How to Have a Simple, Zen And Happier Life
Our western world is now immersed in an abundance of goods and entertainment. But sometimes having too many choices, we end up complicating our lives and making ourselves less happy than before. Moreover, technology, even if it can sometimes bring us closer together, can push us apart and make us less and less able to live with others. Living in a simpler way can be the solution to a simpler and happier life. You will discover many simple tips to apply that will help you live more simply, for a happy and Zen life.
Determining priorities
First, you will need to define what is most important to you. This answer is personal, so it is important not to try to do so by imitating the priorities of those around you. Whatever happens, don't put pressure on yourself to determine your priorities. In fact, this process may take a few minutes for some people, who will do it simply by being honest with themselves. For others, it may take several weeks!
It is necessary to listen to your intuitions, what your heart tells you. Perhaps your priorities will be relational, financial, professional, sports, artistic, spiritual... Some will have one life priority above all others will have several. Just act in the way that seems most natural to you. However, be careful not to spread yourself too thinly: you may have a wide variety of interests, but it is important to define what is most important to you, at the risk of being on the spot everywhere, instead of making progress in certain specific areas.
This step is essential, because without it, it will be almost impossible to live happier, because you won't know where to go, so you won't have any chance of getting there! Also keep in mind that your priorities will change over the years, it's only natural.
Determine your objectives
Once your priorities have been defined, you will now be able to determine your objectives around them. These objectives must be measurable. It is generally advisable to set annual, monthly, weekly and daily objectives. For example, if you are fat and your priority is to regain good health, your measurable goal may be weight loss.
For example, let's take a woman who is 1.70 m tall and weighs 110 kg. She wants to lose weight, say 40 kg. She will then mark (in a document or on a piece of paper) her goal in a year's time: to weigh 70 kg. Then she will define her monthly goals, for example: lose at least 4 kg per month for the first 6 months, then 3 kg per month from month 7 to month 10, then 2 kg per month for the last two months. Then, all she has to do is reduce it to a week, and write down what she will do to achieve this result. A daily goal to move towards the annual goal could be, for example, to ride an apartment bike for 20 minutes and not eat sweets today.
This is just an example, but now you understand the principle.
To understand that happiness is not in the succession of pleasure, that it is not in the immediate gratification
Think about what you've done that you're most proud of. Is it your company? Your degree? The fight against a disease? A sporting achievement? Your children? No matter who it is, chances are it's not related to immediate gratification. Don't get the wrong idea: these things are part of life, not to be eradicated! Only, if your idea of happiness is to chain pleasures together, sorry, but that is objectively bad. If happiness and pleasure were the same thing, there wouldn't be two different words to describe them. The idea would be more to be able to have fun and consume some immediate gratification without falling into excess. Dedicate part of your day to moving towards your goal of a simple and happy life, and enjoy the process, even though it will probably not always be easy.
Happiness depends on progress
Happiness is something that is continually maintained, it is not a stage that one reaches and never leaves again. Rather than consisting of a succession of activities that bring you immediate gratification, being happy is more about problem solving and progress. A problem is something difficult or even very difficult to achieve, which brings you immense personal satisfaction and a form of inner peace when you finally succeed in achieving it. But then again, having accomplished will not necessarily make you happy, it is more about loving to fight, loving to look for solutions, and gaining self-confidence as you solve problems.
To illustrate this concept, a few years ago, people who travelled enjoyed the journey as much as the destination. By train, for example, they marveled at seeing so much scenery, at being in such a great machine.
Happy people have problems
Keep in mind that you will never get to a point where you have no more problems, you just go from a problem to a more "pleasant" problem to have. For example, you may wonder how you can stop being afraid to talk to strangers. Once you are able to do this, you will look for ways to develop a sincere relationship with them, then how to maintain that relationship, and so on.
Stop watching and reading information
This is perhaps the simplest advice to put in place of all this article. We are inundated every day with negative information, bringing nothing positive to our lives. Whether it's on television, in newspapers or on social networks, it's everywhere. This will probably sound stupid to you, because you tell yourself that it's essential, that it's important to know what's going on elsewhere in order to understand the world you live in, and that's quite normal. If you want to stay informed at all costs, why not go to online newspapers that only provide you with positive information! It is true that some information will help you improve your life, such as information about the best methods to eat better, to sleep better... But information such as natural disasters, attacks, accidents are :
1. News that can depress you
2. Information that you will quickly forget (at least for the most part)
3. News whose knowledge does not concretely change anything in your life or that of your entourage.
Watching the news is certainly a habit anchored in the daily life of many French people, but sometimes you have to know how to question it in order to be able to live the life that really suits you. In addition to avoiding adding negativity to your life all the time, cutting yourself off from the mass media will force you to talk about more interesting and profound things to the people close to you, and as a bonus, it will free you up time to do what you want!
