How satisfied do you feel with your life? There's a fairly good chance that your answer will depend on when you are asked. You may feel incredibly content at some points, but there are days where you feel so low you wish you could change everything. You will probably find that your answer is content when you have been engaging in an activity that you enjoy or you have just enjoyed a delicious meal, a great time with friends, or something of a similar happiness boost. We tend to savor those types of feelings simply because we are unsettled and restless as a whole. We tend to long for something in life that we just can't seem to grasp. Satisfaction is simply being happy with your life. It doesn't just exist in a moment, it encompasses your past, present, future, and when you look at the big picture. Why is it that we struggle so much to feel satisfied with our present? There are a few things that can make a serious difference to your happiness and satisfaction levels. Perhaps these could help you improve your satisfaction levels with life. Friendships Having a few close friends can give your life satisfaction a 19% boost (100 Simple Secrets Of The Best Half Of Life, David Niven). Even better, if you have a good relationship with your neighbors it can increase your life satisfaction by 16% and beyond that, it can reduce your risk of loneliness by 25%! Spirituality & Religion While religion isn't for everyone, many people report feeling deeper life satisfaction when they believe in something bigger than themselves. It isn't the belief or the religion that you belong to. What increases your happiness is the sense of community that religion provides. It also helps that these types of relationships are built on common values and a core purpose, which is a good foundation to get started on. Additionally, the magic number of friends for life satisfaction tends to be 10, which means religion is a good place to build your core friend group. If religion isn't for you then seek your spiritual community elsewhere – whether it's in a yoga class, a hiking group, or meeting weekly with a group of friends. Volunteering It's not all about what friends can provide you though, giving can be equally as powerful. Consider getting involved with your community and volunteer. If you work with young people, you can expect to be four times more satisfied with your life than someone chasing money. Your Life Story You can increase your life satisfaction by recording your life story. It's all about what types of stories you tell yourself about you and your life. Having a firm grasp of your family history can also increase your life satisfaction. Kids who have heard the stories about their ancestors feel a greater sense of control over life and have higher levels of self-esteem. Set Goals People who set and strive to achieve their goals are almost 20% more satisfied in life than those who don't. Additionally, being passionate about something improves your life satisfaction and psychological adjustment. You don't need to set a goal to become the President, to become a millionaire, or to win a Grammy. Minor successes produce the same boost in life satisfaction as the major ones. So, set clear achievable goals for yourself and when you achieve one, set another. Learning and growth don't end when you graduate high school, college, or finally get that promotion you've been wanting. It's a continuous process and one you should continue to strive for to maintain your life satisfaction. If you don't feel satisfied with your life start asking yourself what areas you feel are letting you down. If you're longing for more – go out there and get it!
0 Comments
Have you ever had the experience where you wake up feeling good about yourself, but then you stand in front of the mirror, and the negative thoughts creep in? If yes, you probably have a poor self-image which has become quite common in today's modern world. So, how to start loving who you see in the mirror? The only answer to this question is to love yourself truly. What happens when you love yourself? Your life gets better, you feel better, and everything around you seems so much more positive. On the other hand, if you keep the negative self-image your chances of reaching goals and making dreams come true are close to zero. Yes, loving yourself takes time and effort, but it is also an incredible adventure that will bring you plenty of benefits. So, open your mind and embrace the potential life-changing improvements that self-love can give to you. Here are five easy ways to help you love who you see in the mirror: 1. Let Go of the Past The first thing you should do to start loving yourself and improve your self-image is to let it go. Dwelling on the past will only make the situation worse, and you will fall even deeper into self-criticism. Instead, take a few moments, think about your past mistakes and learn something from them. Remind yourself that you are merely a person trying different things and that it is entirely natural to make mistakes sometimes. No one is perfect! We are all human! Learn to see errors as part of the learning experience, forgive yourself, and let them go. 2. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others Next, you should stop comparing yourself to other people if you don't want to continue damaging your self-image. Remember that every person on this planet is different, so comparing yourself to others doesn't really make any sense. The truth is, you cannot really start loving who you see in the mirror if you are continually trying to look like someone else, to be someone else. So, remind yourself that everyone in this world, including you, has their good and, let's say, not so good qualities. That being said, focus on finding your good attributes and try to improve the ones that you don't really like. And, next time you see yourself in the mirror compare yourself to the person you were yesterday. 