In a world that drills into our heads to upgrade to the latest devices, get the newer car, get the swanky house, and strive for the job promotion with the big raise and added bonus, it’s hard to be content with what you have. If we don’t live our lives currently content with what we have, however, we will spend our days in a sea of dissatisfaction with our current material possessions, professional career, and overall living status. To help find a balance, here are a few tips to be happy with what you already have.
Carve out downtime every day
Saving time every day for reflection and meditation, or just unplugging from the business of the day and the constant sensory overload is essential in being content with your life.
It allows you to evaluate everything you’ve absorbed throughout the day to hone in on what really matters in order to obtain overall wellbeing.
Your downtime doesn’t need to be a specific practice.
It could be anything from reading a book, exercising, listening to music, or meditating.
No matter what is it, be sure to practice self-reflection and take the time to truly relax.
Create a gratuity list
This practice has probably been drilled into everyone’s head for a while now, but it has stood the test of time because of its success.
Creating a list of everything you’re grateful for each day really puts your life in perspective and allows you to have a positive outlook on your goals and ambitions, no matter how far off they may be.
Maybe your dishwasher just broke down. Rather than focusing on the inconvenience of a broken appliance, you could document in your gratuity journal that your warranty replaced it with a brand new model, which saves you money in that kitchen remodel you’ve been planning.
Or perhaps you have yet to get the promotion you’ve been waiting for. Document the fact that you are financially stable and happy with your current job and the right promotion will happen at the right time.
Keep your goals in mind
Ambition plays a huge role in our lives. Being able to look forward to the next step of progression in our personal and professional careers helps give our lives purpose, but take that with a pinch of salt.
Create a separate list of your immediate goals as well as your long-term goals to help celebrate your daily, weekly, or monthly accomplishments that are leading to your larger goals.
Keeping the momentum is important to maintain motivation and focus while also being happy and content with your current status.
Celebrate little wins
Sometimes when we focus on the big picture too much for too long, we tend to dismiss the little wins in our lives, especially those that are unrelated to your long-term goals.
Maybe the past week was deemed unsuccessful because no task was accomplished towards a larger goal, but you also were able to meet all your important meetings, get the entire house cleaned, made great food for your family, and even enjoyed a weekend outing.
Give the little wins the time they deserve to shine.
Don’t put the weight of the world on your shoulders
At the end of the day, if you are happy, healthy, and financially stable, you don’t need to do anything else in your life. Simply being, and enjoying your time on this Earth is more than enough.
Some take great satisfaction on moving forward and reaching new goals, others are happy to take that time spent reaching a variety of goals to instead enjoy existing, spending time with family, traveling, and just doing what they love.
If you feel like that meets your ideal criteria, then don’t feel pressured to create goals that don’t give you joy.