the time to notice. Beauty is everywhere!