Striving For Felicity

Personal Growth, Success + Lifestyle Tips

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10 Effortless And Free Ways To Do Something Good | 10 Good Deeds

Blog, Personal Development

We all know that we should do something good as often as possible. After all, a good deed a day keeps bad things away.

Most of the time, ‘doing something good’ makes us immediately think about charity work or donating. And most of us don’t want to spend our limited time and money doing that.

Fortunately, there are also more subtle and effortless ways you can help your fellow humans.

The following good deeds don’t require you to spend money, and they take barely any time.

Yet if you commit to doing them as often as possible, you leave a trail of happiness wherever you go.

1. Leave a review

As the average citizen of industrial countries, I am sure you regularly order stuff online, a lot of them probably from Amazon.

But how often do you leave a review for the product? I admit I rarely do it. 

Yet I regularly read the reviews to determine whether or not a product is worth the purchase.

So obviously, those reviews provide some value for me. They help me spend my money more wisely (by the way, you might be interested in 11 Ways To Spend Your Money Wisely).

That’s why I decided to provide the same value for other people. 

After all, it doesn’t take long for you to leave a review. Amazon even reminds you per email of it!

And although it takes so little effort from your side, you are helping multiple potential customers and the seller. 

After all, most people look at the number of reviews and the ranking of a product before going through with the purchase.

2. Share content

Sharing content also doesn’t take much effort. Just a few clicks are necessary. It might not even take you a minute, but it can help the content creator soooooo much.

And, of course, it will make others happy to discover helpful and inspiring content.

So, the next time you read, listen to or watch some awesome content that you really like, why not share it with at least one person. 

You don’t even have to do it online. Just recommend it to a friend of yours.

It’s an excellent and effortless way to say “thank you for creating this content. I really appreciate it!”.

Most of you will probably know by now that many online entrepreneurs and influencers make their money through affiliate links.

In essence, they share the link to a product or service they recommend, and every time you purchase something through the link, they get a commission for it. 

Often enough, you even get discounts through the links.

In the end, it’s a win-win-win situation. 

You win because you get a great product or service and even some discount on it. The affiliate marketer wins because he receives a commission. And lastly, the producer wins because he makes more sales.

If you actually want the product and there is a discount from the influencer, you will probably automatically use their affiliate link.

However, I have another idea. Imagine you want to order a new Kindle online. You’ve been thinking about this for a while now and haven’t been influenced by any online personality.

Before purchasing the Kindle, why not use an Amazon affiliate link from one of your favorite YouTubers, etc., to get to Amazon.com. 

You don’t even have to buy the product the link leads to. Instead, the Affiliate Marketer will receive a commission for any sale that has been made on Amazon within 24 hours after the link was used.

Pretty incredible, right? And the best part is that again you can thank other people for their excellent work in a significant way without putting much effort in or having to sacrifice anything at all.

4. Click and watch YouTube and Blog Ads

Another good deed that you can do in the internet age is clicking on the ads in YouTube videos and blog posts. 

Most of these pay CPC (cost per click); in other words, the content creator only earns if the viewer clicks on the ad. 

Some ads are CPM (cost per thousand views), meaning the viewer needs to watch at least 30 seconds (or half of a very short ad) for the creator to earn something.

It might only be a few seconds for you, but it can make a difference for the content creator.

5. Comment and Like

Like many of those mentioned above, commenting and liking content online helps content creators more than you might imagine.

The algorithms of many platforms (Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) display content more prominently the more engagement it has.

Especially those first few comments and likes on a new post can get the stone rolling.

6. Ask for Content

Is there something you’d like your favorite content creator to talk about? Tell them!

Content creators continuously have to be creative and develop new content ideas; therefore, it is a massive relief for them to find some inspiration through their audience.

And once again, we effortlessly created a win-win situation. 

You get the content you want, and they have an easier time creating it.

7. Compliment others

Now we finally take a step away from the online world. Another effortless and free good deed is complementing other people.

And I am not talking about fake compliments; people notice whether or not a compliment is honest. So don’t pretend.

Simply tell other people something you like or admire about them whenever you find something.

For you, it might not be a big deal to say those few words, but it will stay in their memory for a long time and will make them very happy.

8. Smile at others

We need to smile more! But, seriously, what’s wrong with people nowadays? 

We seem to live in a society where everyone walks around with a resting bitch face.

The next time you make eye contact with somebody, give them a small smile. You don’t need to say anything or hug them; just smile. With or without teeth, your choice.

It can instantly lift the mood of the person on the receiving end. In fact, it will probably also boost your mood because you will be proud of yourself for having done something beautiful today.

“How to Win Friends & Influence People” even suggests that we humans can pick up on whether or not the person we are telephoning with is smiling or not. 

This can make or break a deal whenever you request something over the telephone.

If you are interested in other inspiring concepts like this, you should check out my Reading List for Personal Growth.

9. Sympathize with others

Again, this is inspired by Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends & Influence People.”

