12 Subtle Yet Life Changes In Mindset That Lead To Happiness And Success
Originally published at lmt-lss.com on February 23, 2016.
Don’t let your mind become the biggest barrier to happiness.
We don’t realize this most often but it’s our mindset that blocks the free-flowing stream of happiness into our lives. The following mindset-changes, however, can help you remove those blocks and be truly happy.
1. You are not what others tell you.
When people talk about us, it’s easy to believe them because they are direct spectators of our lives. When they comment on our intellect, for instance, we easily buy into their opinions. But reality is too subjective, and driven by perceptions. What people perceive about you is their reality, not yours. You create your life based on what you believe truly about yourself.
2. You can achieve your dreams.
Depending on the birthplace, social status, family, and education, people calculate the feasibility of their dreams. If you’re born to a poor family, becoming a millionaire is probably never considered a realistic idea. But this flawed belief is a mindset problem. In reality, if you’re passionate enough about what you want, you can achieve it regardless of your current state.
3. Money can’t buy happiness.
As kids, we used to be naturally happy with the little things that surrounded us. But as we grew, our idea of happiness got tainted by our greed for money. We started believing that more money equals more happiness. This is, however, untrue. Money only helps us buy things that inflict pleasure, which is short-lived. True and eternal happiness comes from within, not from money.
4. Love can heal problems.
Every human being is seeking love. Most people may not express or admit this in person but internally they all just want to be loved. In relationships, people often become too possessive because they fear not being loved enough by their partners. When you love someone unconditionally, most problems start to heal themselves.
5. You’re unique, special and important.
There are 7 billion people in this world. It’s hard to believe that we’re important amidst so many people. We always find someone who seems to be more talented, skilled, intelligent, smart and strong than us. But think about this — no one’s you. Your unique experiences are teaching something unique to you every day. Having that knowledge makes you important enough.
6. Miracles happen.
We all are logical beings. We want proofs for everything. How does the earth revolve around the sun? How do rockets launch into the sky? We want to know how everything happens and expect outcomes based on it. But life is much more mystical and complex for our understanding. Are we here by accident? No one knows for sure. So instead of overthinking; relax, breath and let miracles happen to you. You will experience life differently.
7. You can’t control everything.
There is an inherent need in us to control everything around us. We like certainty. We feel comfortable when things turn out as we planned. But don’t forget nature is as stubborn as us, if not more. The day you decide to be on time, it rains and you get stuck in a traffic jam. Now matter how much you cry and complain, the rain won’t stop. Nature teaches us to let go our relentless need to control everything. This will not only help you loosen up but become happier too.
8. There is goodness in the world.
Newspapers and news channels have portrayed a world overflowing with negativity — terrorist attacks, violence on streets, domestic abuse, corruption and so on. It’s easy for us to conclude that the world is, pardon my language, fucked up. But are we forgetting that this is a borrowed perception from the media? In reality, we do see people helping and caring for each other. Then why do we ignore them? Even though there is violence in the world, saying that there is no goodness is a flawed and harmful perception of the world we live in.
