HEALTH,  Journaling,  LIFESTYLE,  Personal Development

Defining What Makes You Happy

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We all want to be happy, but do you know what happiness truly is to you? The very definition of happiness is to be satisfied and fulfilled. To each individual, this could mean something entirely different.

Can Happiness Be Defined?

For some, happiness comes from having a large family. For others, it’s career success, or having the financial freedom to go travelling for a year.

Here, we’ll look at how you can define what makes you happy.

Think About What Makes You Happy Right Now

When we think of happiness, usually we focus on the things we don’t have. For example, you might associate happiness with becoming financially stable; something you don’t have right now.

While working towards happiness goals is important, it’s equally important to recognize what makes you happy right now. Appreciating what you have is the key to true happiness. So, write down the things you’re grateful for. What makes you happy now? It could be walks in nature, reading, watching your favorite shows on TV, or spending time with your significant other.

Whatever it is that works for you on a day to day basis, write it down. You’ll often find this alone boosts your happiness.

Write a List of the Things You Want

Now you’ve realized what makes you happy in the present, you can start writing a list of the things you want. What don’t you have that you feel will make you happier?

Maybe it’s a better job, or a happy relationship you’re looking for. Visualize yourself in your dream life. What does it look like? This will give you the best idea of what happiness truly means to you.

Review Your List

Of course, it also helps to analyze your list. Often, what we think will make us happy, doesn’t. For example, somebody who has struggled financially for years, may feel that becoming wealthy would make them happy. However, there’s been many cases where people have gone from rags to riches, yet they still aren’t happy.

This is because happiness isn’t just based on one thing. It’s a collection of things. You may gain financial stability, but along the way you’ve failed to focus on building up meaningful relationships. So, you’re successful but you now don’t have anyone to share it with.

If you want to become truly happy, you need to focus on the bigger picture. Visualize your perfect life and set realistic goals to help you achieve it. The happiest people are those who live in the moment, appreciate what they have and who don’t base their happiness on material things.

Things to Consider…

This is another instance when using a journal and adding visualization can help you achieve your goals — no matter the type!

Loving Life–The Reboot!

Dominique

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18 Comments

  • Anu Ganesh

    First time here and love your blog. Listened to the audio and absolutely agree with what you have mentioned. Happiness is not a constant and varies from person to person. To each their own. Many times, we notice that what makes us genuinely happy costs nothing at all. Happy are the people who live in the moment and I cant agree more!

  • Tessa

    It is so powerful to focus on being thankful for what you have! I love the idea of setting a positive mindset as you move forward toward the things you want.

  • Jessica Martin

    This is a really great post that helped me to think about things that make me happy/bring me joy. For me, even if something doesn’t make me happy, I still try to find a positive in the situation/relationship/etc. You are so right that we shouldn’t base our happiness on material things.

    • Dominique

      Finding the positive will definitely keep our happiness quotient high — even if there are circumstances that make us unhappy. Thank you so much for reading!

  • Dani Flanders

    I love this! In the busy-ness of every day life it’s really easy to forget about what makes us intrinsically and unexplainably happy AND to spend time engaging in those activities! That is a big goal of mine with my blogging project!

    • Dominique

      Me too! I have had to slow down and realize that my son is leaving for college in a year and a half and I need to enjoy hanging out with him now. That’s one thing that makes me happy and I am doing a better job of that now! Thanks for reading!

  • Ladonna Batiste

    I love your blog. I agree with you that happiness is living in the moment and appreciating what you have. In our society happiness is so often depicted as a person’s wellbeing in terms of wealth and status depending on an individual perception of life. In my opinion I don’t believe that happiness can be shown through materialist things, but more so a person’s state of being internally.

    • Dominique

      Thank you so much! Society shows that you really can’t be happy unless you have lots of money, a big house, lovely spouse and kids, and no job (you can’t work and be happy). But we have to live our truth — and not worry about society! Thanks for reading and have a lovely night!

  • Rosey

    I agree that happiness is a culmination of things and being well rounded always matters. For me, faith brings my happy, regardless of other circumstances.

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