Ask most people what they want in life, it is to be happy. The truth is, happiness takes work, it is not something you simply find. Living happy means dealing with stress, living healthily, knowing oneself, and taking the time to reflect.
While it will take time and effort to build a happy life, the result will be worth it!
Keys To Living a Happier Life!
Here are six keys to living a happier life:
Know Yourself
Take the time to get to know yourself, your limits, your strengths, your weaknesses, and what drives you. We all have a unique way of dealing with life, find yours. This will help you to identify when things are not right and will help you to build a happier life!
Develop A Recipe to Deal with Stress
Stress can be one of the quickest killers of happiness. Dealing with stress is therefore crucial to living a happy life, as eliminating stress is in most cases unrealistic.
The first step is to identify your triggers/ telltale signs of stress. Use these to know when you need to intervene and deal with the stress before it becomes too much.
The second step is to have a self-care stress plan, this would help you to deal with stress when it occurs, keeping you on track.
Focus On Your Health
Food, sleep, exercise, spirit. They all make up an important part of your health and if one is out of balance, so too will you feel out of balance.
Eating well, sleeping enough, exercising regularly, and spending time in the spiritual world is vital. Spend to time to learn about how to best look after yourself or find the experts who can help you.
Have a Support Network
We will all fail eventually if we go at it alone. You need a support network, people you trust, who you can vent to, confide in, and who can support you in your journey.
Make Time to Reflect
This is one most of us skip, but taking time to reflect and process is a necessary to your success and happiness. Set aside the time to reflect on your life, this could be through mediation, a walk, or something else entirely. This time of solitude will help you with clarity.
Have a Meaningful Cause Outside of Work
We are passionate about our businesses, but it is important to have a meaningful cause outside work. This cause will help you to switch off or switch focus for some time allowing you to find more meaning in your work.
Living a happier life will not simply just come to you, instead, you need to work to create a happy life.
Leadership in countries like ours can be difficult. The outlook is often uncertain and there are many spanners being thrown in the works. While challenging, leaders who manage to lead through challenging times will find greatness.
Strong leaders love the uncomfortable zone, learning to strive when the world is uncertain and volatile. How do they do this? Remaining calm and clear headed.
VUCA Faces All Leaders
The world is unpredictable and challenging. While it may be easier to live in the comfort zone, as leaders we need to push outside the comfort zone to find true greatness. There are more leaders made in a recession than in a bull market, this is because strong leaders rise during these times.
This is known as VUCA leaders, leading through challenging times. VUCA stands for:
- Volatile
- Uncertain
- Complex
- Ambiguous
In countries like South Africa, where economic and political pressures continuously face businesses, you need to be prepared. Prepared to live outside of the comfort zone, learning to thrive! Do this and you’ll take your business to a whole new level.
5 Things A Leader Needs to Do
During VUCA times, leaders need to focus on the important things. All leaders need to do the following five things to ensure they thrive during these times:
- Trust Yourself – having self-awareness and trusting yourself is crucial.
- Give Hope – during uncertain times, leaders need to be a pillar of hope.
- Ability to Define Core Elements – when the world is volatile, leaders need to be able to identify and focus on core elements.
- Show Strength – be the pillar of strength and calmness that your team needs.
- Support – asking “How can I help?”.
Leading through uncertain times requires calmness. Following VUCA leadership will help you to remain calm, even when the world around you is volatile.