Procrastinating Away Your Happiness

Why is procrastinating away yout hapiness the worst thing you can do?

Are you one of those people who always says: "I will be happy when..." You can fill in the blank with: "I quit this job," "I end this relationship," "I'll have enough money," or something else along those lines. Most of us tend to postpone our happiness believing that we'll be happy when we will be successful, be it in work or life in general.

However, as philosopher Albert Schweitzer said: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

So how can we be "happy," and not just for a little bit, but in the long-term?

There are few steps that you can start with right now

1) Define what your "personal vision" is. Ask yourself what are your values. What are your strengths and what activities make you genuinely happy? What is a legacy that you would like to leave in this world? I suggest you do what we call "Meeting with myself." Pick a nice café, a lovely bench in the park, or just make a cup of tea and snuggle up in a comfortable armchair. Schedule this time just for yourself. Switch off your smartphone and place it in another room and grab a pen and a piece of paper. Write down what makes you happy and how you think you can bring more of whatever that is into your life. Repeat the "Meeting with myself" bi-weekly or monthly.

2) Make sure that you are grateful. Write down three positive things that happen to you every day, be it on a piece of paper, in your daily planner, or in the Flow List app. If you have big things to write down, do so. If you feel like not much has happened that day, try to be grateful for the beautiful weather, a great talk you had with your colleague or a smile you shared with a cashier in your local store. Not only will this make you look for such moments every day which will make you more positive, but if a bad day comes, you can read all the great things that happened to you in the past.

3) Go step by step. Do not bite off more than you can chew and take your time to learn these new habits slowly and patiently. Remember the good old saying (and a great song): "Rome was not built in a day"? If you forget, don't worry! Just acknowledge the fact that you have forgotten or postponed and start again. It's okay to stumble once in a while.

Try doing this at your own pace and in your own time, and you will see results. Your level of happiness will increase and your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, will decrease. When you feel great, the world can be your playground!