Be Content and Satisfied People

  

Be Content and Satisfied People

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - the Dalai Lama

What’s the secret to happiness? Depending on who you ask, you’ll get various different answers. Yet, finding contentment and satisfaction with life isn’t necessarily a hard science.

Most people who feel happy with their lives have certain thought patterns and habits. The theme is that it comes from within. No outside source can give you feelings of happiness, contentment, and satisfaction. Yet, society makes us believe that our happiness relies on external influence.

But everything changes when you realize that contentment is completely within your power. When you realize you don’t necessarily need anything to be happy, your world opens up. Your life becomes better.

So, what are the habits and traits of highly content people? And how can we start being more like them?

You don’t need more money. You don’t need that new car. And you definitely don’t need anyone else to make you feel a certain way.

1. Practice Gratitude - Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. It doesn’t come naturally, start practising it. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

Grab a notebook and simply spend 10-15 minutes listing everything you are grateful for in your life. Gratitude is such a wonderful habit to get into.

2. Take Care of Your Body - Your mind and body are intricately intertwined. When you take care of your body, your mind, inevitably, feels better.  When your body feels good, so do you!

3. Be Kind - There is nothing more rewarding than giving to others. Small acts of kindness go a long way in helping others - and you - feel good. Imagine a society where everyone was on board for helping each other out? So, spread that goodwill!

4. Cultivate Mindfulness and Enjoy the Moment. Enjoying the moment can help you love your life more. There are so many great moments that tend to pass us by, all because we weren’t paying close enough attention to the right here and right now. Pay attention to every movement and sense. When you do, you might just find you feel happier overall.

5. Be Curious

Learning should never end. Life isn’t stagnant. When you feed your mind newness, you grow your mental muscle. You become more resilient and more fluid.

6. Meditate. Meditation helps you clear your mind and become more in control of it. In turn, you won’t be tempted to spiral into a hole of negativity. This is beneficial since it can help you create a more optimistic outlook on life.

7. Let Go of Grudges and Excuses

Grudges aren’t hurting anyone but yourself. Choose to let it go. It doesn’t mean what the other person did was right, but it does allow you to release those negative emotions associated with the grudge you’re holding. This is totally within your power!

Find Your Happiness - It’s not up to anyone else to provide happiness in your life. In fact, only you can foster it for yourself. When you realize this and start making changes accordingly, life starts to happen for you as opposed to happening to you. We always have more control and power than we realize. But it’s up to us to use it.

 

8 Wonderful Ways to Take a Mental Vacation

More must be done, within the shortest possible time. We are always on our toes, doing this, and doing that; never hitting the snooze button, until our minds and bodies can’t take it anymore.

What Is Mental Vacation?  Mental vacations are basically an attempt to unplug, relax, enjoy, and rejuvenate before heading back to normal life. During mental vacations, everything that is not pleasant is expelled. Only pleasant sights, sounds, thoughts, and feelings are permitted.

The aim of a mental vacation is to experience calm and peace; to place your mind in a state of harmony, and stability.

In all sense, it is as rewarding as an actual vacation, except for the fact that you can’t take pictures. 

8 Ways To Take A Mental Vacation

The first step in taking a mental vacation is actually getting away from everything. After that, you can proceed to

1. Listen To Soothing Music

Headphones on, turn on a piece of music that relaxes you.

It could just be the sounds of crashing waves, chirping birds, leaves in a rolling wind, or maybe the sound of gentle rain. A classical song with just the instrumentals skillfully playing in harmony is always a good start!

It could be some other peaceful sound that translates you into a place of mental serenity and tranquillity.

2. Play Your Favourite Instrument

If you can play an instrument, you can find yourself easily carried lost in the state of flow. It disconnects you from the worries of the moment and gets you to relax. Maybe you love playing the violin, or the piano; don’t hesitate to play your favorite scores.

3. Read A Nice Book

Books are magical. A well-written book can teleport you into another realm, and then keep you there.

Exceptional books can change your outlook on everyday life. It is almost hallucinogenic and provides a great degree of relief. If you already enjoy reading, then try reading in a quiet place, and in a relaxed position (maybe on your bed) more often.

4. Take A Walk

You could decide to take a stroll through nature – a waterfront, a garden, the woods, etc. This will help you relieve stress, and get out of your head. It has the added advantage of getting you some sunlight and exercise in the process.

5. Look At Nice Pictures

Beautiful sceneries, or maybe old pictures that conjure up delightful memories can help you escape the bustle and tussle of the present. You could also consider going to an art gallery and getting immersed in the world of art.

