What makes happy people happy? Are happy people naturally born lucky? Humans are in pursuit of happiness in all stages of life.

The feeling of happiness is hard to define and difficult to measure, but we all must agree that gratification is when we finally feel contentment in our lives.

Different people have a different experience of happiness; it can be having a stable job or being close to our family. The problem lies when we become so busy working hard to achieve success, wealth, and fame that we have neglected its true meaning. We consciously or unconsciously associate happiness with success. Success is getting what we want, while happiness is liking what we have.

In today’s time, there is a lot of noise, such as social media and material things that influence how we define to live. As a result, we let these disturbances dictate what we should be doing in our life instead of chasing what really make us happy. Here are five guidelines to make yourself worry-free and to help you find fulfillment in anything you decide to do.

1. Always Be True To Yourself

Know and find yourself. Happiness comes from within, through our mindset, not external factors. Being true to yourself makes you free and gives you inner peace. And most importantly, by knowing yourself you will start to learn your strengths and love your imperfections.

Everyone’s journey is unique, so neither compare your life with other people’s nor let other people control what you need to do. Instead, use your strengths as an advantage rather than focusing on your weaknesses.

There is no one way to be your real self, but it takes courage to be so. Listen to your heart and let it direct you in where you are supposed to be. This is the time to take responsibility for your own life because you will never regret anything that your heart tells you to do.

2. Stop Seeking Validation From Others

We often want to please others so we feel good about ourselves. But by doing so, we let other people define who we are. We become a victim, not standing in our own beliefs, working too hard, failing to make time for ourselves, afraid to ask questions and not being able to say no. We all want to be liked, but if it means jeopardizing yourself by pleasing everyone against your true feelings, you will become exhausted.

How will someone respect and love you if you’re a push-over and do not have strong beliefs? How will you find happiness if you’re doing the things you hate? True happiness means freedom, and seeking validation from others kills this privilege. Always remember that you can’t control what other people think of you. Stop worrying about what people think and give yourself validation for just being you.

3. Live In The Moment 

Not everything needs to be perfect before we can enjoy life. Most of us focus on the future and forget to live in the present; as a result, we tend to disregard what’s in front of us. Living in the moment – also called mindfulness – is a mental state of being aware and savoring what we presently have. Its whole idea is to experience and appreciate anything, whether good or bad, that life throws at us.

You miss out on so much in life when you beat yourself up. Live slowly and delight in the process, the mistakes and the lessons that life brings to you. Instead of focusing on what you do not have, count your blessings and learn to be grateful for it. Be patient, take your journey one step at a time, and take pleasure in how life is revealing for you. Bring your over thinking to an end, and trust that rewards will come to you.

4. Let Go Of The Past

We all have a past that we want to forget – a memory that causes pain and lingers in our heart. Holding on to a grudge or anger eats away at our happiness and only causes bad effects both to our emotional and physical health. We often blame ourselves for the mistakes that we made in the past. We live in regret, wishing we could have done something better. This regret causes us to be miserable and can ruin our future relationships with other people.

Whether you treated someone badly before or someone has hurt you deeply, you need to let go and learn from it. Free yourself from the burden of the past and not only forgive the people who have hurt you but also forgive yourself.

5. Law Of Attraction

The law of attraction is a belief that like attracts like, or positivity reacts to positivity and negativity reacts to negativity. If we are pessimistic every day, we’ll likely see more negativity appearing in our life. If we start thinking optimistically throughout any hardship that life brings to us, it is more likely for us to see more positive outcomes.

The law of attraction also encourages us to surround ourselves with people who support us and lift us higher. Always remember that the law of attraction gives us the choice to choose the future that we want to manifest.

Wherever you are in your life right now, if you put your mind on thinking of abundance and happiness, it will soon be yours. Be optimistic and always intend the best for the future.

Scientific Theory

Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, developed a theory about why people are happy, using scientific methods. With the use of exhaustive questionnaires he discovered three dimensions of happiness, which he called the pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life.

The pleasant life is achieved when we learn to forgive and have gratitude for the past, taking pleasure in the present, and looking to hope and optimism in the future. The good life is about finding our unique strength and valuing virtues that we must use to live a plentiful life. And lastly, the meaningful life is only attained when we use our strengths and virtues to enrich the life of others.

With this scientific theory in place, it is safe to say that the guidelines that we have listed above are truly effective. Hence, we wish you an amazing journey towards a pleasant life, a good life, and a meaningful life!

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