There are some key goals in life that most people strive for: to be happy, to be successful, to be healthy, and for their life to have a purpose, a meaning. Combine all those ideas into one and what we’re really hoping to achieve is contentment.
People often use the words contentment and happiness interchangeably, but being content means more than just being happy. It means to be peaceful, to feel satisfied, and to be pleased with your life overall.
Wishing you had those feelings?
Here are the seven secrets to achieving long-lasting contentment in your life.
Being Your Authentic Self
To be truly content, you must be yourself. Think about who you are deep down, what your core values in life are, and how you want to live your life.
Authentic people lead happier lives, and studies prove it. Being your authentic self makes it easier to follow your own path, to resist pressure from others, and to develop deeper relationships. All of these things contribute to long-lasting contentment, and you can’t do them successfully if you’re not true to yourself.
Enjoying the Moment
Whether you’re alone at home, busy at work, or enjoying social time with friends, be present in the moment. You can do so by connecting with the people you’re with, appreciating the surroundings you’re in, and enjoying the experiences that are happening right now.
Having and Showing Gratitude
Learn how to have gratitude, and how to show it. Gratitude is a positive emotion, and you can spread it to others. Sharing positive feelings and positive experiences enhances our own well-being and the well-being of those around us.
Fostering Strong Relationships
Keep in contact with friends, family, and loved ones. Whenever possible, connect with them in person for dinner, or a cup of coffee, or a game night. When seeing them isn’t an option, pick up the phone or video call rather than email or text. This helps to create deeper connections so that you can build a strong support system over time.
Taking Care of Your Mental Health
Mental health is just as important as physical health, and you must make it a priority. Here are a few things that you can do right now to start improving your mental and emotional health:
- Carve out time for yourself every day to do things that help you relax, reduce anxiety, and minimize stress.
- Improve your sleep habits by getting up and going to bed at the same time each day.
- Spend time outdoors, in nature. A walk in the park doubles as a stress-reliever and a form of exercise.
- Exercise and develop healthier eating habits to improve your physical health, as physical health conditions can have a huge effect on mental health.
Strong mental health is necessary in building strong relationships, making good choices, and achieving goals, all of which are essential to feeling life-long contentment.
Making Conscious Choices
Everything we do is a choice. From what we eat to where we go, every choice requires us to select one option over all the others. And every choice we make has a consequence.
For example, if you smoke cannabis with friends when you know you have to drive home in an hour, you’re choosing the consequence(s) of having to call a Lyft and leaving your car at your friend’s house. Even taking THCV afterwards won’t stop you from having to return the next day to pick up your car.
(THCV can actually reduce the effects of THC on the brain. Learn more about it in this article from HIBEGONE).
Every decision you make has a consequence, and you’ll feel more content by making choices that lead you to reaching your goals.
Achieving Goals
Whatever your goals may be, it’s important to set them and then take the steps to reach them.
To feel truly satisfied and content means to work towards long-term goals and make personal accomplishments. This contributes to a greater sense of purpose, which is important to finding inner peace.
As you reach and achieve your biggest goals, challenge yourself by making new ones. Take the time to explore new interests or new hobbies and you just might end up creating an entire new list of goals that you want to meet.
In Conclusion
Finding life-long contentment is possible, once you know how to do it. Start incorporating some of these practices into your life and you just might find yourself feeling more peaceful, more satisfied, and more content than you ever thought possible.
