These 10 Habits Will Help You Live a Happy and Meaningful Life
The first step is to want it.
“If you believe you can change - if you make it a habit - the change becomes real.”
— Charles Duhigg
For those interested in the power of habit, the name Charles Duhigg is bound to be familiar. He is the author of the bestseller "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business".
His book helps us understand that the habits we develop and follow daily have a huge impact on our lives. Thus, by developing good daily habits, you will be able to lead a happier and more meaningful life.
So it's all a matter of habit. It obviously takes time, but with willpower, Charles Duhigg believes that all changes become possible.
In what follows, I will reveal 10 daily habits that will help you lead a happier life if you follow them.
Practice gratitude daily
You always have two ways of looking at life: positively or negatively. You can be an optimist or a pessimist. To live a happier life, you absolutely must join the optimist camp.
Practicing gratitude daily will help you keep in mind how lucky you are to be living a healthy life surrounded by your loved ones.
You probably don’t know Alice Sommer. She is a Holocaust survivor whose life was chronicled in a documentary called “The Lady In Number 6”. At the time, Alice Sommer was the oldest survivor of the Holocaust.
In this documentary, Alice Sommer says something incredibly inspiring:
“There’s good and bad in everything. I choose to look at the good.”
No matter what happens to you in life, there is always good and bad in reality. It is up to you to choose to see the good first.
Learn to savor life
Far too many people go through life at breakneck speed without taking the time to savor this beautiful journey. No matter what happens to you, take the time to savor things.
Celebrate the small successes as well as the big ones. Pay attention to your emotions and accept them, which will lead you to a happier life.
As such, take time to spend in nature. Go for a walk in a park and look at the trees. Simply enjoy life.
Imagine your best possible self
In his book "Think and Grow Rich", Napoleon Hill constantly repeats that to become rich in your lifetime, you must constantly repeat to yourself day after day that you are going to become rich.
This positive mental reinforcement can be used as a daily habit so that you always see yourself in the best light.
Rather than constantly seeing the mistakes and negative things about yourself, look to see the positive first. Then imagine yourself as the best version of yourself. This will help you feel better and achieve great things.
Be kind to others without any reason
Kindness is a quality that is all too often underestimated. Doing nice things for other people for no reason will help you feel better. It will definitely help you lead a happier life.
Seeing what you can bring to others will boost your self-confidence too. As such, you can try volunteering to help people in need in your city.
This is a good way to give your time to others.
Take time to build quality social relationships
No one can live happily alone. This is a fundamental reality. You must develop healthy relationships with others. This will have positive consequences on your health and happiness.
These social relationships must be two-way, of course. Give before you seek to receive. The return will come naturally over time.
Be yourself no matter what
Some people make the mistake of believing that to succeed in life, it is necessary to fit into a mold to conform to what others or society expects of them. This is a monumental mistake!
You can never be fulfilled in your life if you do not give yourself the right to be yourself no matter what.
Some people might not like to see you being yourself. Well, you'll just have to let go of those toxic people. Those who truly love you will accept you for expressing who you are inside.
By being yourself, you will be able to lead a happier life.
Be aware of your value
Self-confidence is essential for a fulfilling life. Never let anyone devalue you. It starts with yourself. You must be your own biggest supporter, rather than your own worst judge.
Once you realize your worth, you'll feel better about yourself because you'll have confidence in yourself.
Better yet, it will enable you to be more likely to achieve great things. Indeed, the first step to great success is always to believe that you are capable of doing it.
Meet your needs
Our basic psychological needs revolve around autonomy, competence, and belonging. You must fulfill these basic needs. First, you need to be able to choose the direction you want your life to take.
Second, you need to look for areas that value your competence so that you feel truly useful.
Finally, you must fulfill that need to belong to one or more groups that we all have. According to the Basic Needs Theory, these are the main things we really need to be happy and fulfilled. It is therefore in your best interest to fulfill these needs daily.
Set goals that make sense
I like to ask people I meet the following question:
"What are your goals in life?"
I frequently get the following response:
"I want to get rich!"
To think that becoming rich is a goal in itself. But it is not. Money is a means, not an end. To be truly happy in life, you need to set goals that give your life meaning.
I often use the example of Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk to illustrate my point. These two visionary entrepreneurs, who hate each other, never had the primary goal of becoming rich.
Their real goal has always been deeper, bigger: to colonize space.
This immense goal they have set for themselves has always given meaning to their lives. At your level, you should seek to define goals that give real meaning to your life. This will help you to be happy, whereas the frantic quest for money will never bring you the fulfillment we all aspire to.
Believe you can do it
The first step to achieving great things is to believe that you can do it. This means taking a positive approach to life, rather than constantly choosing negativity.
You can achieve your goals if you give yourself the means. This means working hard every day.
Since your goals will give deep meaning to your life, pursuing your goals will make you happy. As such, learn to enjoy the journey and not just focus on the outcome.
For it is the road to success that is most enjoyable in the end.
Final Thoughts
There is no magic formula for being happy and fulfilled in life. It is something that you will have to want first of all. Then, you will have to adopt good daily habits to build this happiness throughout your life.
If you follow the 10 good habits I have just revealed, your life will take a completely different turn, and you will get closer to what we all seek: personal fulfillment.
All this is within the reach of anyone who really wants it.
Some reading:
5 Excellent Reasons To Wake Up At 5 A.M. Day After Day - This habit is not easy to follow, but it is worth it.
6 Reasons Why 99% of People Fail When Investing - It’s up to you to avoid making these mistakes to be part of the 1%.
It’s Okay to Disagree With Others at Times, but Follow These 5 Tips to Do It Respectfully - This will help you improve your communication skills.
Bitcoin Is Antifragile, Elon Musk Is Not - Bitcoin doesn’t need Elon Musk to succeed in its revolution.
5 Things School Doesn’t Teach You That You’ll Need To Learn on Your Own To Succeed - These things are essential.
The Two Powerful Words That Guarantee Success in Any Field - Applying the principles behind these words will change your life.