Five Ways to Simplify Your Pursuit of Happiness

It’s normal for life to have its ups and downs. Sometimes that little voice of self-doubt can pop up, and it can feel overly complicated to be happy. Often, people view happiness in different ways. While for some it may look like getting your dream job or car, others may strive for fulfilling relationships with friends and family. There are many roads to happiness, but simplifying your pursuit of happiness allows you to use your time efficiently to pursue the things that will make a difference in your life.

So, how do you simplify your pursuit of happiness? This article will talk about five ways to answer this question.

Five Simple Tips for the Pursuit of Happiness

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

It’s easy to overcomplicate life. You can attach happiness to achievement and then look for it in the wrong way or place. If you feel like this applies to you, then it’s time to simplify your pursuit of happiness. Take it back to basics and prioritize your time. Read on to find five ways to simplify your life and achieve daily happiness.

1. Start your day with a morning meditation. 
2. Love yourself. 
3. Guard yourself against dream crushers. 
4. Don’t worry about things you can’t control. 
5. Simplify your life and your belongings.

1. Start Your Day with a Morning Meditation

No matter how you start your day, certain things will ensure your day gets off to a great start. Daily meditation can help create and nurture a happy and focused mind. Always kick off your day with a morning meditation.

It can be a quick five-minute practice or a longer session. The important thing is that you take the time to look inward, feel present, and check-in with your body and mind. A regular morning meditation practice can increase self-esteem and confidence and quiet the mind and negative thinking.

Find a window in your day and work to make it a habit. Consistency is key to the pursuit of happiness. Whether it’s five minutes or thirty minutes, make it a regular practice. To get started, try one of the following apps for tips, guided meditation, group meditation, and mindfulness exercises:

• Headspace 
• Calm 
• The Mindfulness App 
• 10% Happier

2. Love Yourself

One part of the pursuit of happiness is to accept and love yourself. When you love yourself, you are confident, and you know your self-worth. You genuinely feel more positive. When you truly love yourself, you stop comparing yourself to others so much and worrying about what other people think.

Try not to let little dramas or dilemmas get you down each day. Life is full of surprises, and when you have a more positive outlook, you can deal with these issues much more efficiently. Self-acceptance is tough, and it’s something that many people find hard. But, it reaps so many rewards. Research shows that self-love and compassion help to:

• Increase mental strength and productivity 
• Lower stress 
• Develop healthy self-esteem

3. Guard Yourself Against Dream Crushers

What is life’s purpose? This is a question that has challenged many philosophical minds over the years. There is no limit on the number of passions you can pursue, yet finding your life’s purpose is hard. Often, when trying to figure out what to do with your life, you need to think about what you love most.

If you are passionate about something a little different from the norm, don’t let it stop you. You may be branching out to a new field or unfamiliar ground, but that shouldn’t stand in your way. There will always be people with negative thoughts. Find a way to guard yourself against the dream crushers, such as not taking it personally and recognizing who the dream crushers are around you.

4. Don’t Worry About Things You Can’t Control

You can’t buy happiness, and you’ll struggle in your pursuit of happiness when you worry about things that are out of your control. You can’t control the world around you. But what you can control is how you respond to it. You can manage your judgments and reactions to a situation.

As you learn to focus on what you can control and stop worrying about what you can’t, you begin to simplify your life. This isn’t something that happens overnight; it’s a journey. Here are some tips for beginning the process of letting go and prioritizing your energy:

• Accept what you cannot change. 
• Spend time in the present. 
• Figure out what you can control.

5. Simplify Your Life and Your Belongings

The majority of people have cluttered lives. You collect things you don’t need, only for it to give you a short-lasting buzz. Decluttering or cleaning is not something you commonly associate with happiness. However, research increasingly shows that clutter does negatively impact your life and your mood. Evidence indicates that organized spaces and clean homes reduce stress, increase happiness, and even boost eating and exercise habits.

To simplify your life, start by cutting out everything unnecessary. To begin with, set aside fifteen minutes of your day. During this time, you can begin to declutter, organize, and clean. Perhaps you want to organize your laptop desktop, declutter your desk, or tackle your closet. It’s more manageable and realistic to declutter in short bursts.

Final Thoughts: The Pursuit of Happiness

Everyone wants to feel happy, and that looks different for each individual. There are simple ways you can bring happiness into your life and live in a more satisfied and fulfilling way. When you listen to your heart and believe in yourself, it may lead you to a place that feels uncomfortable. What’s important is that you follow your passion and don’t listen to the dream crushers.

In today’s consumer society, everything has a price tag. But you can’t usually find happiness in external things; you hold the power within. The pursuit of happiness is unique to every individual. Whether it’s starting a morning meditation practice, decluttering your life, or learning to love yourself, find a journey that works for you.