We, humans, love it when other people sympathize with us. And sympathizing with other people generally creates a more harmonious life.

Next time you are annoyed with somebody, try to step into their shoes for a moment. Maybe they just had a bad day and can’t perform as well as usual. Perhaps they are getting sick. They probably did their best.

If you only show a bit of sympathy towards people, they will be thankful for it, especially when most others are not as thoughtful as you are.

10. Donate clothing

We all know that donating clothes is a good thing to do. It’s also way less time-consuming than selling them online!

You don’t have to take pictures, upload them, write descriptions, or answer questions. 

So next time you give your wardrobe a cleanout, donate at least some of it. Your clothes can make someone out there very happy.

I hope these 10 Effortless And Free Ways To Help Others inspired you to do something good today.

I know you might think I only recommended most of these good deeds because they can help me and my blog. But by all means, don’t let that stop you from using them!

Honestly, I don’t care if you use them on me or any other content creator that you love. 

These were just things I never thought of until I started my own blog, and now I am really excited to help other people in such an effortless way.

Can you think of other free ways to help people? Comment down below! 

It would be fantastic if our community of Felicity Seekers could help as many people as possible even before we have the money to do so in a financial way.

Besides that, I encourage you to continue creating that extraordinary life of your dreams! Even if you just take a small step today, it is still one step closer to your end goal.

We at Striving for Felicity believe in you!

11 Ways To Spend Your Money Wisely | How To Spend Money

Blog, Success

Money is one of the things we worry most about in life. And no wonder, it surrounds us daily. Look around you, everything that you can see has a price and if you own it you probably already paid it.

11 ways to spend your money wisely

At the same time, about 99% of the population has not enough money to carelessly throw it out the window. So no wonder we continuously consider whether we should buy something or not.

And since money can make you or break you in our world, we hate the feeling of having wasted our money.

Well, do not worry! After you went through this article, you will know precisely how you can spend your money wisely!

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). I only ever recommend products that I have personally used and loved. Thank you for your support!

1. Spend Money on Necessities

Let’s make something clear first. You NEED to spend money on necessities. It is very honorable for you to want to spend money on things that will make you grow, but unless you can cover your essentials, you won’t be able to do it for a long time.

Now at the same time, you need to be honest with yourself about what your necessities are. Do you really need that Netflix and Amazon Prime subscription? Do you need to have a manicure every week? How about that new iPhone, do you actually need that?

I am talking about your actual necessities — things like food, clothing, housing, water, electricity, and wifi.

But even those are areas where you can spend different amounts of money. Do you really need that two-bedroom flat or would a smaller one suffice? And how about going out and eating sushi, is that worth the money right now?

Take some time and establish your none negotiable necessities. And never feel bad about spending money on them.

2. Invest in Education

Knowledge is potential power if you act upon it. That said, you need to educate yourself to create the extraordinary life of your dreams. Therefore education is undoubtedly a topic where you can spend your money wisely.

But be careful! Not everything that will educate you is worth the money. You need to thoroughly consider whether education at a more expensive college will give you an advantage that is worth the price.

And don’t go and buy all study materials that are available out there. Trust me; as a law student, there are endless pricey options for me to support my studies. But do I need them all? No, of course not. Quite on the contrary, it would only lead to information overload. I am doing way better with just a few selected options.

You should also remember that education doesn’t stop after school or university. In fact, for many people, the most useful education only starts after that.

If you genuinely want to succeed in life, you have to educate yourself on things that will help you create the extraordinary life of your dreams.

To help you with that, check out my Reading List for Personal Growth. I always keep it up to date on my favorite inspiring non-fiction books.

3. Use Money to build Income Streams

We Felicity Seekers want a life in financial freedom. If you are not born wealthy, that means you have to build a stable stream of income. Or even better, multiple streams of income.

To build anything, you have to invest in it first. So put aside money to invest in the future of your business or stocks and fonds.

Build a passive income stream so that your money can work for you and creates more wealth.

For example, you can invest in an online course that will help you build a business. If you want to learn how to publish hundreds of Kindle books without having written even one of them and make a successful passive income stream through that, you could invest in Stefan James’ K Money Mastery.

I’ve purchased the program, and experienced how he takes you by the hand and leads you through all the essential steps in setting up a successful Kindle Publishing Business.

I didn’t stick with Kindle Publishing because I found more joy in building my Blog, but his testimonials speak for themselves. His program works!

But of course, there are countless other options out there to build your own business even with little money and comfortabl from your home.

4. Invest in quality Items

An important lesson many people learn as they get older is that it is wiser to spend money on quality rather than quantity.

Yes, it might hurt a little to spend all that money on something when you could easily find a cheaper version of it. However, in the long run, it will most likely save you money and definitely time since you won’t have to look for a replacement.

For example, when I purchased my first Yoga matt, I went straight for a more expensive version but of higher quality. Sure, I could have gone with a cheaper one, but the low quality would have bothered me endlessly and sooner or later I would have purchased a better one anyway. So why not do it straight away?

