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It takes courage to be happy, 5 steps to help you reach happiness

Photo by: Flickr_Daphenator

Photo by: Flickr_Daphenator

Submitted by: Juan P Rodriguez

Stop for a minute and think about this. This title sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Well, being happy, which I assume is your main goal in life, is actually hard to come by. Being unhappy, on the other hand, is relatively easy to achieve. You see, there are an infinite number of justifications you can use for being unhappy. Being unhappy also becomes easier to achieve if people that surround you are feeling unhappy too. This group thinking ultimately retains unhappiness as a constant state of mind for all its members and it becomes second nature to all of them.

Reaching happiness, nevertheless, is a whole other story. For you to achieve happiness, you first have to let go of so many preconceptions, bad habits, and fears you have felt throughout your life. In order to stop these dreadful feelings, you have to face them all and tear them down one by one to free yourself from their harmful effects. Doing this takes a lot of courage and hard work on your behalf.

It takes courage to be happy because it is hard work.  Moreover, you have to face and conquer many of your fears beforehand. This is also why most people are unhappy, because they don´t want to neither make the effort to put in the hard work nor face their fears.

Recommendations to help you achieve happiness:

Accept yourself the way you are

We are all special. By this, I mean that no two people are alike. We all have certain strengths and weaknesses. Realize this fact before anything else and as you do this, think about the one thing you excel at. It should also be noted that you should focus on yourself and not on others. Avoid comparing yourself to others as this is a fruitless activity. How can you be like others when there are no two people alike?

Focus on your strengths, not on your weaknesses

As Peter Drucker eloquently puts it, “It takes far less energy to move from first-rate performance to excellence than it does to move from incompetence to mediocrity.” As you work on your strengths and become better at them, or reach excellence, as Mr. Drucker states, you will gain confidence in yourself which will consequently bring happiness into your life.

Be thankful for all that you have and all that you don´t have

Why would you ask for more if you can´t appreciate what you have now? If you can´t appreciate your present, it is purposeless to seek a prosperous future as you will still be feeling unsatisfied and ultimately unhappy. Furthermore, be thankful for the things that you don´t have, illness, for example.


Don´t do this for the person that might have hurt you in the past, do it for yourself as this is a weight you carry on you all the time. Forgive all and move forward. Leave those problems in the past, appreciate your present and work towards your future.

Focus on serving others

Using your talents to serve others will make your life more meaningful. You will feel confident and, in due time, obtain financial freedom through your efforts. The more people you serve the better off you will become in every sense of the word. Peter Diamandis put it very simply, “The best way to become a billionaire is to help a billion people.

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