Create a morning routine to be more zen
Creating a morning routine will help you get your day off to a good start, orienting it the way you want it to. The more you repeat it, the more automatic it will be, and the easier it will be to perform. For example, you can do meditation, yoga, writing, reading and more. If you would like to go deeper into the subject, I invite you to read Hal Elrod's Miracle Morning, which is perfect for establishing this routine.
Regular physical activity for long-term happiness
There are many benefits to spending your money regularly. Among them, we can mention the following:
• A gain of energy on a daily basis
• Better mood
• Strengthening the immune system
• Better discipline
• Meetings with people doing sports
• Improvement in sleep (provided it is not done just before going to sleep)
Practicing regular physical activity is therefore an excellent decision to improve your life.
Have a good quality sleep
Having a good sleep will allow you to have more energy, to be in a better mood, to protect you from illnesses: effects that can be found in the practice of sport. And since you have just read a passage on sports, be aware that a lack of sleep will slow you down considerably in your progress. This advice sounds simple, but sometimes it's the simplest things that work best.
Here's a list of basic sleep tips:
• Have a room that is neither too hot nor too cold.
• Playing sports
• Eating well
• Do not exercise at least 3 hours before your desired sleep time.
• Sufficient sun exposure during the day (for the proper functioning of your circadian rhythm)
• Do not expose yourself to the blue lights of the screens within an hour before going to bed.
• Using lithotherapy stones to improve your sleep
• Use an acupressure mat to relax before sleep.
Regarding the last tip, you can do it in different ways. You can indeed put blue light goggles, install a filter filtering blue lights on your devices like f.lux, or simply not expose yourself to the screens, which is not always possible.
If you apply all these tips, it's perfect for a simple one! However, there's no point in worrying if your schedule doesn't allow you to apply them all, just do the best you can!
Eating quality meals
To make a long story short, having a good diet will give you benefits similar to those obtained in the practice of sports and in improving sleep. The trio sleep + sport + diet can therefore considerably improve your life.
Have regular social contact
The simplest things are often the best. Talking with your loved ones, or even people you've just met, is a way to protect yourself from depression, to share moments that are essential to your happiness. Indeed, humans are social animals, who need others to live well. This characteristic allowed the human species to survive, by organizing itself into tribes to survive a few thousand years ago. This is one of the reasons why you will feel the need to live in community.
Knowing how to say no
A person who says yes to everything does not choose, he or she is subject to the choices of others. You have to dare to say no to sometimes have the time to devote yourself to a project that is important to you, to take time for yourself or simply to rest. Saying no can also apply in the context of debates, for example, or daring to say that you disagree may seem dangerous (from a social point of view) but in reality, it will only increase your self-confidence and make your relationships more sincere. However, be careful not to go overboard and say no all the time.
Knowing how to say yes to be happy
Although you have to know how to say no and have a personality, dare to say yes to the unexpected, dare to do things for which you are not ready. It is in this context that you will discover the most things, that you will make the most encounters, because you will then leave your usual routine and discover facets of the world that were previously unknown to you. The English channel Yes Theory embodies this principle of daring to say yes and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations to perfection.
Meditate to live in the present moment
Meditation is an exercise in which you focus on your breathing. The more you practice, the more you will improve your concentration and the more you will be able to stop the thoughts that prevent you from fully enjoying the present moment, to be happier!
Relativize
It is important to be aware that some painful things are only temporary, that others are in a much worse situation than you are. This is not to say that you have an easy life, but telling you that others have overcome worse will encourage you to fight. Above all, tell yourself that terrible times are a way to learn, to arm yourself to face difficult events in the future.
Knowing how to let go
Letting go can mean stopping remembering painful things, but it can also mean limiting our present because of past mistakes, which is the basis for living a simple and happy life.
Getting rid of the superfluous for a simple life
Look at the objects around you, and give or sell anything you haven't used for more than a year. You can keep objects with high emotional value, but don't do that with everything! Freeing up space in your living space will also free your mind which will be clearer. Freeing up unnecessary objects will allow you to live a simpler and happier life.
Stop worrying about how others look at you
One of the things that most prevents people from moving forward is the fear of being judged. But no matter what you say or do, people will criticize you. So the important thing is not how not to be judged, but how to be comfortable with feeling judged. To learn how to do this, you can read Mark Manson's controversial but excellent book, The Subtle Art of Not Caring.
That's it, you now have enough information on how to live a simple life to make your life better, all you have to do is take action! This list of advice is obviously not exhaustive, it just presents you with habits to put in place, spiritual activities that are easy to put in place for a simpler and happier life.
