10 Ways You Need to Start Thinking if You Truly Want to Be Happy
Success and fulfillment do not have to be so elusive.
In many cases, the real change that needs to take place is in your own attitude. These principles can help you adjust your thinking. Once you do, the opportunities will arise. Your new outlook about problems will help you push through them. Your new understanding about feedback will help you stay unoffendable. Here’s how:
1. Remove Yourself From the Equation
The best place to start when you want to achieve success is to stop looking so intently at the mirror. Narcissism is the real killer to achieving more because you forget to involve other people. You’re only “in it to win it,” and that causes problems. Who gets further in a boat, the guy paddling by himself or the guy letting the team paddle in unison?
2. Never Take Offense
There’s an art to being unoffendable. You have to work at it. We all have a natural tendency to react poorly to criticism. Avoid that. Churning over negative feedback freezes you up; it kills momentum. Unoffendable people achieve greater success, they stay motivated and happy, and they feel more fulfilled.
3. Give More Than You Take
It’s a well-established truth that giving is better than taking. The givers have actual, real, breathing friends and not just the fake kind on Facebook. If you want to feel fulfilled in life or work, give back to others and watch as they support you during down periods.
4. Embrace Change
You have to grab hold of change and shake it. You have to pursue it. When you fight it, change tends to overwhelm you and make you sputter into a pool of regret. Change becomes a method of destruction and derails success. When you embrace something new and even enjoy the challenge, the real change happens to you.
5. Admit Faults
You can shed faults like a snake sheds its skin. When you do, the faults tend to slither away and won’t hold you back anymore. Admit them. Ask others to point out your faults. Seek feedback from others so you can figure out how to overcome the problems that are holding you back from finding true fulfillment and success.
6. Have a Thankful Attitude
How you view success is critical. It’s all about how you perceive things. When a project goes your way, be thankful. When it doesn’t, maintain the same attitude of success and know that you can’t always control the outcome. Realize that previous success means you can expect future success. Choose to be a successful person.
7. Seek Feedback
Feedback is not the enemy. The enemy is not reacting to feedback correctly. It’s staying stagnant. True success comes from the desire to use feedback as a tool for change. A lack of success comes from a negative attitude about change. Those who get stuck and don’t feel fulfilled or happy are those who see feedback only as criticism.
8. See the Humor of Life
There’s no question being able to laugh at yourself and others is a key ingredient to fulfillment. It means you are not taking things so seriously that every challenge or setback ruins your motivation and attitude. Laugh when you experience success. You’ll find new motivation. Laugh when you experience failure. You’ll end up in a place of fulfillment. See both your overall happiness and your disappointment as a frame of mind.
9. Ponder Deep Questions
It’s a recipe for success when you ponder the deep questions of life and then respond by being the one who lives at peace. Have you encouraged others at work? Do they see you as a positive member of the team? Are you gaining fulfillment outside of your own efforts and pursuits? Do you value the team over your own agenda? When you ask the right questions, you can find the right answers. A big part of the answer is found in your own attitude.
10. Learn How to Love
Love is not the normal reaction in many situations. It’s easier to act greedy or jealous. Love takes work. You have to learn how to do it in life. Love is an act of self-denial, and it leads to the most fulfillment and success. It is the key motivator. Always.
