Finding Clarity

When I can’t see the wood for the trees, I panic and attract chaos and negativity. On the contrary, clarity makes me feel confident and creates positive vibes in my life. So, I really appreciate it when I can see clearly. As recently I was struggling with seeing the big picture, I stopped and created an action plan to find clarity in my life.

picture: Pinterest

First, I watched Cassie’s “You Are Enough” book-launch party webinar and I learnt what important role clarity plays in your life. When you always keep yourself busy and just can’t stop, you can easily lose track of your initial goals. It’s easy to fall into the trap of sweating the small stuff and being lost in the details. It’s good to slow down from time to time and look back; just checking on what a long way you have come and appreciate your efforts, mistakes and results.

One of the reasons I love journaling is because I can always look at my old notes in the diary and realise how many things I have achieved since I set a certain intention or created a plan to achieve a goal. Even if I can only tick one or two things on the list, I feel so happy and content and empowered. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing your dreams coming true step-by-step.

It is important to realise that it’s essential to create a plan and organise the steps that you can take working towards your big goal. Once that huge dream is broken down into small and realistic parts, it seems truly achievable. And this can be the most encouraging.

After writing down your goals, creating a plan and starting working on it, it’s good to simply let it go. I have often found myself focusing too hard on certain things that I wanted to invite into my life. I have learnt since then that once you set an intention and have started to make it become a reality, it’s okay to let your hair down and just do things that make you feel happy and involve lots of fun.

It could be cooking, reading, exercise, yoga or just spending time with friends and family or alone. Whatever works for you; anything that you enjoy and makes you forget about your work, problems or the chaos in your life.

Lastly, remember that You Are Doing Enough.

Some Secrets of Finding Happiness

Professor Happy’s top tip for happiness is to find the balance between pleasure and purpose every day. Dolan suggests living a meaningful life which is full of activities; being a conscious, mindful and active protagonist in your story. Doing things that you enjoy, as well as completing tasks that you have to do will lead you to the next level. Once you find your passion, the path that you know that you want to follow, things will start to happen and happiness will come to you.

As soon as you finish every task that you have to or want to, you will be happy and content. You will not feel guilty because you have not done something that you planned to do and will be able to fully focus on enjoying yourself and doing something that gives you pleasure. Missing projects or failing to complete duties regularly can cause serious unhappiness. Similarly, living a life without any goals could result in feeling depressed and hopeless.

image:Pinterest

In her video, Shannon Kaiser advises us to always set intentions in order to be happy. Having goals seems to be the key in finding balance between pleasure and purpose. If you have aims, you actually focus your energies into something that is really important to you. With setting certain intentions, you clearly say what you want in your career, relationship, etc. So, instead of describing what you do not want, you better focus on some really important aims and step on the right path, now. Whatever is your dream job or dream holiday, you can get it by simply saying to the universe that you want them. Once you set clear intentions and start acting, things will happen magically. But first you have to claim the dreams you would like to materialise in your life.

So, in order to be as happy as we could be, instead of wasting time and energy with wanting to be too happy, we just need to allocate our attention appropriately, by focusing on things that we want and are important to us. Set intentions regularly, in order to find balance between pleasure and purpose; act accordingly; fulfill your duties and make sure that you enjoy your free time to experience the most happiness in your life.

Next week, I would like to find out what happiness actually is.  How would you define happiness? When are you happy? When have you been the happiest and why? Please write down in the comments below.

The 3D-Secret of Happiness

About six months ago I read a very well-written and positive review about  Paul Dolan's book called "Happiness by Design", so I decided to buy it. As I not only enjoyed reading the book but found it extremely useful as well, in this article I would like to share one of the many smart and easily applicable strategies that the writer introduces to the readers of this handbook about creating your happiness.

Paul Dolan says that we could be much happier if we paid more attention to the “Three Ds”; namely Decide, Design and Do. According to the author:

"Decide will help you answer whatever question it is you have about your happiness, design will make it easier to implement the answer, and do will ensure your attentional resources are running smoothly."

picture: http://www.designzzz.com/

As soon as you are inspired, take the time and effort to brainstorm a bit by doing some research, dreaming, meditation, etc. Simply, just let yourself go with the flow: read, draw, write, take pictures, ask questions, listen to music, exercise; do whatever makes you feel good and use your energy to create a bunch of ideas that you could use for finding your passion and purpose in life.

Once you have plenty of plans, try to organise them and select one aim that you want reach first. Be specific, go into details and make a strong and determined decision; if you want, you can write down a similar sentence to yourself:

“I want to … by … (a date) in order to …”

Now, you need to plan or design the process that will lead to the successful and efficient completion of the task. Ask yourself what you can do today, tomorrow, next week or next month to reach your goal. Write down the steps that you want to take in order to carry on with your project. If you think that you need some help, do not hesitate to contact other people who can help you realise your dreams. 

Finally, just do it! Take actions to your aim every day. Create new habits, certain routines that make you work towards your goal regularly. Start small, do not overwhelm yourself with too difficult tasks or extreme changes in your lifestyle. Be realistic but do not give upon your dreams for a minute!