3. Give Your Appearance a Little Boost The third way you can improve your self-image is to help yourself feel better about the way you look. It is true that happiness comes from the inside, but we sometimes need to give our appearance a little boost to feel joy from the outside, too. There are numerous ways you can do so. For example, you can go to your favorite salon and get a new haircut. Alternatively, you can go shopping and buy yourself some new clothing items which will help you feel more confident, motivated, stronger, and happier. Haircut and clothes seem like trivial things, but they will instantly change the way you look yourself in the mirror, for sure. 4. Start Appreciating Yourself Start appreciating yourself and giving yourself credit is the fourth way to help you truly love yourself and the person you see in the mirror. We already mentioned that you shouldn't dwell on your past mistakes and everything that went wrong. But, it is just as important to say that you shouldn't also forget to treat yourself well when you do something right. Giving yourself credit when you achieve a goal or reach a target is very helpful and crucial for improving your self-image. So, next time you do something well, you should definitely reward yourself. For instance, treat yourself a meal at your favorite restaurant, a long-desired item from your number one store, or even a luxurious spa day. 5. Choose Your Company Wisely Last but not least, if you really want to love what you see in the mirror, you should choose your company wisely. Imagine spending time with people who only have negative thoughts. It won't really help you improve your self-image. Ideally, you should spend most of your time talking to people who share the same ideas and interests with you and who will support you unconditionally. So, find such people and create your 'dream team'. Such a loving and understanding environment will hugely affect the way you feel about yourself. Why? Because you will undoubtedly feel the love they give to you, and in return, you will start loving yourself. Plus, your 'dream team' will help you find inspiration and motivation to think out of the box and reach your goals. The holidays are officially here and that usually means lots of cheer. We eat with family and friends for regular meals but also to celebrate. Sometimes we eat just because we can – which is comforting. Comfort eating and stress eating are things we often hear about (and maybe even do), but is it a real thing or just an excuse to eat more food? When we feel sad or down about something or even just bored, eating can often help us feel better. Grabbing a bag of our favorite treats, eating a large pizza with friends or snacking on some nibbles in bed can lift our spirits, but usually only temporarily. When you've finished eating bad foods, it's rare not to feel sluggish, tired and even worse about yourself. Why do some people participate in emotional eating? For most of us, we've grown up with bad foods being used at treats. Most of our parents didn’t offer us carrots and apples when we got a great report at school or behaved well all day. Many children grow up associating good behavior and good times with junk food. On birthdays, we go out to a restaurant and celebrate with our friends, making unhealthy choices most of the time. We have birthday cakes full of sugar and don't even feel bad about it, because after all, it's our birthday! This habit that makes us associate junk food with happy occasions and feeling good is one of the main reasons why people eat emotionally. Another reason why chocolate and sweet foods tend to be the ones we reach for first is because sugar is addictive and gives us temporary pleasure. While we're eating sweet foods, we experience high levels of enjoyment, which is why we reach for the candy and sugary snacks when we're sad. How do you know whether or not your emotions are tied to your eating habits? When you feel low, do you eat your favorite foods to feel better? If so, it's very possible that your emotions are tied to your eating habits. Are you more likely to make healthier choices when you're happy? This is another indication that your emotions are playing a big part in your diet. Food should provide healthy nutrition for our body, and shouldn't be used as a tool to help us feel happier (especially if you're binge eating or gorging on junk food). How can you detach your emotions from your eating habits? The holidays can bring about a lot of stress so detaching your emotions from your eating habits can be difficult to do as it takes a lot of time and effort. One of the best things which will help you with this is to find other things that make you feel better when you're down and/or stressed. Go play, find a sport you enjoy and start or join a game, listen to some good music and dance around the house, go for a walk or do some yoga or other exercise; and if you're tempted to reach for the snacks, make sure you keep healthier options available to choose from such as fruit, raw vegetables or low-calorie crackers and rice cakes. Sometimes our emotions can get the best of us, but if you have a plan in place with all the activities and healthy snacks loaded in your arsenal, you’ll find yourself ahead of the game. Happy Holidays! |
Archives
November 2022
Categories
All
|