We see countless people across all forms of media and real life every day and gaze at them enviously, coveting the lives they lead. There are people we believe have perfect lives, lives we would give anything to experience. But the truth is: almost anyone can experience the perfect life, it’s not as elusive as one would think. Through several small changes in beliefs, attitudes and the way you think, you can take a slice of the perfect life. So, here are 10 ways in which you could lead a better life.
1. Be Kind and Considerate
The initial step to attempting to live a better life is simple: just rewire your entire brain. While this sounds incredibly difficult and like it might involve invasive surgery, it’s actually quite simple. Through our day-to-day lives, we are faced with several choices – we can choose to be kind and considerate of others and attempt to see their perspective or we can view ourselves at the epicentre of the universe. By living life with an aim to show compassion to those with whom you cross paths, both in passing and more intimately, you will be able to gain a greater understanding of life as a whole. Even if this is as simple as showing manners to those you interact with day to day or offering a friend a kind word – the impact you have on others is great than you realise.
2. Give Back
Dozens of the celebrities we believe lead perfect lives are often at the forefront of philanthropical campaigns. Their altruistic nature isn’t necessarily tied into their feats in fame, but doing work for the greater good to has been proven to increase your enjoyment of your own life. If you’re feeling there’s room to add something to your life, it’s likely you could do with a few hours volunteering or taking part in an event that raises money or helps people. Helping others not only gives you perspective on how lucky you have things, it works towards helping people who are less fortunate. There are dozens of worthwhile causes that could link with your other interests. Charities are crying out for volunteers and you may even possess a talent that could really benefit them while improving your own hobbies and working towards on other goals.
3. Love Harder
Although not for absolutely everyone, one of the key aspects to better your life is to throw yourself into something you love. Whether this is a hobby or past time doesn’t matter, as long as it absorbs your passion – it could be acting, singing, a side business or even a person or animal. Love is universally known to help make life comfortable and to contribute to happiness. Maintaining a strong familial bond is one way in which to extenuate the love in your life. A close friendship group can also be a source of love or, for romantic love, dating is the way to go. There are countless sites, such as Badoo, that offer dating as a way to find a soulmate or someone to make your life feel more fulfilling with expressions of love. A romantic relationship or even a platonic friendship could teach you about yourself and help you see the host of benefits that loving someone can bring you.
4. Find Your Dream Career
We spend approximately 13 years of our lives at work, so finding a career that adds fulfilment and joy can help this time pass nicely – and provide more fulfilment overall in our lives. While not everyone can achieve their dream career, there are ways in which we can find something that fits our skill set and our passions. Brainstorm ideas for what your perfect career may entail, such as working out of the office, setting your own hours, helping people day to day. Then find some careers that are based around the features that would help create such a career. You’ll eventually find something that is realistic and be able to work towards it.
5. Set Some Goals
Our hobbies have evolved into being more passive than they used to be – gaming, watching films and so on. Originally, hobbies were about creating something or playing something. Working towards improvements can be incredibly cathartic and lead to greater life fulfilment. This can be linked to helping a career progress or could be completely independent. Finding small projects that can be achieved with moderate difficulty can be beneficial in giving a fulfilled and contented life. But the importance doesn’t just lie in setting some goals – ideally, you’ll actually achieve them. Completed projects can give a sense of worthwhile fulfilment that could be lacking in unfulfilling careers. Even as something as small as a week-long lead time could end up giving a huge sense of achievement. Maintaining this momentum could result in a huge boost of contentment.
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6. Be Healthy
There is nothing but truth in the adage that exercise is good for you, inside and out. Not only does keeping fit and healthy through a good diet and exercise help your body deal with whatever life throws at it, but it also helps your mind. Exercising can release chemicals in the brain that promote contentment and happiness. Healthy eating can reduce sugars which can lead to irritability and a feeling of discomfort. Overall, being healthy can help clear the mind and truly improve your life by making you feel better and more contented.
7. Be Grateful
This one is more difficult to define than some of the others, but being more grateful in life can lead to an attitude switch which ensures you are pleased with what you have. As Crosby, Stills & Nash sang: “If you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with.” If the qualities that define your ideal life are out of your grasp, try to find the good in the life you have. By doing this you will retrain your brain to look for the smaller positives which can make your overall life more worthwhile. One suggestion is to list three things every day for which you can be grateful. Eventually, you’ll begin seeing things to be grateful for as you go about your life and not just as part of your daily writing exercise.
8. Stay Humble
As you see the small changes in your life begin to take effect and you realise that you can make a difference and create your own happiness, humility is important. As you see positivity flooding into your life, you should always remember where you began and how you got to where you are. This brings us back to the celebrities, with their enviable lives, who help charities. They understand their positions of influence and power and give back in order to help out those less fortunate. Retaining humility and not being conceited in the face of great success is the true difference between someone who deserves it and earned it and someone who fell into it.
9. Inspire Others
Birds of a feather flock together. Surround yourself not only with those who inspire you to live your best life, embracing positivity and challenges, but also those who might need you to inspire them. There is a tendency to surround ourselves with people who are like-minded, so, if your mindset changes, you could potentially be around people who don’t inspire you to move forward as you wish. But, rather than ditch these people, act as a pillar of positive influence: you could help inspire them to live their best lives.
10. Always Strive for More
Resting on our laurels and being complacent could lead to regret and resentment in the future. By always having a goal in mind and always working to achieve it, we can ensure that we are always moving forward. Competing with the version of yourself from the past could be a huge benefit in ensuring you are pushing towards new goals. By always wanting more, you’ll keep the fire lit that persuaded you to seek greater contentment in the first place. Keeping that desire burning is a key feature of almost everyone with an “enviable life”.
Does the perfect life even exist? Is there a magic formula for happiness and contentment that some people have nailed and others are still struggling to find? Or should we all just live in a way to strive towards some semblance of perfection – perhaps finding it in the process. Ultimately, living the perfect life comes down to your attitude around how you view both the positive and the negative events that befall you. There is no magic formula for how to make life more enjoyable and smoother, to make your relationships and goals stronger, but there are some small changes in mindset you could make for an overall better life. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so take the reigns and make something beautiful of which you can be proud!