This last weekend as Jenni and I contemplated the forthcoming arrival of our daughter\’s 21st birthday, I thought it might be appropriate to compile a list of 21 Tips for leading a more joyful life.
No doubt you have some of your own to add – or perhaps you would like to add comments on my list?
Whichever that may be – I\’d love to hear from you!
[box type=\”shadow\”]\”I can get sad, I can get frustrated, I can get scared, but I never get depressed – because there’s joy in my life.\”
– Michael J Fox
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1. If you are ever inclined to think you got a raw deal in life, realise that you may have deliberately designed it that way yourself.
2. Don\’t spend your time comparing your life to others. Their life is their life. Your life is your life. Make the most of it.
3. Live in the moment. It\’s all you have. You can\’t change the past and the future only exists as a concept.
4. Practice inner calmness. When you feel anger or rage building inside, do a mental count to fifty while considering how inconsequential your cause of frustration is in the bigger scheme of things.
5. Learn to see the funny side of life. Laughter is, indeed, the best medicine!
6. If life ever feels tedious and the routine is getting you down, look up at the night sky, drink in the spectacular wonder of the cosmos and ask yourself whether your creator designed life to be this way or if it is of your own making. Then take action to change what you\’re doing.
7. Get your life into balance. What do you feel you need most from life right now? Chances are it\’ll be something that\’s missing from your life. Find a way to put it – but not too much of it – back!
8. When it comes to going after what you love in life, never take \”No\” for an answer.
9. When feeling fearful, uncertain or overwhelmed have the courage to take a small action. You\’ll immediately feel better.
10. Don\’t pursue money without knowing very clearly why. Money is a wonderful commodity when you use it to bring more joy to your life. Money for money\’s sake is meaningless.
11. Just as no two human beings have the same fingerprints, so each of us has a unique outlook on the world. Learn to tolerate, appreciate and embrace diverse views and perspectives.
12. Live authentically. You cannot derive fulfillment from pretending to be someone you are not.
13. When you encounter a problem think about how this represents an opportunity, be thankful for it; learn and grow from it.
14. When characteristics of other people annoy you, search to find where those characteristics exist within you.
15. Take plenty of time to recharge and reflect. Frequent time-outs are what bring meaning and enjoyment to life.
16. Your thoughts are the most powerful creative force you possess. Don\’t waste them by focusing on what\’s not possible or undesirable in your life.
17. Trust your inner being and your inner voice. It is pure, unpolluted by the views of others, miscommunications, limiting beliefs and worst fears.
18. If there\’s something you really feel like doing, do it, now, before the opportunity passes by.
19. Confront the fears that hold you back, head on. Soon your hesitant, frustrated nature will give way to an adventurous, joyful nature.
20. Put yourself first, not in a selfish way, but in a way that appreciates how much more you can be and do for the world if you lovingly cultivate your own strengths and abilities.
21. Practice the three Gs: Gratitude, Graciousness and Giving, to make your life a really special one.
Hi Bill
Thanks a million for your your inspiring work you do in our lives. I have a grand solution to all my ‘fears and troubles’ I DETACH myself from everything, mentally. I feel so free and i can see clearly. It is our ATTACHMENTS that makes us sick with fear and worry. It allows that energy that is driving me crazy to spin on its own and not on ME.
Hi Bill,
Thank you for this amazing article. What profound advice for young and old people alike. I really admire your brilliant determination, energy and contribution into the lives of others. Wow you obviously made an incredible marrying such an intelligent lady who supports you in all you do. Maybe you should add
“Be wise in your choice of partner. List your criteria of a perfect help meet and stick to it. A good choice will be like having a chest of gold nuggets that will sustain you for the rest of your life. But a bad choice is like a lump of coal which may burn you out before burning itself out en the end.”
I would like to add, “Be honest in everything you do. It may frustrate and anger others but it certainly frees you.”
Hi Bill – I’ve been enjoying your newsletter, thank you! I’ve just done a couple of articles on happiness and success on my new coaching website and I would love to post this article (21 tips) as a guest post there. Would you be ok with that?
Blessings
PS For your eyes: Issia Jordan is my web business name. I did the New Insights course as Patricia Crossley.
Thank you Issia.
You are most welcome provided that you clearly attribute the article to: ‘Bill Burridge, Life Coaching Insights’
Nice one Bill ! Loved the 21 reasons for Joy list !
Happiness is indeed a conscious decision and one that I choose to make every single day of my life…although it doesn’t always work out like that – I DO consciously choose each day to be happy, joyful, smiling and grateful but the list certainly reminded me of even more reasons to choose JOY each day ! Now….if only the rest of the PLANET would catch onto this, I think we’d all be living much happier joyful lives !
Yours in JOY !
Sue
Good for you Sue!
Thank you Bill 🙂
A great list, superb.
May I add to the last one – loving kindness and compassion.
Blogs should have a “read again – how often” facility so that it pops up in your Inbox to read this list again and again – every day would be good 🙂
Thanks
Thanks Jon, I like your thinking – an autoreminder!
These are great points, Bill. If we can find the positive in every event or situation and turn lemons into lemonade, we are on the way to a better more joyful life.
You mention laughter being the best medicine and indeed it is as the endorphines are released and how much more when we can laugh at ourselves.
I will always remember an incident with my mother that could have just been plain embarrassing, but because we could laugh at ourselves, whenever the family gets together we remember and have good laughs again and again.
Yes, quite right! Sometimes when the going gets tough Jenni and I will look for the nearest comedy show and spend a couple of hours laughing our heads off. Potent medicine indeed!
i like numbers 16 & 17 muchly! happiness is at the source of us all, anything other than that is man-made and an illusion. courage is not the abscence of fear, its the succession and victory thereof. an idea/ strategy/ vision/ meeting without follow-through is merely the dream of a dreamer…
congrats to you and jenni on the soon to be coming of age of your daughter!
Thank you. A really special message.
Congratulations with your daughter’s 21st! Best regards and blessings. Time flies and still we don’t get any older.
Thanks Herman – it’s only next year but will be on us before we know it!
Words of wisdom, my friend, words of wisdom.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bines”. (Pro 17:22).