Does nothing make you feel happy anymore? Do you find no reason to keep going in your life? If you feel lost and wonder how to keep going, then here are a few strategies that can make you feel alive again.
What makes you happy?
Let me start by asking: What do you think makes you happy? Is it your family? Your career? Lots of money? Traveling? Or a healthy relationship with a good partner? Most of us tend to believe that achieving certain goals and possessing certain things and gaining value from certain people will make us. But there is something inherently wrong with that pattern of thinking.
Happiness is not about having the perfect career, or an impressive bank balance, or love. Your happiness does not depend on external things or other people. Of course, these things are important and can make your life better, but these do not make you happy.
And it is because of this belief that you feel lost. That you feel nothing can make you happy anymore. That you don’t have the will to keep going and move forward.
When you depend on other things and people for your happiness, you will never be able to experience true happiness that is stable and sustainable. When external factors make you happy, then it will always lead to personal suffering.
Author Darius Foroux explains “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s entirely within your control. Just like you can make a decision to do something useful with your time, you can decide that you are happy.”
Read: 10 Little Habits That Are Keeping You Away From Happiness
When nothing leads to happiness
But what if nothing makes you happy? Once again, the problem with this thought is that you believe you need “something” to be happy, and the lack of that “thing” is making you unhappy. Yes, there are tons of challenges in life. You don’t have the perfect job, you don’t have the bank balance you’d like to have and your relationship needs a lot of work to be healthy.
That’s life. But that’s no reason to be “unhappy”.
So if you want to learn how to keep going when nothing in this world makes you happy anymore, then the very first thing you need to do is change your thought process. Transform your beliefs and tell yourself that your happiness relies on YOU and not on external factors or other people.
The answer to the question “how to find happiness?” is to look inside and seek within you. Happiness is our default setting. We are programmed to be stressed and depressed. The truth is we do not need anything or reason to be happy.
We simply need to unlearn the unhappiness programming and relearn how to tap into our inner happiness. When you think that you are happy, you become happy.
Read: Emptiness Inside: Why You Feel Empty In Life & How to Fill It
How to keep going when nothing makes you happy
If you feel unhappy and external things have no positive emotional effect on you, then it becomes crucial that you look inside and reflect on your own thoughts, emotions, needs, and dreams.
“The whole key to happiness is identifying our emotions and reactions, and aligning them with our end goal,” writes growth coach Jacqueline Battaglia. She adds “When you become really good at noticing your emotions and reactions, you can quickly change your attitude and circumstances so that you put yourself in a place where happiness lives.”
We need to train our minds to become more aware of the present moment so that we may identify and choose happiness in each and every moment. Simply by taking charge of our own life; by not making excuses or blaming others for our struggles, we can bring about a drastic change in our mindset and thoughts.
So if you are ready to know how to find happiness and keep going in your life, then here are a few ways that can help you get started:
1. Know what you want
Figure out what you want from life. Understand what your dreams and desires are. What makes you excited, feel energetic, and alive within? Self-reflection will enable you to understand what your authentic, uncorrupted needs and wants are. However, make sure it is not influenced by other people or external factors. Do not let anyone else define your goals and dreams for you.
Read also: 15 Prescriptions for Happiness That Will Change Your Life
2. Take positive action
Figuring out your dreams and goals is one thing, but you also need to actively pursue them. Positive thinking is not enough, it must be backed by positive action. Once you know about your true desire, you can invest sufficient time and energy in accomplishing that. When you pursue what you want, you will experience happiness.
But it is important to realize that pursuing your dreams is more important than actually achieving them. If you believe you will be happy only when you accomplish a goal, then you will be deliberately postponing your own happiness. This will only make you feel trapped and think that nothing can make you happy. Life is short, so earn what you deserve. This is how you learn how to find happiness.
