Achieving & Sustaining Happiness

GGA Seminar Are You Consistently Happy?

Every choice we make has consequences. When any one thing – such as work, for instance - takes over, it has significant consequences across the whole of your life. Some consequences will be positive and others negative. It is the balance between the activity and what it costs you which determines whether you should continue with it.?

The trouble is we so rarely take the time to take stock of what we are doing and the impact it has on ourselves and those around us. We are often too busy so we do things on automatic pilot and life carries on until there is a crisis which force us to recognise that something needs to change dramatically.

Here’s a great example from my own life. On May 31st 2009 I received a phone call from my sister telling me that my 49-year-old brother had dropped dead whilst doing a final training session for the London to Brighton Cycle race. The Post mortem revealed a congenital heart condition which, had it been discovered, was entirely treatable. It is the most common cause of sudden death in seemingly fit and active adults in the UK. The slightly ironic aspect of this was his chosen charity for the bike race; The British Heart Foundation. The whole family were obviously devastated by his death. However, there was a gift in amongst the loss; the opportunity to consider what is really important in life.

Why wait for the crisis to rethink what makes you consistently happy? Isn’t it worth taking a little time to consider if you are living the life you really desire, whether life could be better for you in small or large ways physically, emotionally and spiritually? Allow yourself a little time to step back and to take stock. Take a blank piece of paper and create two vertical columns. In the left-hand column consider the things which cause you stress, anxiety or a sense of disappointment. In the right-hand column create a list of everything you feel is positive in your life.

Here’s a list of the main categories that most people need to have balance in in order to feel content and happy – but feel free to add your own, and don’t be influenced by the order I’ve listed them in!

·??????Health

·??????Love and Relationships (Partners, Friends, Family)

·??????Money

·??????Self-Worth

·??????Purpose & Achievement

For each of these aspects of your life consider what is easy and flowing and what is consistently difficult and painful. What is getting in the way? (Pssst, here’s a hint; the likelihood is it is you).

If you want a different quality of life the solution is in your hands. Whatever the economic situation, however limited you believe your choices are, doing nothing will change nothing. Even small changes done consistently can make an enormous difference to your life. Working with a coach can help enormously too.

I believe that my brother was one of the ‘lucky’ ones, because I feel confident that he put what was really important to him first and said to his loved ones what he wanted and needed to say. This is a great comfort to me and I use this knowledge to remind myself of how creating sustained happiness in my own life is entirely within my own control.

But it isn’t easy. Reaching out and asking for help also occasionally helps me, and it might help you too. If you’d like to feel more capable at sustaining your happiness levels, then why not

see also:

Genuine Chats - Silence Is Golden https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/genuine-chats-gina-silence-golden-gina-gardiner

Genuine Chat - Dreams Are Important https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/genuine-chats-gina-dreams-importance-happiness-gina-gardiner

Genuine Chat - Are You In The Right Relationship? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/genuine-chat-gina-you-relationship-right-person-gina-gardiner