Many of business professionals seek guidance from business, leadership, and strategic consultants when they are experiencing a personal life transition, or looking for a change in career. In my initial conversations with these business professionals, I’ve found that a familiar topic arises. Inevitably, we find ourselves talking about happiness, and particularly, how to find it. So we start to talk about the types of things that bring happiness into the client’s life.
So much of the time people focus on what is going wrong in their lives or at work. I want you to replace the negative aspects of your situation with more positive and gratifying aspects. In other words, I want to find ways to bring more happiness into your life experiences.
How can people learn to increase happiness in their lives? Positive psychologists have identified three components they use when studying the concept of happiness:
- Happiness is comprised of a sense of purpose, engagement, satisfaction and pleasure.
- Happiness involves daily positive emotions and an overall sense of life being worthwhile.
- People can accurately measure and describe their level of happiness
While others can play a role in your happiness, ultimately, it is up to you to create happiness for yourself. Each one of us possesses a positive attitude somewhere inside us. We have the ability to maintain this attitude despite the life challenges we may be facing. Here are three tips to increase your positive emotions and improve your happiness:
1. Stay Curious and Keep Learning
Curiosity is what motivates us to find out about things, and finding out about things allows us to make better, more informed decisions. Staying curious encourages lifelong learning.
The key is to keep learning something new every day. And remember that there are positive lessons to be learned even when experiencing negative situations. Self-growth and personal maturity is the result of continuous learning, which makes us feel better about ourselves.
2. Build Resiliency
Sometimes life experiences are difficult and our pursuit of happiness may be illusive. But resiliency is the ability to bounce back, and we are more resilient than we might tend to believe.
Resilience means living in the present the best you know how, even in the face of anger, hurt, or sadness, and taking whichever hands you’re dealt and turning them into a learning experience. Sometimes resiliency takes real courage, especially when life is scary. But no dreams have been achieved, nor happiness enjoyed without some negative encounters. Seized opportunities provide the greatest sense of gratification.
3. Focus on Meaning and Purpose
What is your passion? What brings you the most satisfaction? Feeling a sense of self-worth is one of the greatest joys people experience. Having a sense of purpose provides people with a true sense of happiness.
Setting goals to achieve your life purpose is the next step. You need to establish your personalized bucket list so you can map out ways to accomplish your dreams, contribute to the world around you, and enjoy each life chapter as it develops.
Maybe it’s time to take stock of your happiness, especially if you’re entering a new life chapter or experiencing a career change. I believe everyone has a yearning to be happy, and the need changes depending on the life chapter we’re experiencing. As the saying goes, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” You’re worth it.
Ann Gatty
Dr. Ann Gatty is a business development strategist with 30 years’ experience, who believes that everyone has the capabilities to get where they want to go if they are enabled with the right strategies and tools. As a business consultant she builds businesses to work brilliantly. She is the co-founder of StrategicPeopleSolutions.com, an organization that helps businesses develop strong leaders while creating a culture where self-improvement is an intrinsic part of the organization’s value system. Ann works with clients to develop a strategic path towards the life they’ve always imagined. Ann can be reached at 855-284-4448 or [email protected].
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