‘To win and be happy’ is a phrase that will strike a different chord in each and every human. And yet seemingly enough, humans want to a have a strong relationship with winning and happiness. But they seem to have forgotten to what that looks like in the brain today. Rather than being in the passenger’s seat of this process, become the driver and can take control of your life to hack into your brain’s neurochemicals for a ‘win and happy’ situation.
What is the hamper trigger to win and be happy?
While living in this tech invaded world, nothing seems good enough or convincing enough to keep us happy forever. Materialistic gains become the drivers for what most of us look to at some point for happiness. So how to win in life? However, if you think back you’d probably observe that what truly brought joy to you was rather different than what it’s now made out to be in the materialistic tech-invaded lifestyle. Everyone will agree that majority of their childhood was just about experiencing true happiness. Even though you didn’t actually realize, how treasurable that form of pure happiness was. Now as an adult, it looks like happiness is something we all have to work hard for. As we grow older, life can get challenging. And most of us don’t mean to become unhappy. It just happens. It’s just taking the proper steps to recognizing happiness that exists all the time within us.
Happiness is undeniably present in mundane things you do every day. Your brain is a positive feedback system and if you have managed to sustain that, winning and being happy will lead to more of it. Generally all it takes is a slight attitude modification to keep your brain feeling good. Then start it on an upward cycle to reach that happiness stage.
If you think you’re now going to be given a dose of optimism, you are politically correct. However this list differs from the usual monotonous ones because each topic is designed to help you take action. Rather than giving you a temporary adrenaline rush of motivation and pushing you back to your seat of losing and being unhappy the next day. Getting back to our main plot, here are few best ways to make life more worthwhile.
Start Writing
Set goals and write them down. Imagine yourself as to how and where you will be one, three or five years from now. Set deadlines and write down how you will achieve them. This will give you a clarity as to which direction your life is heading and make planning the processes much easier.
Create a gratitude journal. Savor your good times writing them down. Plan to write what you are grateful for that happened during the day. Also be grateful for the daily necessities of life easily available to you and write them down in your gratitude journal. This will set your mind on an optimistic thought pattern even when you are have a tough day.
Write down ideas. Ideas can strike a chord in your mind anytime during the day. May be when you are in a shower or eating a delicious meal. Write down those ideas immediately since it will relieve the stress of losing your thoughts to time.
Release your anger through writing. If you are angry on something or hurt by someone, write down your expressions for that person or situation on a piece of paper. Then burn that paper or bury it somewhere. This will be an expressive activity for your mind to release those feelings of resentment. Since holding on to them may cause harm to your emotional health.
Develop an incredible mental attitude
Live in the present moment. Stop lingering about the past and constantly imagining a better future. These will just lead you to anxiety and depression. Renowned saints like Buddha have time and again said that to ‘Live in the Now’ is a universal law. If this becomes difficult for your mind initially, stick small notes everywhere in your room and work place to constantly remind you that and induce it in every muscle of your body.
Pray on a daily basis. This can be a gratitude prayer or a way of blessing the earth that fosters humans or sending positive vibes to those in need. Be it anything, it is the best way to communicate with God, nature and humanity. Especially today when uncertainty is on its peak and some horrifying events taking place globally give us a negative mind set. Set a daily schedule for an early morning or before bedtime prayer. If you manage to do both, that will be extremely beneficial.
Maintain a strong body posture and healthy facial expressions. Drooping over, with a sulk on your face is a certain fire formula for feeling low. When you stand tall and smile wide not only will you trick your mind into thinking all is well with the world, but you will also look attractive and that will ultimately make you happier.
Smile and laugh a lot more. Many will think we smile when we feel happy, but it works vice versa too. One can feel happier when they smile. Laughing is equally relative. There’s not much alteration in your brain between false and unpretentious laughter and before you know it, forced laughing can often lead to a real laugh.
Create a healthy lifestyle
Be more physically active. Exercise daily. This cannot be emphasized more, and it may sound repetitive and monotonous but it’s the ultimate truth to good health and longevity. Human beings are meant to be physically endorsed to sustain for long. Primitive man had all his activities on his toes, hunting, working, making his own shelter, etc. Modern lifestyle has tremendously changed that attitude. Exercising doesn’t necessarily mean paying a handsome and joining a gym or some fancy zumba class. Simply wake up and take a morning stroll around your surroundings. Watch YouTube videos and practice Zen activities like yoga and meditation. Today everything gets inevitably handy to us by way of technology. Curb excuses and take action.
Eat well. Again the same old boring stuff. But this time we say, balance you good meals with your junk meals. Research suggests that having junk food mentally satisfies most people and hence it is not all that toxic as it is thought to be. However surviving on it solely won’t be a good idea either. Majority of the days make it a point to indulge in a healthy diet. However you can indulge in your favorite delicacies that might not be that healthy once in a while rather than completely cutting them out from your lifestyle. This will be difficult and will curb you to just make a start towards being healthier.
Spend time in nature and get some sunlight. Sunlight helps boost the production of serotonin and release melatonin in your brain. This will help you sleep well at night. Get outside in your office lunch hours to get some sun and nature or take a break and step outside to soak in the sun.
Spend time around animals. Just a simple act of going bird watching or relishing the company of a dog can be favorable to your well-being. Animals from dogs to rabbits are often used for therapy in hospitals and nursing homes. Taking care of an animal teaches responsibility and stimulates feelings of faith, candidness and friendship.
Balance persistence and adventure
Look for a purpose in life. The great saint Buddha exclaimed that one’s purpose in life is to find a purpose and give your entire heart and soul to it. This is what will excite you and drive you to jump out of bed with purpose each morning. Not all would know what their life purpose would be. Some may have to look for it and for that follow your intuition, chase your passions, and track your ecstasies. If nothing works, get doing something potential and fall in love with what you do. It’s not always looking for what you love. You can also love what you are already doing. So think practically and then get to actions.
Travel a lot more often than you think you should. You perhaps already knew this, but it’s good to have it confirmed. Travel lover wanderers have known this for a long time now. There’s nothing materialistic that you can buy that can compare to the joy of exploring a foreign place. Even the bad travel experiences teach you some good life lessons. The good news is that anything you do while you travel will bring success.
Whatever does not serve your future learn to let it go. Think about things in your life that cause you pain and distress and take steps to release them from your memories. This is one of the most important things to do since these will hamper your mental health. It’s also a good habit you can cultivate for the rest of your life that will help you stay responsible of your decisions and not engage in things that hurt you.
Indulge and create good hobbies. Horse riding, martial arts, learning a new language, trekking and pottery – there can be an infinite list for hobbies. But indulging in one or many of them will definitely increase the happiness quotient in your life. In fact balancing hobbies with your work life will act as stress busters and dose of mindful medicine which is so inevitable in the hectic lifestyle we follow today. By simply thinking that getting time for such activities will be difficult, you will obnoxiously cut down to your daily motivation drivers.
The stride of modern lifestyle is agitated. With so many stress-triggers existing, it’s easy to understand why so many are depressed and stressed majority of times. Moreover, happiness doesn’t have to be this enigmatic thing that is outside your reach. These will act like serious reminders.
By implementing simple strategies highlighted here, you will get a step closer to a worthy living. We get what we focus on. So always remember to focus on how to win and be happy. Winning and happiness is not a destination, it’s a lifestyle choice.
