Happiness is a Skill

My passion stems from being able to share with people the tools I use to get me to my goals. For so long I struggled with depression, insecurity, and the inability to be happy in my own life. Over the last year I have fought back against those emotions and negative things. I sought out to be better, to do better, and to make my dreams a reality. Part of the process for me is sharing with other people the things that helped me in an effort to help solve the problems people have that are similar to my own.

Though I feel healthy nutrition and exercise play a great roll in how far I have come and how far someone else is able to go, I believe equally in the power of self confidence. Without confidence I doesn't matter how much time or effort you have put in at the gym or how many meals you have made on your own.

Happiness is directly related with how confident I am. Also, how much I am able to give to other people depends a lot on my own happiness and self confidence. I place as much importance on my mental happiness as I do my physical happiness. A lot of time, I am more concerned with how confident, happy, or relaxed I am before I worry about how many squats or hours I completed at the gym. 

I devote and schedule time specifically for self improvement and relaxation. I said a week or so ago in my Video Blog Post that maintaining my stress is going to be a key element in the progress I am able to make over this next year. The same way I tell myself I will go to the gym at 5:30am, I also tell myself I will spend 30 minutes to an 1 hour working on myself internally. Many people skip this step!! It is crucial... You cannot expect to change your habits or get better results on the outside if you haven't worked on the inside. For those people that consistently make no progress...perhaps you start something and never finish it... I encourage you to look inward and be honest... are you really working on the mental and internal part of being healthy and happy?!? 

Here are a few things I have found that help me with self improvement...

1.) Love, love, LOVING positive quotes lately! Positive quotes on my bathroom mirror, positive quotes on my desk at work, positive quotes on my phone screen saver. I am focusing intently on changing the way I think, also. If I start thinking in a negative context, I quickly switch it to a positive. This is taking work, but when I focus on it it is helping me. 

2.) I am loving Happify right now!!! Happify is an online website that walks you through activities (or tracks as they are called on the website) that improve your happiness and own self awareness. The same way you work through exercises at the gym, is the same thing you do here. You answer a series of questions and receive custom activities to improve your Happiness. I devote an additional 15-30 minutes each morning to Happify. I devote time to it because it improves my ability to be more positive and happy throughout the day! Start with every other day just 15 minutes and see how it improves your happiness.

3.) I am writing more!!! Writing has become my #1 defense against negative thoughts or moving backwards. I have my spiral notebook where I keep notes and journal my thoughts. My Happify profile also has prompted questions that I write a few sentences about when I do my activities. The questions and prompts are written in a way that force me to find happiness or solutions in what I am doing. It is helpful in keeping my thoughts moving in a positive direction.