WHAT CAN I DO TO FEEL HAPPIER?

What you’ll learn from this article:

• Learn the 5 principles to help you thrive, not just survive

• Discover effective ways to feel happy

• Understand the mental and physical aspects of happiness

• Read about how the people you surround yourself with affect your joy

• Find out how to receive a free trial of Ultimate Edge

Here we’ll cover the five principles to make you thrive, not just survive. You’ll learn how to feel happier, as well as become more focused and energized. In fact, you’ll likely find that as you work toward becoming a more joyful version of yourself, your efforts will quickly spill over into all aspects of your life, making you happier and more fulfilled overall:

1. Feed and condition your mind

2. Strengthen your body daily

3. Get a role model

4. Proximity is power

5. Give more than you expect to receive

1. FEED AND CONDITION YOUR MIND

The rationale: Feeling happy comes down to where you direct your thoughts. What are you thinking about most often? To take control of your focus, you have to feed your mind. What you feed your mind is what you become. So to become the best possible you, you need to give your mind the most nutritious content possible. To put it another way, Jim Rohn said, “Every day, you have to stand guard at the door of your mind.” Why? Because the longer you hold things – ideas, thoughts, feelings – in there, the more you start to accept them unconsciously. And then you start to develop meanings that take over your life, likely in ways that won’t serve you.

If you don’t feed your mind, you’ll just be living off the weeds that grow in the empty spaces. By weeds, we’re talking about information that’s constantly coming at us in today’s world with no rhyme or reason. It’s up to you what you decide to let in.

The plan: How do you refocus your thoughts on something positive? Read 30 minutes a day of something substantive. Scrolling through social media doesn’t count.

Scrolling through social media doesn’t count. Read biographies of great people who have achieved amazing things and endured massive challenges – they will help you put your own life into perspective and gain insight. Read books about science and history – they’ll put your mind to work generating ideas. Read about concepts you’re curious about or areas where you want to improve. You should be challenged and excited by what you’re consuming. Not much of a reader? Try audio books or even podcasts to provide the same level of brain nutrition. This will help immensely as you explore ways to be happy.

2. STRENGTHEN YOUR BODY DAILY

The rationale: No matter how much you feed your mind, it’s difficult to make an actual change in your life if your body stays the same. Your mind and body are one unit. What is happening to one influences the other. Whether you feel uncertain or fantastic, your physiology changes. When you are feeling physically strong and powerful, your mind follows suit. Changing how your body works can change your mind and your general worldview.

The plan:

• Exercise. Aim for five days a week minimum. Push yourself so your heart is racing for at least 10 minutes, you’re doing something more than you thought was possible. You’ll build both physical and mental strength this way. The activity is up to you. Just get moving
  

• Create a daily ritual to help make you strong. Myco uses a cold plunge. The shock of jumping into cold water gets blood and oxygen flooding throughout the body, improving circulation and activating the body’s natural healing powers. Your daily ritual might be a morning run through your neighborhood to jump-start your energy and get your metabolism firing up early.

3. GET A ROLE MODEL

The rationale: Models give us templates for how to be better people. When we seek success and happiness, it’s best to look at how others have achieved the same thing. As Jim Rohn often said, “Success breeds clues.” If someone is repeatedly successful, it’s not just luck. Watch your role model work, see how they do it and then replicate to achieve the same result. The same rationale can be applied to happiness.

The plan: Find someone who’s achieved what you want who shouldn’t have been able to do it. One of Myco’s major role models for how to master money is Sir John Templeton. He started with nothing and decided to save 50% of every dollar he earned. Since he started this practice young, it quickly became a streamlined habit. His life also showed Tony that the best time to make money – whether through investments, real estate or in business – are during pessimistic times. You can use this method in the pursuit of happiness, too. Think of someone you admire who is wildly happy. What mindsets or beliefs do they follow that allows them to be happy?

4. PROXIMITY IS POWER

The rationale: Many of us stay around people who are at our level or below it, partly because it makes us feel good about ourselves and partly because they don’t present a challenge. When we stay around people who are comfortable, then there’s no impetus to grow.

However, put yourself consistently in environments that are larger than you’re used to playing in and something will rub off. Think of sports: If you play a game with someone who’s better than you, you’ll improve quickly. But if you play someone at your level or below, you never stretch yourself. No stretch, no improvement. If you hang around people who are consistently negative and only look at the downsides of life, chances are, you will, too. Opt to surround yourself with those who are abundantly grateful instead, and see how your attitude, and life, changes.

The plan: You need to be around people who do what you want to be doing. If you keep putting yourself there, something will happen. And one of the best ways to feel happy is to spend time with others who share your passions. We all think about the people we see regularly, so make sure you’re on the minds of those that will lift you up, not hold you down. Having multiple models means you’ll make decades of process in weeks, not days. Yes, staying in an environment where you feel like you’re not good enough can be tough, but hold on. It’ll pay off in the long run.

5. GIVE MORE THAN YOU EXPECT TO RECEIVE

The rationale: Giving will change your state of mind in ways you can only imagine. In fact, Myco says that giving without expecting anything in return, and just trying to be a blessing in the lives of everyone you meet, will give you the energy to do the previous four things.

The plan: No matter how bad things may seem, find someone who’s worse off than you and help them. Do this for at least 10 minutes a month. Maybe you’ll provide them food, have a conversation or help them solve a problem. Whether it’s large or small, offer something to others. Remember: the secret to living is giving. It’s truly the secret for how to feel happy.

Be Great

Coach Myco Guardiano