Have you recently taken time to assess how you are living your life? Most people do not do so. If they do, quickly they begin identifying what they do not have or have not experienced which leads to unhappy thoughts; then they quickly experience sadness and discontent. Often, prior to that moment, there was never any time or thought given to personally identifying what would create happiness; then consciously making daily decisions that are aligned with the vision. Not doing so leads to mindless living, and ultimately creates an unhappy life.
Most people do not delve deeper into ‘why’ they are not happy, and actively do something about it. Specifically, they do not identify what they are thinking or doing – or not thinking and doing – that is limiting them from creating and living a happily fulfilled life. Often, there is little to no personal accountability about what they immediately can do differently to enhance greater happiness. Well, that must change. Consciously choose to create and live a happy life by first self-defining who you are and what you need, then you must engage daily actions that matches.
Very early on, we receive messages that sets expectations on how to live. For instance, messages about what to own or how to live. Most people are bombarded with messages that define happy living by superficial markers – such as owning possessions or titles that indicates status. Thereby, many individuals believe living a happily fulfilled life is based on what is owned or only having experiences exactly like others around them. Often, it is not personally defined and inharmonious to who they are and their core needs. Ultimately, they begin living their life on a much smaller scale than their full potential. Living a life guided by such guidelines increases the chance of living unhappily and dissatisfied.
To create a happy and fulfilled life, we must first recognize the importance of taking time to decide who we are and what we need, then consciously choose daily actions that are in integrity with what we have defined.
Claim your personal power, and consciously shape who you are and how you live your life. Starting now, claim your personal power by personalizing what defines happiness – based on who you are and self-defined desires. It is an ongoing lifelong process that must occur until our last breaths. Sadly, most individuals do the opposite. They live their entire lives going through the motions of acquiring the status symbols (e.g. an expensive car or a nice house), without taking time to assess and ensure they are living it how they choose. They are living life in a ‘check the box’ manner; just going through the motions of what they believe is expected while forgetting themselves in the process. Meanwhile, it may not alway be all that they need for a happily fulfilling life.
To be clear, there isn’t anything wrong if individuals want material things. Yet, keep in mind, creating and living a fulfilling life is often much deeper than material possessions. It is achieved by creating experiences that deeply resonates with personalized needs and values, by consciously engaging in actions that are in integrity with who you choose to be, what you desire and how you wish to experience life.
How to create and live a happy and fulfilling life?
Individually, we must make a conscious choice to take time to define: character traits, values, mindset, what is deemed important, how free time is spent, the individuals that are within close circles, ways to make a positive impact, desired experiences, and personal goals. All must be self-defined and self-directed. Ultimately, having clarity on these key areas will help you have personal power over creating and living your self-defined happily fulfilling life.
We begin the journey of living a happily enriching life when we go inside of ourselves to decide what is desired and, on a daily basis, consciously choose actions that are aligned. It is important to take time to decide on the desired qualities that shapes who you are and your personal goals. Most importantly, engage in actions that area aligned. By doing so, you will shape and design the quality of you life.
Periodically take moments for self-reflection to assess and ensure you are on course, for living a quality and fulfilling life. Intentionally, create take time to assess how successfully you are living – your personal characteristics, what you value, what you are involved in, how you wish to live life and how well you are reaching set targets.
What action steps can I take?
- Consciously decide to shape who you are and how you live your life (e.g. select qualities from a list of desirable qualities and writing out your personal goals)
- Set the intention to periodically take time to define and design your ideal life (e.g. At a minimum every year, but set quarterly self-checkins to see how you are doing)
- Take daily action steps that actively creates your vision into a reality (e.g. Start your day visualizing yourself successfully living how you have chosen)
- Set the intention to live in integrity, by making choices that matches who you are and how you wish to live, but do not beat yourself up over slip-ups (e.g. A minimum nightly assessment of how you portrayed desired qualities and embraced experiences that matches your vision of yourself and life; applaud what you did well and set the intention to improve areas for growth)
- Engage in an life-long process of re-assessing your needs and monitoring if you are living in integrity with your vision (e.g. Remind yourself that creating and living happily is a lifelong process; that requires consistent practices that are aligned with who you wish to be and how you want to live)
So, ask yourself:
What characteristics do I choose to embody?
What experiences do I want to have?
How are my choices matching who I choose to be and how to live life?
