One of the most important steps in living a happy life is appreciating every moment. You must make sure to stop and enjoy the simple things in life, and let go of the constant nagging feelings that accompany a lack of fulfillment.
In this post I'll show you how you can begin enjoying life more.
STEP 1: Don't Overanalyze Everything
When you first wake up in the morning, don't rush straight to analyzing everything. Instead, take some time to appreciate all that you have in your life.
If you have a warm cup of coffee, savor it. Do this even if you don't normally like coffee. Appreciate the texture of your morning beverage. Try to find one little thing that you like about your surroundings.
Appreciate the sun as you drive to work, or appreciate the cool breeze as you walk back from the subway. If you have family and friends around you, don't just assume they are always happy. Take the time to actually try to find something good about them.
When you arrive home, sit down and write down everything you've appreciated during the day. Doing so will help you to notice the things in your life that you might have overlooked earlier.
STEP 2: Create Small Plans
One of the best ways to avoid the negative impact of being over-focused is to create plans for the future. Small goals are much easier to reach and maintain than large ones.
Each week, create small, achievable tasks for yourself. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, don't decide to lose 10 pounds. Instead, find a small goal that you can realistically meet.
Try setting yourself a goal of eating 5-10% healthier in a single week. If you can stick to this, you'll be on your way to losing weight and reaching your larger goal.
The same goes for everything else you'd like to achieve. If you want to save more money, create a small plan that includes weekly spending cuts.
You'll find that it's much easier to stay on track when your goals are realistic.
STEP 3: Stay Focused
One of the biggest dangers to enjoying life is letting our thoughts drift. This is especially true when we have negative thoughts and negative feelings.
To keep focused, try to do two things. First, write down your positive thoughts and feelings every day.
Once you get started doing this, it will become natural to think more positively and feel more positive emotions. Second, take note of your negative thoughts and feelings. Do you feel stressed? How did that make you feel?
Write these down, then look for ways to manage or eliminate them. If you want to be happier and more fulfilled, you need to focus on what is positive.