Meet Lydia Kimmerling AKA the Happiness Explorer…
What if, with the easing of restrictions, you could use this as an opportunity to reset your thinking, to become your happiest self and take control of your life? It’s not only possible, but it’s also the perfect time and my how-to-be-happy tips can show you the way.
If you feel like there’s more out there for you, it’s because there is, but it’s not out there, it’s within you. Too many of us are saying we’re happy when in fact we’re stuck in a happiness waiting game saying “I’ll be happy when… I know it will work out, or when I have lost a few more pounds, or I am making a bit more money”. Of course, any of these can add to your happiness levels, but you can only truly shape your future from the present moment. Stop outsourcing your happiness to something that isn’t here yet and take full responsibility for this moment, right now.
If you want your life to change, you need to change. You may have heard that thoughts become things, well it’s not the thought that’s powerful, it’s what you choose to think and how that changes who you are being. Who you are being is what creates change. Below are three how-to-be-happy tips to help you become more excited and fulfilled now, so that by being your best self, you can take control and shape the future you want with more success.
Follow Lydia’s how-to-be-happy tips
1. Visualise your future
Never underestimate the power of visualisation (and no, it doesn’t matter if you’re rubbish at visualising). You don’t need to be able to create the perfect picture in your mind, it’s more about being clear on what you want and then ‘feeling the feeling’ before you get there. Give yourself permission to dream big but remember it’s not actually about this vision becoming a reality, it’s all about how this changes you in the present moment. You can only shape your future from the present moment you are in and when you feel happier, you draw more of what you want in the future, into your present life right now.
Ask yourself: If you were not worried about failing and you knew it could all work out, what would you like to see change in your life?
Take action: Have you ever created a vision board for your future? Invite your friends around with lots of different magazines and start to cut out the images or words that inspire a good feeling for your future. A vision board does not have to just be things that you want, in fact it’s more about feelings than things. Then stick it all to a big piece of card and put it somewhere you can see it daily. Doing this uses creativity to shift you from a state of anxiety into excitement and helps you stay motivated to your vision because you can see it daily.
2. Switch on your happiness
Every time you wake up you’re presented with an opportunity to make important choices about who you want to be, what you want to think and what you want to do. It’s all about setting your intention for the day, which becomes a bigger part of setting intentions for your life. You can endlessly accomplish goals yet the true value comes in who you become along the way to getting there. Life gets busy and it can be all too easy to slip into automatic in the morning – thinking about work, dealing with the kids, worrying about money – before you’ve become the authority on your day.
Ask yourself: If you could show up as your best self, every single day, how would you describe that person?
The Happiness Explorer: Lydia Kimmerling
Take action: Create a good habit by committing to The Happiness Switch On for seven days. This is a daily practice I ask participants of my online programme, The Happiness Reset to do. As soon as you wake up, record yourself on your Instagram Stories setting your intention for the day, answering who you want to be, what you want to think and what you want to do. If you don’t want to do it publicly you can do it into the mirror, but I ask you to do this on Instagram because it’s all about getting out of your comfort zone. By disrupting old negative patterns you reset new positive ones. This is also about learning to not care what others think of you and loving the person you see on the screen. Tag me @lydiakimmerling with #HappinessSwitchOn so I can celebrate with you.
3. Use fear to create positive change
If you feel stuck and you want to move forward, yet you’re going around in circles trying to figure out what to do, I want you to know that it’s not your fault. There are six hidden happiness blocks that secretly sabotage success and they are all connected to fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of not being good enough, fear of being wrong, fear of being judged, fear of failure and fear of change – but as soon as you’re aware of them you can uncover and overcome them. Being able to name it helps in taking positive action, even whilst you feel fearful.
Ask yourself: If you were not afraid of how it’s all going to work out, what one action would you take right now that would get you started towards what you want?
Take action: To figure out what it is you need to do, grab a pen and paper and at the top of the page, write down one big goal you have for yourself – let’s say that your goal is to become a life coach and move to Spain. Then underneath this, write down the big steps you imagine you may need to take to get there, which could look like – do some training, build a website, find clients and learn Spanish. Number this list in priority order of what you think would come first – which in this case, let’s say it’s to do some training. Then break this down again and repeat the process of which one would come first and take that step.
* Want more how-to-be-happy strategies, you can find Lydia Kimmerling at the Happiness Explorer
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