Recently, I’ve been rereading Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become that Way. It’s a fitting read as I work to figure out (again) what it is I want in life. How do I spend more time doing what I love? Where do I want to be twelve months from now? Five years from now? As I reread Burchard’s book, I realize I’m not only working to become—for myself—one of those extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. I’m really just trying to figure out the art of happiness now.
And that means, as Burchard writes, that you have to be intentional—“if you decide to set one intention that will raise your energy and change your life more than any other, make it to bring more joy into your daily life.”1 Bringing joy into your life is part of the happiness equation.
Happiness and Burnout
In a previous blog post, I mentioned that I joined a group coaching program because I wasn’t ‘happy’ with my life and where I was. As I commuted into my day job—which is interesting but not one hundred percent fulfilling—I thought about the definition of burnout that my coach gave. Burnout is not doing enough of what you love.
And then a question that my coach asked stuck with me: what do I have to do to be happy now? It’s great to have big dreams and goals. But in our day-to-day, as we chase down our dreams, how can we be happy now? Or look it at from the perspective of bringing more joy into your life and the answer lies in the art of happiness: do more of what you love.
The Art of Happiness
I already stopped doing something that I didn’t enjoy, and that was social media. And while writing is my passion, and I devote a good chunk of my time to it, there are other things that I love and that ended up being neglected. So, I’m back to cooking and baking more—exploring recipes from around the world. Because it’s something that brings me joy and lets me be happy now. I’m going to schedule more visits to the AGO and other museums in the city, getting back to my love of art.
The art of happiness isn’t about waiting until you make it, until you cross off everything on your to-do list. It’s about finding the small things that can bring joy to our day and lift us up. Because, in the end, it’s that joy that is going to give us the energy to focus and do the necessary work to make our dreams come true.
Don’t wait on happiness. Be happy now.
And, hey…let me remind you first that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.
- Burchard, B. (2017). High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become that Way, New York, Hay House, Inc., p. 129. [↩]
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