5 Simple Tips for Lasting Happiness

When was the last time you bought something awesome, or did something fantastic? How did you feel when you first got it / did it? Amazing I’m guessing? Over the moon? How did you feel the next day? And the next week? The next month? How about the next year?

As human beings, most of us have the tendency to obtain / experience something, enjoy it for a brief moment, and then move on to the next big thing. Now ambition and growth are fantastic aims. There’s no denying that. But I encourage us to consider that if we always live (in our hearts and minds) in the future, with a new aim or ambition, without a sense of presence, we will always be chasing happiness. Happiness will always elude us.

If we set a goal, achieve that goal, and shift to a new goal without truly living in the moment of achievement, well then happiness is only temporarily achieved, and is solely dependent on the achievement of that goal. If we do not achieve the goal, happiness evades us. If we do achieve the goal, happiness is only temporary until we achieve the next goal. So our lives are at best populated with short lived blips of happiness, entrenched in a state of ‘okay-ness’, or worse, negativity.

So what’s the secret? Presence. Being. I know, I know. Here we go again. Another mindfulness piece. Truth be told, loving what we’re doing, as we do it, moment to moment. Putting out best effort in to everything we do, each and every moment. That’s presence. That’s flow. That’s what the best athletes in the world enter when performing their best. All of us have the capability, but most of us are ‘distracted’ by the past or the future. I encourage you with tremendous love and respect to attempt to complete your very next activity as follows:

1. Turn off and put away all devices / sources of distraction.
2. Give your complete attention to the task at hand.
3. Perform in the best way possible, regardless of what you’re doing – washing dishes, folding laundry, creating a presentation, going for a run, etc.
4. Feel and experience the sense of joy from immersion without distraction. Experience the sense of pride and accomplishment for a task truly well done.
5. Apply this approach in all (or as many) tasks as you possibly can each and every day.

We are all cut from the same cloth. We all have the same capabilities. The ‘successful’ ones (no matter how we define success – relationships, family, health, business, wealth, etc.) just do things differently. What we’re discussing right now, is one of those different ways 😊

Much love,

Ahad