Why do people so often indulge in empty illusions instead of experiencing happiness in the here and now? Why do they postpone their happiness until a better time? How can we plan wisely for the future without devaluing the present? What does it take to be happy, to feel better psychologically right now?
How can we understand what brings well-being and happiness? What does it take to be happy, to feel better psychologically right now?
People often believe that their well-being depends on certain circumstances: the acquisition of things and material goods, achievements at work, expensive vacations. This creates a constant expectation of certain external events that will finally allow them to enjoy life.
But happiness is an internal process. It’s not directly connected to the material world, but rather created through our thinking. Our thoughts shape our state of happiness, which we then experience emotionally in our real lives. Feeling good right now is within everyone’s reach. However, to achieve this, we’ll need to shift our paradigm and no longer dwell in happy fantasies about an ideal future.
Happiness is multifaceted and individual. Therefore, there’s no point in focusing on other people’s preferences and buying unnecessary things. They simply may not be what you’re looking for.
Freedom of choice is paramount. So, think about what you truly want and evaluate the opportunities you’re experimenting with in life. This way, you’ll create your own personal happiness story without tying your feelings to purchases and trips.
How to overcome the challenges of planning your decisions?
In the following situation, a person set significant goals for themselves, tried to achieve them, but failed. Now they’re afraid to take any action.
First, it’s worth analyzing why you’re reluctant to plan your goals. You’re overreacting to past failures. Constantly criticizing yourself will make it difficult to try and test new things. Yes, dreams don’t always come true, it’s important to understand this, but in any case, we can support ourselves and give ourselves a chance to try something new.
How to plan for the future and still enjoy the present? What does it take to be happy, to feel better psychologically right now?
How to turn your dreams into real actions? You can study in advance all the stages of the upcoming action plan to fulfill your dreams that you plan to use and prepare yourself mentally. For example, if last time you felt insecure and ultimately failed, today you can focus on success.
To achieve success and realize the art of planning, it is important to understand your feelings and learn to manage them – this will become an indispensable support in implementing plans. In any situation, it’s best to take a step back, return to the possibility of inner happiness, and act from that state.
It’s important to open the door to positive emotions and activate the feelings you desire through action. When you make plans for the future, activate this inner happiness through supportive thoughts, feelings and actions.
(1) – “ Your upbeat feeling can trigger a chain reaction, whereby your contacts become happier being around you, and they, in turn, help their contacts feel more joyful, and so on. The researchers also found that sadness does not spread as robustly as happiness.”
Principles for overcoming the most difficult situations
They are universal and apply to any area of life: family, love, children, work, achievements.
Principle #1
You need to determine what you’re ready to do right now. This step should lead you toward ease, clarity, and understanding. This action can be absolutely anything, but it should be completely accessible to you in the next moment. Your goal is to enter a state of ease, clarity, and understanding.
Principle #2 The principle of self-feedback
Actively perceive the situation, rather than fixate on or ignore mistakes.
Whenever something doesn’t work out, take a break (1-2 days) and then analyze what happened by asking questions:
Specifically, what went well, because you did something, made an attempt?
What did you do well, but not well enough, and need to be improved?
What is missing for the result (add a new element here)?
All answers are specific to you and your state, behavior, and focus. Answers should not shift the influence of the situation onto others.
Principle #3 The principle of simple to complex
The simplest level of solutions is the level of change: we change our behavior, perform a new, one-time action, something very simple. Start the day with tea or a glass of water instead of coffee. Do 10 squats or 100 jump rope exercises before leaving the house. This is all behavioral change, easy to change.
Only by taking steps at the behavioral level, achieving positive results and energy, can we shift ourselves in a positive direction. And engage in learning. This includes courses, schools, new professions, psychotherapy – anything.
Only after completing the learning stage (which takes at least six months) can we shift our focus to our personality.
(1) – Harvard Medical School; Health and happiness go hand in hand; November 1, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/health-and-happiness-go-hand-in-hand
