What are the secrets to being happy?

Happiness is a broad term. To me, I define it as something that remains at the foundation of your emotions. True, long-lasting happiness is at the bedrock of who you are and what you care about. It’s not like bliss, or temporary pleasure. I can be happy even while in pain, or tired, or stressed, because these are temporary things that I know won’t outlast my happiness.

Think of a professional football player who scores the winning touchdown for his team. Even if he’s beat up, tired, a little scared of what happens next, these are surface-level things compared to the bottom-level happiness he feels. Not even of winning, but of playing his favorite sport and proving himself throughout the season. That’s the kind of happiness that I consider useful. It exists before, during, and after whatever you are currently going through, and it always will.

A big part of that long-term happiness comes from confidence that the major elements of your life are in order.

We all have different roles to play in our daily lives, ranging from a family man to an obedient employee, a boss to a parent at home, and many more. Each of our roles should not overlap inappropriately with others, or interfere. For example,if you had a bad day at work, then the anger you feel shouldn’t be reflected onto your family members. Balancing professional life and personal life can be one of the key steps to happiness. I think it’s more important than ever, now, considering how doggedly most people allow their work to interfere with their personal lives.

Then comes contentment, which means one should be satisfied with what he has. Being specific, it’s a bitter truth that most of us are participants in an invisible race for money, and desire to get as much wealth as we can. There is nothing wrong with desiring something that can get you the things you want in life, and money can certainly get you a lot. Desire all you like. However, do not be enslaved by your desires.In the chase of money, people often ignore their values, family, friends, etc. They focus solely on wealth. It’s out of my understanding, why people do that when they are aware that nothing in the world is permanent. It’s beyond money itself, too. Even if you save your wealth and spend wisely, the good feeling from having a lot of money is completely temporary. It will not last. Soon such people try to find happiness in materialistic comforts, spending all the money they were so focused on amassing and keeping.  That happiness is artificial and does not last much longer than the actual buying process.

However, there is no clear number of secrets to happiness in general. It depends on the person and each of his life roles. As we discussed earlier, each has different reasons and secrets to happiness. For a better understanding, I would like to discuss my case in the role of an entrepreneur.

It’s not just the fulfillment of goals that leads to happiness. Real happiness, the proper mindset of an entrepreneur, comes from the sense of mastering one’s life. You have to make sure that, while on the journey to making more money, you are also pursuing other things and maintaining a balance that lifts all aspects of your life. You can apply this to whatever you seek, too, not just money. Good relationships, popularity, health, etc.

It is disheartening to know how people in the present time consider getting richness the secret to happiness. I believe one should be happy at a modest income, instead of unhappy being rich. The richness in terms of wealth, due to the sacrificial and thoughtless way most people chase money, takes a lot of compromises in the form of family, friends, time, and health.

After closely observing the lifestyle of many rich people, I feel that being a billionaire means nothing. It’s like getting thin. If you die of hunger, what was it all for? The nuance of how you got there, and for what purpose, cannot be overstated. In my point of view, rich enough to be happy, whatever that amount really means to you, is always better than richer and unhappy. Might sound obvious, but secretly, there are many who disagree, deep down.

I have an interesting post to suggest that would complement this answer. My post, The Homeless Millionaire: How Making Money Is Only Half the Battle, discusses the context of your question, considering that from another perspective.

In conclusion, the #1 secret to happiness is contentment with what you have and the sense of control over all aspects of one’s life. It does not mean that one shouldn’t dream or make efforts to possess more wealth. But while doing that or holding onto the wealth you’ve gained, you should be aware that true happiness is not linked to the possession of wealth and materialistic comforts.

Don’t forget to leave me feedback after reading that post. I would be pleased to discuss more on such a topic that I think a lot of people are getting depressed due to the absence of happiness in their lives, and misunderstanding what happiness comes from. I appreciate you for selecting such a topic for discussion.

Thanks,

Cleo