The Greatest Source Of Happiness!

Hi Everyone! I am so happy, because I had a very productive week! I was focused on de-cluttering and finished phase 1 of it. I am going to donate most of my stuff because it is in a good condition. It's interesting, that in the past I was crazy about buying new things, and now I want to get rid of a big portion of it. Oh well, we all change, it's life and it is super fun!

Here is the link to the video for today's article: The Greatest Source Of Happiness.

But today I actually want to talk about something else. I want to share with you something that helped me the most in the area of happiness and contentment. But first I want to share things that didn't work for me too well, but according to researches done by positive psychologist Martin Seligman can make you happy. Please don't get me wrong, I don't think that Martin's ideas are wrong, it just one aspect worked extremely well for me, much better than others. I will talk about these ideas with my own language, if you want to know what Martin was talking about, please google PERMA by Martin Seligman.

So what can make you happy and why some things didn't work for me?

1. Genes. You can just be born positive. There are lucky people out there who don't have too many negative thoughts, who are focused on productivity and who don't waste time on drama without putting any efforts. I met people like that in my life, but they are very rare from my point of view. I don't have these happy genes unfortunately. When I was a child, my dad used to call me "A wet eye" because I cried a lot. I had a lot of fears and was not independent by nature. I had to override some of my initial setup. I must add that I do have a nice sense of humor, at least I think so, so genes make about 5% of my happiness.

2. A Talent. If you are talented in some area, it helps you to focus on it, helps you to stay motivated and have a lot of energy. A talent can help you to become successful. It can also distract you from negativity, because the passion that it gives brings pleasure. I don't have any talents. I am good in number of things, but I never had anything I would like to really focus on. The only thing I was crazy about, was spending time with the man that I loved. And it was not very helpful. However I always was able to find some hobbies and they contributed about 10% to my happiness.

3. Meaning In Life. They say that meaning in life can make you happy, because we feel good about ourselves when we serve others. And if you know how to be a good servant, you can increase your confidence and self-esteem, you can have a reason to live, to overcome difficulties. In tough moments you can tell to yourself something like, "That's okay, I know why I am doing it, I know that my efforts will help others". To be honest, I do like to help people, but I usually don't offer help, I just do something when someone asks me to. And I am a little bit selfish and too focused on myself. My blog has definately some meaning to me. But I watch my videos by myself, I use them not only to help others. And I care a lot the way I look, for example. And it has nothing to do with meaning, I just want to look beautiful. So meaning is a great option, but probably it makes 5% of my happiness.

4. Relationships. If you have a person you love, and they love you back that's awesome! It's huge! If there is someone who can more or less always be there for you, someone who understands and supports you, your life will be much easier. I have great relationships with my family and friends. But my family is not in Chicago. And my friends are busy with their families and problems. They cannot support me anytime I need it. In my darkest moments I always was by myself. And I wanted to find a partner who could take care of me so bad that the idea of relationships even took away energy from me. So I would give this category just 5% of contribution because of all negativity I created while I was craving for a man.

Now it's time to discover something that made me really happy and what made the rest of 75%!

The main source of my happiness is Self-Discipline! My will-power, my grit, the promises that I made to myself pulled me out of all the suffering I used to have. Focusing on increasing the level of my self-discipline was the best decision I made in life!

Just think about all the benefits it can give you. First of all, it makes you absolutely independent, because you know that with your discipline you can overcome any difficulties by yourself and you don't have to wait for someone else to figure things out for you. It can also help you to create a great reputation and make you successful at work or business. It increases the level of your self-esteem. It helps you to be more mindful. According to studies done by psychologist Angela Duckworth it gives more guarantees of success than the level of your IQ.

Now what should you do with all this information that I just shared? I would suggest to look at these ideas of what can make you happy and decide which one works best for you and to focus on it. In my case it was self-discipline. Maybe for you it is relationship with your partner or some talent like playing piano or drawing. Whatever you are focused on defines your life, your future. If you truly love yourself, you will be focused on something that can make you very-very happy!

Be Strong And Love Yourself!

From Dasha With Love!

Love Wins!