A lot of change has occurred in my life over the past couple of years. I can honestly say that at this moment in time, I am possibly the happiest i’ve ever been. When we left home to travel in 2014, a huge wave of empowerment came over me. “I can do whatever in the world I want,” I thought one day. “And if I don’t like the way things are going, or if i’m not happy with my life, I have the power to change it.”

So how do you go about reaching happiness and creating the life you’ve always wanted? Well, it’s simple. You create it.

1) Stop moaning 

Yep, I said it. I mean it in the nicest way possible – but seriously, stop moaning and do something about it. We all do it. I’m guilty of it. I’m sure you’re guilty of it. But if you don’t like something, stop whining about it and take action! After all, moaning will never get you anywhere.

 2) Pinpoint why you aren’t happy 

Why aren’t you happy. Is it your job? Your relationship? Your house? Your appearance? Your lifestyle? Whatever it is getting you down, pinpoint why it’s not making you feel happy or fulfilled. Once you’ve figured that out, you can start to take action and begin creating your happiness.

3) Be proud of yourself

I don’t know about you, but when I achieve something it brings me a tremendous amount of joy. But often, that joy is short lived and we move onto the next goal pretty quickly. Take a moment to reflect on your accomplishments and be proud of what you’ve achieved! You might not be where you want to be in your career, or you might not have reached your fitness goals by now, but you’re in a better position than you were yesterday. And that’s amazing. Remember, strive for progress, not perfection. 

4) Find the good in the bad 

Creating your happiness is a lot about shifting your perspective. Life isn’t perfect and sh*t happens, and when it does, we have to pick up the pieces and deal with it. But even in those situations, there is always a silver lining. There’s always something positive. It’s often hard to find when we’re engulfed in a cloud of negativity and emotion, but it’s there. I promise. 

5) Do what makes you happy 

It’s important not to deny yourself of happiness. If you think about it, we do it all the time. We say that we’d love to do something, or travel somewhere, or go buy a whole new wardrobe, but we deny ourselves of it. We talk ourselves out of doing what makes us happy more often than we should.

Now, i’m not saying that you should just go and book that flight to Australia without thinking it through (although it is tempting). But if going to Australia will make you happy, be proactive and think about what you can do to get there. If doing yoga every day will make you happy, wake up 20 minutes earlier to squeeze in an early morning session. If your job is making you miserable, stop denying yourself of happiness and do something about it! 

6) Stop striving for perfection

I touched on this before – strive for progress, not perfection. Because what is perfection anyway?  “I want to have the perfect body”, you might say. But what does that even mean? Perfection isn’t something that you can measure. Progress, on the other hand, is.  Track your weekly progress to give yourself that feeling of accomplishment when you move closer towards your goal.

7) Make your day amazing

When you wake up in a morning, tell yourself, “Today is going to be an amazing day”. Reshape your mindset and get rid of any negativity or negative thoughts that may be weighing you down. The only person who can make your day amazing is you, so start thinking of yourself as a success and that will shine through in everything you do. 

8) Surround yourself with positivity

The people you surround yourself with should lift you, motivate you and inspire you to be a better you. If there are people in your life who bring you down, or who dump their negativity on you on a regular basis, consider whether having them in your life is doing more harm than good. Of course, we should support those around us, but if their negativity is having an impact on your happiness, something needs to change. 

9) Remember that you are the creator

It’s empowering to know that we are the creators of our happiness.   

Happiness doesn’t come without sacrifice and commitment. You have to be proactive and work for it. But you are the only person who can create your happiness – not your family, not your friends. Aim high, have faith in yourself and take that leap towards the life you’ve always wanted. 

How do you go about creating your happiness? Let me know in the comment box below!