SAY HELLO TO THESE 4 THINGS FOR A HAPPIER YEAR
“Unless we can be like children, we can’t be happy. ”
Every year I pick practical and quantifiable goals that are typically focused on my career, financial, and fitness advancement.
The goals are modeled around what I think I should be doing as an adult or what others around me are doing, such as: get a certification or technical training, lose 5 lbs, save 5% more of my income, etc.
I have found that these are worthy goals to have, but they really are not inspiring, and if I am being honest, they haven’t made me happier.
This year I have decided to focus on the quality of my life instead of solely quantifiable results.
I want to shift from focusing on end results and focusing more on what I want to experience aligned with what I truly value. Check out my previous post if you are interested in finding your true values.
I asked myself a simple question this year, and that was, how do I want to feel?
I looked at when I was happiest in my life and went back to what made me really happy as a child. Then I looked at when I am happiest as an adult.
I found several areas that I have been neglecting that make me happy and have decided to focus on cultivating them this year.
Here are the 4 things to say hello to for a happier year:
1. Adventure
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain
Yes, we lost our ability to travel because of the pandemic over the last year. However, that doesn’t mean that we have to lose our sense of adventure. We even can rediscover what is around us.
As a child, I loved discovering and experiencing new things. As an adult, I had it in my mind that I needed to travel the world to do this and have taken for granted what is around me right in my own backyard.
This year I am taking a fresh look at what is around me, and I am finding that there are beautiful things that I didn’t even know about within 2 hours of where I live in Western NY.
I also have an adventure partner, my dog Bert, to come along with me. There isn’t a new smell that Bert will turn down, and it is a great way for us to bond.
Try exploring the world around you like it was the first time you saw it and be a tourist in your home town. It’s amazing what you rediscover, even if it was a place you saw 20 years ago. You are a different person and will notice different things.
2. Curiosity
“As I get older, the more I stay focused on the acceptance of myself and others and choose compassion over judgment and curiosity over fear.” - Tracee Ellis Ross
Now more than ever, you can learn anything from anyone at any time. Within a year, the whole world went online to offer information and perspectives on any topic, and much of it is free or at a low cost.
Technology has made this accessible to everyone, and that is absolutely incredible. I genuinely believe that everyone and everything can be our teacher if we are open to it.
This year I am taking advantage of this and turning up my sense of curiosity. I am challenging my beliefs by opening my mind to how others view the world differently from me.
I am even taking some notes on how Bert views the world. I will push myself past fear and judgment because I have always found that it energizes me to do better and be better.
Try asking more questions this year and challenge what you believe to be true. See where it takes you!
3. Your Inner Voice
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.” - Rumi
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” - Albert Einstein
“Instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.” - Nikola Tesla
In addition to getting more curious about the world external to me, I’m committing to further developing MY voice and MY truth aligned with MY true values.
There are so many distractions, fake news, and noise in this world, it can be challenging to sort out what is true for you.
In fact, it can be totally overwhelming. I still struggle with sorting out what is mine vs. what is not mine by solely using rational thinking based on acquired knowledge and taking what “experts” state as true.
While I love my rational, fact-based mind, I have allowed it to over control and limit what is possible for me.
There are influential and successful leaders who attribute using intuition or “trusting their gut” to their success, such as Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla, Naveen Jain, Vishen Lakhiani, and the list goes on. So why not give it a try?
Check out Laura Day’s book, Practical Intuition: How to Harness the Power of Your Instinct and Make it Work for You, to start getting in touch with your inner voice.
Laura gives practical exercises in the book. You only need a voice recorder, pen, and notebook to perform the exercises.
4. Imagination
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand.” - Albert Einstein
Without imagination, we wouldn’t have cars, computers, and the internet. These are all societal advancements that did not exist at some point, and someone had to imagine them for their creation.
Our imagination pushes us beyond what is presented to us in the world and in our minds.
Imagination is an excellent way to exercise different parts of our brain, and it is also an advantageous way to memorize information.
I learned an effective memorization technique from Jim Kwik, where you create a story and a place for a list of words you would like to memorize.
A good way to practice imagination that I have found is by creating a funny story with my grocery list.
You would be amazed by how much you actually remember, and this is something you can do with your family. Plus, it makes a mundane activity less dull! Check out this memorization technique from Jim Kwik here.
These are the 4 things to say hello to for a happier year. Let’s make this year full of wonder, joy, and pushing ourselves to think in different ways and experience new things, just like when we were kids.
Go Do it. Just Start. Take Control. Report Back.
Jess
Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash
