This is the third part of a three-part series on “How To Be Happy.” For the previous points read, How to Be Happy (Part 1), and How to Be Happy (Part 2).
It may seem like a lot of “things” that you need to do in order to be happy, but really it is mostly UNdoing the misconceptions that we are conditioned to believe about what will make us happy.
If we can let go of our conditioning and just be honest and open people, connected to nature, we’ll find that we are a LOT happier in general.
Why do most of us find that so hard?
Here are the last steps on your journey towards true happiness:
Step 6: Be completely honest with yourself
It is incredibly important to be completely honest with yourself.
So often, people lie to themselves in order to avoid discomfort or conflict, and pretend that life situations are better than they really are.
But keeping yourself in a situation that goes against your inner truth only disconnects you from your heart.
Your heart naturally closes up to protect itself from the pain you cause yourself by lying to yourself.
It had happened to me.
When I have stayed in toxic jobs or toxic relationships, not willing to accept that they were damaging me to my core—lying to myself that the situation would get better, even when things didn’t significantly change no matter what I did.
I lied to myself because I was afraid to let go of the security of that job or that relationship.
Remember to listen to your heart. Once you listen and you know what it is saying, don’t go against it, even if it doesn’t seem possible or practical.
The greatest people in the history of the world listened to their hearts, even when it didn’t seem possible or practical.
And if you can’t change your situation in the present moment, don’t repress the reality of it.
You can practice “Positive Being” in any situation, even when you’re in a difficult one.
And work towards a resolution of your situation while remaining in this state of “Positive Being.”
You may see things changing– even when you thought the situation couldn’t change.
Why are we so afraid to be honest with ourselves?
Well, we might see things about ourselves that we don’t necessarily like.
But the first step to becoming a better person is to accept yourself exactly as you are today.
No need to sugar-coat anything—even your own personality traits that you want to change.
Just be honest about them, and then work on changing.
It sounds much easier than it is, but putting your head in the sand is another sure way to misery.
And you want to be happy, don’t you?
Step 7: Connect with nature regularly
Nature has a beauty and a rhythm that can help you if you let it.
Just go to the woods, a beach, a field, or even to a park, and just silence your mind, connect with your heart and be really present.
You will find out just how much nature has to give to us.
The more you connect with this rhythm, the more you can bring it back into your daily life.
And the more you live within the natural flow and rhythm of nature, the happier you will be.
8. Understand that you get what you give
If you want to be loved, give love.
Not because you want something in return (because that’s not real love), but just give from your heart.
What you want may not come back to you when you think you want it, or how you think you want it—but it will come back to you.
Inevitably.
Just be present and open and you will notice.
Whatever energy you put out into the world in the form of thoughts, emotions, and deeds will come back to you.
So, be very careful about what you put out into the world.
You do reap what you sow.
All the time.
So, if you want to be happy, spread happiness and joy.
Even to the people who are more negative towards you.
And watch what happens.
Step 9: Learn to see life as a game
Life is a game.
It is.
Even when we take it seriously, it’s a game.
What’s the game?
Well, start going after your true purpose and passion in life, and you’ll see.
Start working on connecting to your heart, staying in the present moment in a state of Positive Being, and you’ll see.
Really work on being happy in the way we have been talking about it on this blog and you’ll see.
It’s a game.
There are things you do that bring you closer to the goals for yourself, and there are things you do that take you further away.
The most important thing is how you react to each occurrence.
If you get angry, or guilty, or piteous of yourself, you will continue moving away from happiness.
If you get euphoric, or proud, or judgmental, you will also continue moving away from happiness.
Play the game, and enjoy it.
Enjoy all of your successes, and all of your failures.
Applaud your victories, and laugh when you stumble—then get back on the horse.
It’s just a game.
If you keep this attitude and follow the other directions in this series, you can never lose.
Really.
And you will find yourself, day by day, moving closer to a permanent state of happiness.
Well, that’s all the steps I have.
They work pretty well for me. I hope they work for you.
If you have some more, please leave them in the comments.
As for next steps, why don’t you take a quick test of your current state of well being at the Twitter Well-Being Tracker.
I thought it was interesting. You might as well.
I got a 90, which is pretty good, but I still have some areas to work on.
If you take it, let me know your score in the comments below.
Want to make some real changes that will help you to be really, really happy in life?
Check out my book, 360° Success.
There are lots of practical exercises inside that will hep you manage all of these points on happiness.
