Living the best life is an end goal for many, but only a few achieve it. With the pandemic’s lasting effects on many different life facets, this situation is expected to grow worse. According to a study by Norc at the University of Chicago, only about 14 percent of Americans claim to be very happy, decreasing from 31 percent in 2018. This has made the “living your best life” topic a mainstay in many wellness conversations. Here are a few tips on how to live your best life.
Be Present And Grateful
Living your best life demands you to relish the small things as much as the larger ones, even when you’re not in the best mood. Life comes at you fast as you grow; busy work schedules and demanding family responsibilities can make you forget to appreciate what you have. But gratitude is one of the priciest things in life.
Research suggests that there’s a strong relationship between gratitude and happiness. Conceptualize your best life as a daily thing rather than a destination. This present-minded concept makes it easy to be grateful for what you have rather than resenting yourself for what you don’t have. It also helps to focus on today’s solutions rather than worrying over tomorrow’s problems.
Another tip for staying present is to enjoy the moment. You can do this by spending more time with family and friends. Organize family get-togethers and sports events that include catering parties and barbecues etc. Catering an outdoors event requires a lot of work but is worth it. The fun time with friends makes every minute spent organizing the event worthwhile.
Evaluate Your Life
Observe and evaluate your life. Identify bad habits that prevent you from living your best life. Bad habits don’t only include smoking or drinking. It can be as unsuspecting as surfing the web during studies or satisfying your cravings at midnight.
As little as these habits may be, their effects can be grave on your health, sanity, and performance. The earlier you identify them, the better your chances of battling them in your build-up to a better version of yourself. Consider talking your bad habits through with a professional or reading self-help books.
Purge Negative Thoughts
It’s understandable for you to doubt yourself on your self-development journey. In a perfect world, you’d wish to have only positive thoughts flowing through your mind. But neither the world nor the mind works that way. The mind can attract negative thoughts internally and externally.
Often, what we expose ourselves to and our circles influence our thoughts. For instance, your mind will make you unable to lose weight if you have friends always telling you how impossible it’ll be for you to shed some pounds. It’s okay to be self-critical, but fixating on negative thoughts is a no-go area. Internally, you need to grow a tough skin resilient enough to purge your negative thoughts. Some helpful ways you can develop a negative-free mindset are meditation and stress management activities.
Define Your Future Self
Your journey to become the best version of yourself thrives on a clear image of what your best life looks like. Therefore, it pays to define your future self and what your best life entails. With a vision of your best life, you can develop and align your self-development goals to make the growth process easier.
Meditate
Mindfulness can be a great way to live your best life. Various studies link mindfulness to happier living. Unfortunately, many people perceive meditation and other related mindfulness activities as religious rather than a common resource for everyone to enjoy. Meditation helps to declutter your mind, purging it of negative thoughts and emotions which cast a gloomy shadow on the urge for happiness.
All in all, these tips work differently for everyone. Living your best life is a unique journey; therefore, it’s crucial not to compare your progress with others.