6. Visualize

Think of a pleasant moment. Something that makes you happy, grateful, or fills you with awe. This could be a memory or just a fantasy. The idea is to try to relive the moment. When tension reduces, pressure dissipates.

7. Meditate

If you have a lot running through your mind, consider going into meditation.

The aim isn’t to forget those things but to simply observe them, and let them fade away. It is a way to free you from the influence of those thoughts by becoming unaffected by them.

It takes a while to master meditation, but constant practice can help you maintain your peace in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.

8. Sleep

This is perhaps the most luxurious form of escape. Even those on “actual vacations” still need to get a healthy dose of sleep. So, if you find yourself stressed out during the day, you can go for a quick nap, to rebuff your mind and body.

 

Are You Defined by Your Job? Be Inspired to Strike a Balance Between Self-Esteem & Work

Society and culture encourage us to study hard, graduate with stellar grades, get a nice job, and work very hard on that job.

This charge is doubly so for entrepreneurs – who are hit day and night with motivational quotes, videos, as well as real-life conversations all telling them to grind harder and harder.

The result of all of this is that once a person gets a job or starts a business, they are compelled to work more than is required or is healthy. In fact, it gets so serious that people start feeling bad whenever they aren’t doing something.

 

We Are Addicted to Being Busy

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), anxiety around not being busy enough and staying busy to avoid dealing with negative thoughts or events are real issues.

Some try to fill up their to-do lists with more and more tasks – no matter how humdrum, and unimportant, whilst others become unable to enjoy their work-free moments. This can become an actual addiction if we aren't careful!

Productivity tools, resources, hacks, and all other related products are hot on the market these days because everyone is trying to get as much done as possible within the shortest time possible.

This is because the person who snoozes doesn’t only lose, they become losers. The person who sacrifices sleep, rest, and even their health for more achievements is termed a go-getter. Work ethic and self-esteem are now devastatingly tied together, and some people think this is okay.

Society has put productivity on steroids and placed it on a pedestal. The engine has been set to turbo mode, and guess who is fueling it?

You.

Does Your Job Define You? It All Started With Our Names

A survey was taken about the names of people.

The researchers revealed that the most popular surname in Switzerland and Germany was Muller, which means Miller (as in, a person who works in a mill. For example, someone who works at a corn mill, or wheat mill).

In Slovakia, the most common surname was Varga, which means Cobbler (as in, a person who mends shoes for a living). In the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, the most popular Surname was Smithy (as in a blacksmith, locksmith, gunsmith, or silversmith).

When traced, these names date back to the Middle Ages. Back to the times when people specialized in a single craft and mastered it, so much so that it became a family name. But why?

It was because, back then, communities were much smaller. A single craftsman could take care of the needs of a community. This also meant there was no need for shifting occupations because there was probably someone else who was already taking care of the community’s needs in that regard.

The result of this was that rather than looking for better careers, people just focused on doing the best in what they were already doing.

They had plenty of work too because there was no competition. This also meant that their children had a better chance of success if they just focused on the field their parents were already dominating; hence, they answered the names Smith, Muller, or Varga as the circumstance may be.

And, because back then everyone knew exactly who was responsible for a particular job, the reputation of the family was tied to how effectively they could do that job. If there was war looming, the Smiths could still produce 2,000 spares within a week because work was truly a matter of life and death.

 

We Are Not Carrying Our Whole Community Anymore

Fast forward to the 21st century, and people are still holding on to that mindset.

Whilst it is still good to do your best wherever you find yourself, you need to realize that you are no longer the only one doing that craft and that the fate of the community doesn’t rest on your shoulders anymore.

You don’t have to tie your self-esteem to your work anymore because the playing grounds have changed.

Yes, it is good to be dedicated, committed, and even passionate about your work. It is good to stay focused and do your best, but what is not good is tying your personality and self-esteem to your work.

The truth is that things don’t always go smoothly in this hyper-competitive world we find ourselves in today.

And if you are tying your self-esteem to how much work you can do, especially how successful it turns out to be (because let’s face it, unsuccessful work does not really count) then you have set yourself up for an emotional rollercoaster.

One moment you feel on top of the world, and the next you feel useless. And because you’ve once felt the emotional high from succeeding, you would only be tempted to push yourself harder – by working 90+ hours a week, and even on the weekends, day and night... no days off.

 

Let's Slow Down

You essentially place your self-esteem on something very volatile and tentative. Soon you move from being a hard worker to being a workaholic. You put your health, relationships, and sanity on the line; and for what?

What would be the benefit of all that work if you fall ill? How meaningful is the work if it makes you question your purpose and worth every time some other company makes more sales than you?

Don’t play that game. Take a breather.