How busy are you this month? I bet the answer would be something like “OMG, you wouldn’t believe how many things I have to take care of, my to-do list is endless!”.

It is very common to get caught in “busyness”, especially nowadays, when being busy seems to be a sign of status or being important.

But does this “busyness” bring you joy? Is it good for your well-being? At the end of the day, do you feel energised and fulfilled or just drained and wanting to go to bed to start the same thing again the following day?

If you have the feeling that you can’t escape the “hamster wheel”, it might be a sign that you need to add more joy to your life. We underestimate the powerful benefits that laughing, having fun and feeling joyful can have on our emotional and physical well-being.

This is a list of things you can do to start adding joy to your life:

1. Say no to unnecessary and unimportant commitments.

Our agenda is so full of appointments and commitments that sometimes it feels like a miracle if you manage to spend an hour just doing nothing, having a bath, or meeting that friend you always have a blast with.

Review every event in your diary for the next few weeks. Is it important? Will it take you closer to your goals? Will it bring you joy? Do you want to do it? Do you really need to do it? If the answer is no for all of those questions, cancel it and replace it with something that would change at least one of the answers to YES.

2. Learn to prioritise.

Get clarity around you priorities. Sometimes the problem is that we don’t know what we want to achieve, what direction to take or we might even forgotten what brings us joy.

It’s easy to get caught in a spiral of I have-to, I should do, I should go. Specially  if we don’t know what we want.

Spend some time on your own understanding what your priorities are and what a happy and fulfilling life looks like for you.

If this is something you struggle with, you might benefit from working with a coach to help you gain clarity.

3. Connect with your inner child.

Laugh. Have fun. When you see children playing, they are in the present moment, they’re completely dedicated to their game. They’re not thinking about what to do next, they don’t care about how they look or what others might think. They just play.

Do like them, and just play.

Identify those activities that make you disconnect from everything. Go to that dance class you always wanted to do, learn a new activity like cooking, knitting, making jewellery, anything you enjoy!

Pamper yourself in a spa with a friend, have a girls night out or organise a hiking day with the family.

Save time in your calendar for these types of activities. Taking care of yourself is not selfish!

4. Start the day with a healthy habit

It could be meditating, journaling or going for a walk around the block. The way we start the day determines our mindset for the rest of the day. If you wake up complaining about how tired you are, how you hate commuting or how stressed you’re going to be at work, you will start the day surrounded by negativity. Consequently, you will be more likely to attract negative people and negative events.

But if you start your day with an action that helps you feel calm, relaxed, positive or energised, you will approach the day with a completely different attitude. It is much easier to deal with a stressful day when you come from a starting point of peace and positivity.

I always say that if I had to choose one habit to start the day with, that would be practising gratitude. Set a timer for as little as 2 minutes (the more the better!) and during that time just focus on feeling thankful. Making a list of reasons to feel grateful and reading it out loud is another option.

Do this every day for a week and enjoy the results!

5. Work on your mindset and beliefs.

It is easy to remain attached to negative or painful events from the past. That drains our energy and repels joy. Work on yourself and heal your past experiences that are stopping you from feeling happy and fulfilled. You deserve it. Check out these two articles to learn more about how you can say good-bye to experiences you no longer need and how to identify and remove limiting beliefs.

This might not be easy at the beginning, as you might be scared of what you will discover about yourself.

But trust me, it is 100% worth it and I haven’t met anyone who regrets having done a bit of self-exploration.

 

If this article spoke to you, my online course ‘Awaken Your Inner Power – The Feminine Way’ includes many similar tools, video explanations and guided visualisations, check it out here!

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