What is happiness to you? What is happiness that is not attached from external sources or things? The kind of happiness that is not attached to what you accomplish or achieve, your fame or what you own.
I want you to know that you can find that true kind of happiness. The kind of happiness that comes deep from within, that cannot be shaken by the world around you.
I want to lead you towards that inner peace that comes from that true source of happiness. The kind of happiness that makes your heart smile. The following 7 steps below will be a gentle guide towards finding that true joy from within yourself.
Prioritize You
Prioritizing you. It sounds so simple, but in a world demanding your attention it can be often the hardest thing to do. Especially if you come from people pleasing tendencies and you have a habit of putting others’ needs before your own. If you are used to this it may seem foreign and unnatural to you to put yourself first.
You may need to start setting boundaries around your time in order to create space and sacred time just for you. That’s ok. Whatever you need to do to take care of yourself and put your needs first is important.
For someone who this may seem absolutely foreign to, what does this even look like? This could look like waking up before everyone in your house to spend some time just for yourself. This could look like going for a walk on your own, or taking a bath before your kids take all the hot water. This could look like going to your favorite coffee shop before you come home and reading a few pages of your favorite book. It could be taking a mental health day from work and doing something special for yourself.
Prioritizing yourself does not have to be grand or even take up much time. Prioritizing yourself is more the act of doing something that allows you to care for yourself first. It is saying “yes” to you before you say “yes” to everyone else.
It is a powerful practice to put into place as it sends the message to you that you matter and that you are important. This is imperative because you do matter and you are important. It signifies the importance of spending time just for you.
Building happiness from within starts with prioritizing you and taking time to do the things that make you happy.
Do more self-care activities
Just as prioritizing you is important, so is building more self care practices into your daily routine. Self-care practices may seem like a waste of time, especially when you’re always in a hurry to run to your next task, but it is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.
Why is it so important? Taking time to do self care activities helps nurture and restore yourself. It rejuvenates your soul and sends the message that you love yourself. It signifies that you are worth taking care of and being loved on.
What does this look like? Self care activities can be whatever practices you need to put in place to help you feel your best self. This could be going to bed early, taking a hot bath before bed, and/or spending time meditating and journaling in the morning. This could be scheduling a massage once a week, doing stretching exercises, or going for a walk or bike ride in the park.
Whatever rejuvenates and rests your soul is self care. Whatever lifts your spirit and makes you feel rested, loved, supported.. That is self care. That is the foundation on which inner happiness is built.
Volunteer or offer service in some way
Offering service to others or volunteering can be a wonderful way of building inner joy. It can open up your eyes to a world outside your own and see the impact you can make. The smiles you put on others’ faces will make you smile even bigger inside.
I know you may think, but how will I have time for such activities when my schedule is already overloaded? Doing acts of service or volunteering does not need to take much time at all to make an impact. Try texting a friend to let them know you are thinking of them.
Give someone a compliment. Volunteer at a pet or homeless shelter. Buy someone flowers. Write a handwritten thank you note or letter to a friend. Offer to babysit an overworked and stressed out mom friend. Leave a little love note for your special someone to find to help brighten their day.
Doing small acts of service can leave a bigger impact than you can realize. That one compliment or flowers you gave may have brightened that person’s whole day. That one night off you gave to an overworked and tired mom may have been the one thing she needed to get through.
Never underestimate every small gesture made out of love. For that love will surely come back to you. There is never an act of kindness too small. For the fulfillment gained will always be greater in return.
Meditate and self reflect
In order to create inner happiness you must start with your inner world. Meditation and taking time to self reflect can be a beautiful way to set the tone for your day. Meditation, whether you are new to the practice or not, can help calm anxiety and stress and help elevate your mood.
Self reflection, whether through journaling or just mindfulness, can help guide your heart through what needs to prioritized or what needs more attention. Both practices together can help lead you down the right path towards inner happiness and peace.
If you are new to meditation, just start with 5–10 minutes. You can listen to a guided meditation or frequency sound music which I find especially healing. Sit in a relaxed position, either laying down or sitting, placing your hands to your sides, or across your heart. Close your eyes and focus on slowing your breathing down. If a thought enters, let it gently float on by without holding any attachment to it. Continue on until you feel centered, grounded and renewed.
Then slowly open your eyes and use this time for your self reflection. Usually after a meditation practice is the best time as your mind is the most clear.
You can start by writing down whatever thoughts come to mind. Emptying all your anxieties and worries. What filters through afterwards is what your heart wants to tell you. Those words revealed from your heart is your inner compass towards the happiness and peace you seek.
Spend more time outside
Do you ever feel that beautiful calmness that surrounds you as soon as you step foot outside in nature. Nature is healing and rejuvenating. Anytime you feel overly stressed, worried, or anxious, let nature be your refuge.
Taking more activities outside can be so incredibly healing. Start by taking your lunch and eating it outside. Take the book you’re reading to a park. Go for a walk outside on your coffee date. Take your workout or stretching activities outdoors. Whatever the activity, incorporating more time outside will help you feel more alive and renew your spirit.
Nature has a beautiful way of slowing you down and reminding you of what is important. As often as you feel anxious or stressed throughout your day, you need those reminders of what is truly important. Do not worry about the things you cannot control, let go of the past you cannot change, and let everything else fall into place as it should be. Nature can be that reminder for you, so seek its refuge as often and in as many ways you can.
Speak positive affirmations to yourself
Cultivating inner happiness starts with being kind to your inner self. How often do you find yourself ruminating over negative thoughts about yourself in your head? How about instead of tearing yourself down with negative self talk, you lifted yourself up with affirmations that were positive.
If this is foreign to you, you can begin the habit by writing down all the things you love about yourself. You can then write little affirmations to yourself on sticky notes around your house where you can see them. Lastly, you can set little reminders to yourself on your phone with uplifting words for you to hear and be reminded of.
Turning your negative self-talk into a positive will transform your mind and help you have a more positive outlook towards life. You will feel more capable of doing the things you set out to do and the truth that you are worthy of all that is good in this life.
Set and work on goals for yourself
Do you ever notice that when some people retire they almost lose their will for life? They stop taking care of themselves and because they have no more goals for their life and they begin to shut down physically and emotionally towards life.
Not having goals, no matter the stage in your life, will take away your zest for life. The goals you create gives you a sense of purpose, a will to better yourself and your life. You deserve that for yourself. You deserve to give yourself the best that life can offer. You deserve to be happy and to follow your dreams.
Setting even small goals for yourself will help give you purpose. As you begin to accomplish those goals it will fuel your confidence for even bigger goals or towards the big dreams that you hold.
Write your goals down, big or small and follow each action step needed to take to make those dreams happen. The inner happiness you will create through chasing your dreams and goals will make you feel unstoppable.
Final Thoughts
Happiness starts from within. True genuine happiness is cultivated from the springs of your inner well that pours into and touches every other aspect of your life.
How do you create such happiness? It starts from the simple practices that trickle down into the habits that will eventually change your life. Practices like prioritizing yourself, doing more self-care activities, and spending more time outside. Habits like being of service, meditating and self reflection, setting and working towards goals for yourself and speaking positive affirmations.
Happiness that comes from within does not happen overnight, but it can be created in a shorter time than you think. Begin by incorporating these simple yet powerful practices and you will soon begin to feel what you may have been missing all along.
You will learn and feel that nothing can truly be compared to the joy that is felt from genuine inner happiness and peace.
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