“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”- Dalai Lama
The above quote from the Dalai Lama is truer than you might think. Do you want to be happier? Begin by treating yourself well. That may seem self-evident, but far too many people try to make themselves happy by pursuing ever-higher goals or holding themselves to ever-higher standards of perfection.
Being kind to yourself, on the other hand, will bring you closer to your goal. The more you value yourself, particularly at work, the more confident you will become.
The happiest people, in fact, go out of their way to treat themselves well and do something kind for themselves every day. They establish appropriate boundaries and take care of themselves by declining requests when necessary.
When you love yourself, you understand that saying no to something you don’t want to do is an act of compassion, and you don’t feel bad about the person who asked you to do something you didn’t want to do.
Being kind to oneself is beneficial not only to your profession but also to your personal relationships. The more self-love you develop, the more you’ll have to give to others.
Here are some self-kindness acts that happy people do, and you should too:
Pay attention to yourself.
That is, pay attention to how you speak to yourself and the tone of your voice. We frequently criticize ourselves in our brains, which lowers our self-esteem. When you love yourself, you understand that you are good enough and that you must stop speaking negatively to yourself.
Be forgiving to yourself.
Forgiveness is difficult because most of us have spent our lives blaming ourselves for everything we’ve done wrong. People get into difficulties because they strive for perfection and then punish themselves when they fall short. Accepting that you’re trapped inside your own flawed flesh is part of loving yourself. Mistakes can be learned from and moved on from, you don’t have to keep beating yourself up about them.
Accept yourself just as you are.
For starters, this entails accepting your current physique. Body image, as well as age, are major roadblocks to this, but you should try. When you love yourself, you strive to be the best version of yourself with the body you have, and that’s all you can do. And stop using magazines and social media as your benchmarks for the way should you look. Almost everyone there uses filters and trickery, so their idea of ‘perfection’ isn’t real anyway.
Accepting your money and level of success as they are is also part of self-acceptance. It’s fine if you don’t make a certain amount of money by the time you reach a certain age. People often criticize entrepreneurs, saying things such, “Why are you spending your time doing that?” or “You’re not successful enough!””
Ask yourself a simple question instead: “Is what I’m doing satisfying to me? If the answer is yes, then it does not matter what anyone else thinks, keep on doing what you love. You only need to change something if it will make you happier.
Remove harmful people from your life and work environment.
Avoid tying oneself to unpleasant clients, business partners, investors, or staff, even if it’s easier said than done. It’s clearly more difficult to take the same approach with family members, but there’s no need to put up with unpleasant remarks or actions. If someone say hurtful things to you, tell them you’ll walk away or hang up the phone if they continue to do so.
Don’t skip meals anymore.
“‘I’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time to eat today,’ people say. That’s a horrible thing to do. Even if it’s only a salad, grab something.
According to neuroscience, allowing your blood sugar to drop sends stress messages to your brain. If you’re unable to stop for a meal, at the very least keep healthful snacks on hand at your workplace. Skipping meals will also sap your energy, which will leave you grumpy and tired, which is the opposite of happy.
Breathe!
Remember that simple breathing exercises may substantially increase your happiness quotient when you’re stressed, overworked, or irritated. If you perform some deep breathing during the day, you can calm yourself down and not let stress get to you or make you sick.
Better still, take 15 minutes out to meditate. Not sure how to get started on that? Check out the post we recently published here, it will tell you all you need to know!
Get some natural light.
Many people work in dimly lit environments. That’s unloving and unhealthy. Make an effort to work in an area with plenty of natural light. If it isn’t an option, buy full-spectrum light bulbs. In any case, make an effort to get outside for a stroll as often as possible.
Why is natural light so important? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs when the seasons change, usually in the fall and winter. Although the specific cause of SAD has not been determined, it’s linked to a disruption of our circadian rhythm and decreases of serotonin and melatonin: all because of a lack of sunlight.