So you’ve thought about your life and you are not happy.
The happy life you’ve always dreamed of is eluding still you. The thing of it is, the thought of all of the things you might have to change in order to be happy seems daunting, a mountain to climb, nay I say impossible. You want a better job, you want to make more money, you want to lose some weight, you always seem rushed, you never have enough time to just relax and enjoy a simple meal, etc., etc. This probably sounds like most people at this point.
You’re right, when you list everything like that, it does seem like an impossible task to find true happiness. So many things to do, so many changes to make. How am I ever going to be happy, you think. Well, what if you tackled becoming happier in lots of little chunks. Baby steps if you will. You probably do this at work all of the time. The boss hands you a project and the first thing you do is figure out all of the components that make up the project, and how you’re going to deal with each one. You may even do this when you’re doing housework or yardwork. Break the whole thing into smaller jobs and it doesn’t seem as monumentous a task. I call it my “Baby Steps to Happiness” system for living a happy life.
A typical baby steps to happiness system might look something like this:
Week 1
Make a list of things that make you happy. They can be as simple as “watching a TV show I enjoy” to more complex things like “getting together with the whole family for holidays”.
Week 2
Now that you have your list, concentrate on doing at least one thing every day this week that makes you happy. That’s all.
Week 3
Try your hardest to not think about what you are going to be doing later that day. For example, when you are driving home from work, try not to think about all of the things that you want to get accomplished that night.
Week 4
Now that you’re not spending as much time thinking about the future, start to really live in the moment. When you’re taking a shower, enjoy the process instead of thinking of other things. Enjoy your dinner rather than think about what you’re going to be doing after dinner.
I think you get the idea. Can you imagine how powerful this technique can be when extrapolated over the course of an entire year? Fifty-two little changes toward building a happier life. Fifty-two things is a lot. Now imagine 10 years? A lifetime? Hopefully it won’t take you a lifetime to reach the level of happiness you’re looking for, but living a happy life is a goal that is always worth striving for and improving.
The thing about the baby step idea is that it doesn’t take long for these little things to start making a difference. It seems that as soon as people start paying attention to what makes them happy (the list) they start trying to find the time to do more of them. Some people say that step 1 is all that is needed to change the way they feel about their lives.
Let’s assume you are not one of these people. Let’s say you figure you’ve got a good years worth of changes before you’ll be happy enough to declare the system a success. Does a year seem like a long time? When you think of a year, think of what you were doing a year ago. Does that vacation you took last year seem like it was lifetimes ago? Does it amaze you to think that you moved to your new house only a year ago? How about your kids? Can you believe that another year has passed and your oldest is going into high school?
Time flies when you’re having fun, as the saying goes. Life simply whizzes by. A year can go by in the blink of an eye. The reason I’m trying to get you to recognize this is that if a year goes by so quickly and you’re doing something new each week to make yourself happier, it will seem like a month or two when you realize the year is up and you’ve made significant strides to becoming a happier person.
Of course, you can apply the baby steps concept to anything in your life that you want to change. If you want a better job, break the steps to getting one down and concentrate on one new step each week. You’ll be amazed how fast you have that new job. A home improvement project, finishing a night school course, going through labour, anything can be broken down into baby steps. And believe me, the system works.
Try the baby steps to happiness system for living a happy life and let me know how it works out for you.
Be Happy 