Contentment

So this is a more esoteric blog. 

Going back about 18 months ago, I would say that I wasn’t really happy so I made some changes. 

Now most people when you talk to them, they just want to be happy, which is fine. But I’d like to just narrow that down a little bit. 

Because for me, happiness and sadness are kind of extremes so in my opinion people want to be content.

So in this blog I want to talk about the 6 factors that I introduced into my life that allowed contentment

Firstly Steven R Covey talks about personal principles. Thi was massive for me. I took time out and identified around eight to 10 principles that allowed me to know whether my life was on track. 

Things like adding value, following my habits, and staying consistent. Spending time with my son, encouraging other people growing and being respectful. 

I would list these, and every week I would grade myself on a scale of one to 10 each week and knowing that I was in line with my principles gives me a sense of fulfilment.

If we’re not paying due respect to the important relationships in our lives, such as with our kids, with our partners, and with our friends, then guilt can overshadow our life. 

And if we are not sleeping while not eating well, or not exercising our bodies, then exhaustion, and lethargy could overshadow contentment so we need to live a life of balance and segment our time rigidly if needs be 

If you have a lot of ruminating negative thoughts I would advise speaking to an NLP practitioner, reach out I can put you in touch. 

We may live a lifetime with troubling memories but they are literally not real and if you unlock the key to being able to reinterpret those memories in a more functional way then they just disappear, and that is super powerful.

Nextly  you need to have a vision of where you want to be in 12 months. You want to know what it looks like, what will you be doing, where will you be living? How will you be better than you are now ?

We need to have a sense that we are ‘getting somewhere ‘ as well as having a guiding light that will take us there in form of our personal principles 

Lastly, nothing is going to be more important than the present moment, this day we have today. Start the day off with a gratitude journal, list the small things that you are grateful for, food , warmth, freedom, good coffee, a chat with a good friend. 

Refocus your attention on what good is here right here and right now

1. Have guiding principles
2. Have a life of balance
3. Remove ruminating negative thoughts 
4. Have a vision of the future
5. Keep your health in check 
6. Be grateful for the day 

I hope this helps and have a great Friday.