How being happy helps you succeed (…not just at work)

Happiness is relative and means something different to every person. But it is absolutely essential if you want to succeed. Not just at work, but life in general.

What can you do to achieve “just the right amount of happiness” that will have a positive effect on your life, work, and relationships and what are some factors influencing the level of your happiness right now? Read on to find out.

To be happy, you should strive for

• Inner peace

Be content and in peace with your current life situation, financial situation, place to live, your job. Life may not always be ideal but accept and be thankful for what you have & what you have achieved so far.

• Balance

Mainly work-life balance. Set clear lines between your working and personal life. Especially if you work from home and try to avoid bringing work home with you if you don’t. Don’t feel bad if you don’t answer a phone call or respond to an email after 5.00 PM. Having time to recharge and relax has been proven to boost motivation, creativity and productivity time and time again, so use this to your advantage. Set time aside each day to do what fulfills you, makes you happy and relaxes you. Be it painting, reading your favourite book or working out.

• Healthy diet and plenty of sleep

Having a nutritious and varied diet will keep your body fueled up during long and busy days at the office. You will be able to think clearly and you won’t be experiencing sudden declines in energy. Stock your fridge and pantry with healthy energy foods such as avocadoes, high quality coffee beans, nuts and seeds, whole grain bread, dark chocolate, leafy green veggies and watch your energy level soare. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep you well hydrated and alert.

Try getting 7-8 hours of good quality sleep per night. Go to bed and wake up around the same time each day. Even on the weekends.

Good tip: If you often have trouble getting everything done throughout your day, try waking up an hour earlier and doing some work early in the morning. You may find that you will get through a lot of work as there are no distractions, everything’s quiet and your brain is fresh and rested first thing in the morning.

• Enjoy your work or parts of it

There is a saying:

“If you enjoy what you do, you will never work a day in your life again”.

Try to find aspects of your job you genuinely enjoy and like. Things like: cooperating with your colleagues, flexibility your job offers, ability to be creative, managing or cooperating on something that interests you, freedom to express your view and opinions etc.

• Positive people and friends

Surround yourself with friends and positive people who make you feel great. People who you enjoy spending time with, who support you, don’t judge you and are there to offer help and advice when you need it most.

• More holidays

Travelling broadens horizons. It helps recharge your batteries, offers creative ways of looking at things, gives new energy and zing into your life and let’s face it makes you happy. And it doesn’t even have to be expensive or far. Even a day or two away from home somewhere in the nature or a different city will be enough to make you look at things with a fresh perspective.

If you apply these principles into your life, you will notice good things will start happening almost instantly. You will find yourself smiling for no reason, have boundless energy, you’ll start having new ideas where you could not see a solution before and people will want to be around you.

It is about seeing the little things and it takes time, but it’s all worth in the end.