3 Strategies for Finding Happiness
Happiness is a universal goal.
Having a more fulfilling and joyful life, one that allows us to experience more happiness is undoubtedly appealing.
This goal may be one that’s regularly top of mind. But when you’re driven and focused on your career and success, happiness may seem like a goal for future you. One you will get to just as soon as you hit some arbitrary milestone. One that will come when you’re finally done with the hustle and the grind.
But happiness shouldn’t be postponed until some distant goal is achieved.
Happiness needs to be practiced now. Intentionally built into your life journey instead of viewed as a final destination.
Truly achieving the goal of happiness is about finding joy and contentment in the present moment while pursuing your ambitions.
Accepting the Good AND the Bad
The first step to a happier life is to accept that life is actually going to suck about half of the time.
Now, wouldn’t it just be easier to strive to be happy all the time?
Sure…
But being happy all the time would mean you would have to be happy about everything. Things like losing loved ones or the countless terrible things happening in the world.
And, without experiencing the lows of sadness, frustration, exhaustion, or whatever other negative emotion you’re running away from, how can you truly appreciate and understand the high of feeling happy?
It’s the lows that make the highs that much more enjoyable.
Life is a journey filled with ups and downs, triumphs and challenges. To find happiness, we must learn to accept and navigate both the good and the bad. Resisting or denying the less pleasant aspects of life can lead to stress, anxiety, and ultimately…unhappiness.
Here are some strategies to help you embrace the full spectrum of your life:
1. Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the art of being fully present in the moment, without judgment. By practicing mindfulness, you can gain a greater awareness of your thoughts and feelings. This awareness will help you accept them as a normal part of the life journey, whether they are positive or negative.
2. Embrace a Growth Mindset: Instead of viewing setbacks or failures as roadblocks, see them as opportunities for growth. A growth mindset allows you to learn from your experiences and ultimately find happiness in personal development.
3. Don’t Avoid Emotions: Often, the negativity we feel towards an emotion is due more to our resistance to it, rather than the emotion itself. If you’re feeling sad, allow yourself to feel sad. Strip away the extra drama of the judgment or disappointment of feeling the sadness in the first place. You may find that the negative emotion is just a little more tolerable once the extra drama is gone.
Decide on Happiness
Happiness can be a big lifestyle adjustment.
Happiness comes from making our day-to-day lives more enjoyable.
This means you may have to get rid of the thoughts and activities that aren’t bringing you joy. A lot of which you’ve probably been practicing for years and unintentionally incorporating into your daily life.
You have to first decide what actually brings you joy. This will help you understand what you want more of, so you also know what to get rid of.
Find clarity on what you want.
Deciding what changes to make in your life requires self-reflection and an understanding of your values, desires, and priorities.
Here are some steps to help you along your journey toward happiness:
1. Self-Reflection: Take time to reflect on your life as it is now. What aspects bring you joy, and what causes stress or dissatisfaction? Journaling is a great tool for digging in, without judgment, to get clear on what you want or don’t want.
2. Define Your Values: What truly matters to you? Is it career success, family, personal growth, or something else? Identifying your core values will guide your decisions in aligning your life with what brings you happiness.
3. Set Goals: Once you have a clear understanding of your values, set specific goals that reflect them. These goals could be related to your career, relationships, health, or personal development. Maybe it’s removing things from your life like working less. Or maybe it’s adding to your life like spending more time with your loved ones.
4. Prioritize: Not all changes need to happen simultaneously. Prioritize your goals. Pick one or two you want to act on now so you can avoid feeling overwhelmed by these new lifestyle changes
Time Management and Happiness
Finally… it’s time for the time management finale.
To prioritize happiness… you have to schedule time for things that make you happy!
Time management plays a pivotal role, especially if you’re already feeling stretched thin with your current obligations.
Efficiently managing your time can help you strike a balance between your professional and personal life while ensuring you still have time for the things you’ve decided will bring joy to your days.
Here are some strategies to leverage time management for a happier life:
1. Delegate and Outsource: Start by removing what doesn’t bring you joy. No, you can’t remove all of it (remember, life is going to suck half of the time…embrace it.) But find where you can. Don't be afraid to delegate tasks at work and home to free up your time for more meaningful activities. Whether it's assigning work to colleagues or hiring help for household chores, delegation can relieve stress and create more time for happiness.
2. Schedule It: Schedule time for the things that do bring you joy and that you want more of in your daily life. Put these activities on your calendar FIRST! Then schedule other activities with the time you have left. This structured approach ensures you make time for happiness.
3. Learn to Say No: Overcommitting can lead to burnout and unhappiness. Be selective about the commitments you take on and learn to say no. If my people pleasers out there are struggling with this, it can be helpful to know what you’re saying “yes” to when handing out your “no’s”. For instance, you may decline to help with a new project at work that doesn’t seem interesting. While the “no” may seem scary, it could mean that you’re saying “yes” to a mentorship opportunity you’d like to get involved with.
4. Reflect and Adjust: Schedules are not set in stone. And the focus and priority for each season of life will shift. Periodically review your calendar and time management strategies and adjust them as needed to ensure you are filling your days with opportunities that still elicit joy. What worked yesterday might not work today. Be flexible and willing to adapt.
When in pursuit of ambitious career goals, it's essential not to lose sight of the primary objective: a happy and fulfilling life.
Happiness is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey that should be integrated into your life every day.
Accepting both the good and the bad of life, getting clear on what happiness actually means to you, and using time management strategies to incorporate more joy in your life can help even the most ambitious career women strike a balance between work and well-being.
Remember, happiness is not something you find at the end of the road; it's something you create on the journey itself.
