A multi-step approach to becoming Happy!

Step 1 of the action plan to get you experiencing happiness fast

The first step to happiness is ‘choosing to be happy.’ Rubbish I hear you say, I never chose to be unhappy in the first place!! Well perhaps not, it would be most unusual for someone to choose to be unhappy.  It is normally due to the circumstances in your life that are beyond your control. The point is, whereas you may not have ‘chosen’ to be unhappy, it is entirely up to you to choose that you want ‘to be happy’ again. Getting back to that happy place is achievable, it may not be easy, it may require you accepting things that you have been in denial about, or even things that are just impossible to change.

I’ll make a bold assumption that if your reading this, then you have at least come to a point in your life where you are questioning why you are feeling unhappy and what you can do about it.

So, if Step 1 is ‘Choose to be Happy’ then unless you make this choice now and then begin the journey to get there, then there is little point in reading further!!

Choosing to be happy, is a just a starting point on the journey to the final destination where you recognize and then acknowledge that you have arrived at your happiness goal.

Of course, all this is easier said than done, most of us have a tendency to be harder on ourselves than other people. So, one of the first things that you must accept is that is ok to forgive yourself, in fact it is essential that you learn to do this if you ever want progress and to become truly happy.

Most importantly you must never ever lose hope of becoming a happy person. Hope is what will sustain you on the journey ahead. As you move forward, even if there are some backward steps, hope will keep you going. The further you are along the journey, then confidence and certainty will gradually replace hope.

Each of us has a ‘balance point’ around which all our emotions, feelings, moods, anger and happiness can swing. Depending on what is happening in our life, the balance can tip in one direction or the other. We should strive to always come back to the ‘balance point’ where our life is in equilibrium.

Another way to look at this is to replace ‘balance point’ with ‘attitude’. A change in attitude can make the most profound changes to your well-being. When you think about it, attitude is entirely within your ability to control, so a change in attitude will affect your emotions, feeling, and moods etc. and have a consequent impact on your levels of happiness. In effect, this brings us back to the point of this first step – ‘choosing to be happy’ is analogous to changing your attitude. With a positive change in attitude it will make the journey through the remaining steps easier and more enjoyable.

It may be difficult to accept at this point; however, the pursuit of happiness can lead not just to happiness itself but to success in unforeseen areas of your life or well-being.

Remember, happiness is a choice, and it is a choice worth making. Once chosen, you will no longer be held hostage by negative thoughts, attitudes or even circumstances not of your making.

The fact that knowing that happiness is a choice will not be enough, you need to experience it, and it is this that will require a conscious decision on your part each day.

There has been a lot of contemporary research suggesting that that cultivating feelings of thankfulness and gratitude can lead to an increased sense of happiness – the journey will be enlightening and the final destination will make it all worth it.

Step 2 coming soon …  “Appreciate What You Already Have – Beware the Green-Eyed Monster (Jealousy)”