Happy people have a different outlook on life than most people. Your happiness depends upon how you view yourself and requires listening and thinking about yourself and what you want out of your life. Have you ever noticed that most of us are focused on what makes other people tick but we rarely focus on our inner self and some of the things that would make us happy?
Instead we listen to what society tells us we need to be happy and it often involves accumulating material belongings thanks to the bombardment of ads.
When you see someone who is happy, they have become that way due to their ability to focus on themselves. This takes courage to take a good look at yourself with all honesty so you can determine what it will take to make you happy. It means being honest with yourself and let’s face it, most of us would like to sweep some things under the carpet when it comes to taking a close look inside. On the other hand, if you fail to take an honest look at yourself there is no way change can take place.
So what are some of the habits that truly happy people possess and how did they develop these habits? Well, some are fortunate enough to be taught these habits early on in life where others are required to develop them if they want to enjoy their life to the fullest.
1Who Are You?
Although this may seem like a trivial question, it isn’t if you are going to achieve happiness in your life. Truly happy people know who they are and then they mold their lifestyle according to the principles that make up who they are. If you were encouraged early in your life to pursue what makes you happy, then knowing who you are becomes an ingrained part of you.
If you grew up being told who you should be then you have some work ahead of you to find out who you are. If you continue living your life according to what you were told you should be, you are unhappy because you are living a lie. To be truly happy, you must reach down inside and identify who you really are so you can live a life that is true to yourself and your beliefs.
2What is Your Purpose?
Happy people know what their purpose is and they live their life in a way so they can pursue things that align with their purpose. If you grew up being told what your purpose should be then you will have to do a little soul searching to discover what your true purpose is. It will also require you to make some lifestyle changes to suit your purpose and once you do, you will begin to notice that you are a happier person. You may have also grown up with no purpose because your parents had no purpose or direction so they did not have the skills to teach you how to find your purpose. In this case it will take some time to get to know yourself and discover your purpose so be patient with yourself.
3What Do You Do Every Day That You Would Rather Not?
Happy people live their daily lives according to what they want to do and not what others expect them to do. They live their life according to who they are and what their purpose is. This usually means that the work they do aligns with who they really are and the personal lifestyle they lead is in step with what they want out of their life.
If you are waking up miserable every day or you dread going to work, then these are sure signs that you are living your life according to the expectations of others instead of according to who you really are. Don’t be hard on yourself if this sounds like you because it is highly likely these expectations were instilled in you too early in life before you had a chance to find out what you really want. You owe it to yourself to take the time to re-discover yourself and then gradually start making changes to adjust your life according to how you want to live it.
4Separate Want, Ought, Must, and Should
Happy people have learned to separate what they want from what they ought to do, should do, or must do. Learning to live your life according to what you want takes practice. The ought to do’s, should do’s, and must do’s, sometimes come from beliefs that were instilled in you early on and they do not necessarily align with what you really want to do. Take a look at each want, ought, must, and should and then decide what some of the things are under each category that make you happy as well as the things that make you miserable. Work on eliminating the things that make you unhappy and that you now see were built on false beliefs instead of who you really are.
5Make Decisions Based on Your Happiness
Happy people make decisions that will lead them to enjoyment and happiness. Before you make a move get in the habit of asking yourself, “Does the decision align with who I am and does it make me happy or am I doing it because I think someone else expects me to?”. If you keep making decisions based on what everyone else expects then you are going to place yourself right back in the same position you are trying to get out of.
Although all of these habits of happy people seem to be self-focused they are necessary if you are going to unlearn some of the “unhappy” habits you may have unconsciously developed. If you are not complete inside and living your life according to who you are, it makes giving to others very difficult. This is because living a life according to who you are not drains the life out of you so there is no energy left to enhance the lives of others and give to your family.
