Three Steps to Create a Happy and Fulfilled Life
Posted Under: Achieve Greater Success,Create Amazing Relationships,Self-Improvement
As I pondered my life recently, it occurred to me how satisfied I am with my life as it is today.
Sure, I’m still a work in progress but life is so different than the years I spent in pain and struggle. For nearly twenty years, I persevered through hard times including divorce and single-parenthood, three layoffs, a mountain of debt, an illness that had me near death – hey, we all have our stories, right? While I do not forget from where I have come – it has made me who I am today, enabling me to do all that I do, and for that I am truly grateful – I am excited and relieved that finally, finally, I have found peace, health, love, and happiness.
When I consider “how” I got here – how does one create happiness and goodness in their life? There are three things that one needs to do in order to turn their life into a happy and fulfilled masterpiece.
1) Say NO to what doesn’t make you happy.
Eliminate all that isn’t good, all that doesn’t work – the people, places, and things that drag you down, devalue you, and cause you pain and heartache. You must be willing to let go of anything and everything that does not honor you.
In order to pave the way for you to create a fabulous life, you have to eliminate those things that do not bring you joy. What don’t you want to be doing? By becoming aware of the things that drain your energy and deplete you, you can start to eliminate them, creating space for the things that add to your life.
2) Plant yourself in the darkness of your life.
Stop living in denial and avoiding dealing with stuff. By trying to run from what ails you, you remain in pain. Identify your tolerations - your frustrations, fears, addictions, stresses, self-esteem issues, areas of unhappiness and pain. Then, handle them once and for all. Get into integrity and stop doing things to hurt yourself. Work on your personal development to improve your self-esteem and confidence. Stop sabotaging your success. Accept your past. It’s over. Stop carrying it with you into the present. Anger is about the past; anxiety is fantasizing a potential future. Learn how to live in the moment.
Og Mandino tells us: “To grow and multiply it is necessary to plant a wheat grain in the darkness of the earth and my failures, my despairs, my ignorance, and my inabilities are the darkness in which I have been planted in order to ripen.”
There is a reason you have been given the lessons you are given. There is something for you to learn. Learn the lesson. Develop yourself and move onto the next lesson. Not sure how? Get a coach to help.
You have a tremendous amount of power within you. You are not a victim of circumstance. Sometimes there are lessons you may not want to learn, but they are given to you whether you want them or not. You merely need to learn to accept what is and be open to learn the lessons as they are presented to you.
Focus on living each day to the fullest. If you are not living in a way that makes you happy, do something about it. Face everything. Whatever it is, the lesson will show up again in other ways until you “get” the lesson. YOU go with you everywhere you go; you cannot hide from yourself. Hence, what you resist persists. If you live as if today is the most important day of your life, there will be no regrets when your time is up.
3) Have a compelling vision for success.
You have to know where you are headed. Without a destination in mind, why bother getting in the car?
Vision provides the beacon to keep you focused on what you want to achieve. Without a vision, you’re more likely to flounder and drift with the changing times. A vision is a dream, a possibility for the future. A compelling vision excites and motivates you, pulling you toward it. By having vision, you ensure a meaningful and purposeful life experience.
These are not necessarily easy steps but they are simple. We just tend to complicate things. AND, it takes time. Most of us want immediate results and life just doesn’t work that way. Befriend time. Take one day at a time and make it the best day of your life. And then, if you are blessed with tomorrow, you can do it again. Each day will get better and better until one day, you will look at your life, smile, and say, “Wow, this is amazing! How did I get here?”
Your partner for success,
Coach Julie, Nurturing Your Success