That said, I also need to mention that higher quality does not always equal expensive! You can also find rather shitty but pricey items. And if you look at product rankings, you will also find that the best-ranked product is not always the most expensive one.

5. Purchase Timeless Items

Stop chasing trends! If you want to live an extraordinary life stop following the crowd.

Why waste money on items that will only be “in” for a year if you could spend the same money one something that you will use for three or four years?

You don’t need to be “in” for people to like you and you definitely need to overcome that fear of missing out.

If you spend your money wisely now, you will be able to afford spending it on every trend that will come in five or ten years. Just get your priorities straight first!

6. Invest in your Health

For some stupid reason, many people are ok to spend excessive amounts of money on unnecessary things but refuse to pay even a small part of that on their health.

Your body and your mind are the two things that enable you to live this beautiful life. You should cherish them!

Hell, you should wake up each day and thank the universe for having healthy legs that let you walk around, for having eyes that make you see the most amazing colors, pictures, and movies, for having ears that let you listen to fantastic music and for every other part of your body and mind no matter how well it functions!

So stop wasting your money on useless things and invest in healthier food, in gym memberships, meditation courses, fitting office chairs, blue light reducing glasses, and so much more that will enhance your life.

But as always spend your money intentionally. You don’t need shitty or excessive health gadgets. A few effective ones are more than enough!

7. Spend Money on Time-Saving Services and Products

Time is your most valuable asset. You can never get more of it, but you can always make more money. So whenever you can spend money to save time, it makes sense to do so.

Think about some tasks that you can outsource. Maybe you can hire somebody to clean your house for you. Or you can search for a virtual assistant for your business on Fiverr to take over repetitive tasks.

For example, recently, I invested in a yearly subscription of Tailwind to save me time promoting my business on Pinterest. And let me tell you it was worth every single penny! The monthly views of my Pinterest account went through the roof within days! And for the first time since I started my Blog, I began to receive some traffic!

So if you want to grow a blog like me, I can full-heartedly recommend you Tailwind! If you click on the link, you will even get a discount. (We Felicity Seekers have to stick together after all ;D)

And again, courses like K Money Mastery help you create the financial freedom of your dreams in a significantly shorter amount of time then it would have taken you to figure all this stuff out on your own.

You should also check out my 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

8. Use Money to Contribute

Spending money to help other people is never wasted money. Not only does it increase the happiness on this planet, but it also makes you feel good.

And there are seemingly endless options on how to contribute. You can spend money to help the poor, children, animals, the environment, movements, or support researches.

Furthermore, you have to be in an abundance mindset to spend money like that. This sends the right vibrations out into the universe, and you will attract more of that money abundance. If you are interested in this concept, you should check out my Law of Attraction 101.

9. Spend Money on Family & Friends

According to the 5 Love Languages, gifts are one of the 5 love languages of humans. For some people, it is even their primary love language, and therefore, they need to receive gifts to feel loved.

Spending money on your family, whether it is through gifts or some kind of support is essential. It shows them your love.

However, you should always consider that love cannot be bought. You can spend a fortune for your family and friends, but if you refuse to spend time with them or support them in moments of need, the relationship will not flourish.

Money can certainly show others that we love them. But we cannot prove it solely through money!

10. Spend Money to gain Experiences

Although we live in a materialistic world experiences and the memories we keep from them are the most valuable things one can own in life.

Of course, luxury items are fantastic, but if you are lying on your deathbed and look back upon your life, you will most likely remember that exciting kayaking tour and not the iPhones you bought.

However, many items can lead to amazing experiences. You might have to buy that Harley Davidson, for example, to experience many memorable road trips.

In the future, try to invest money intentionally in things that will lead to fantastic experiences. That money is never wasted.

11. Spend Money on Things that Light You Up

Now, we’ve talked a lot about wise options to spend your money. However, sometimes it might also be wise to spend money on seemingly ridiculous things that belong under none of the categories mentioned above.

You should also spend money on things that light you up. Things that you have a passion for and that make you immensely happy.

However, as always, you should put some thought into it before you make the purchase. Is this investment going to make you happy long-term? Or will it just bring short-term happiness and then be forgotten or even bring annoyance with it?

For example, you might be collecting something, and that can be great. But if you collect so much stuff that it is cluttering your whole house and you don’t even see the items most of the time, is it really worth it?

Or could you spend your money more wisely?

I hope this article eases your mind the next time you have to make a money-based decision.

Always remember, the kind of life you are going to live in the future can be easily measured by the way you spend your time and money today.

What kind of future do your spending habits predict? What do you want to change? Comment down below!

If you take immediate action, you will be able to create the extraordinary life of your dreams in no time!

Sophie

5 Reasons You Need To Raise Your Standards

Blog, Personal Development

If you want to create the extraordinary life of your dreams, you NEED to raise your standards!

For some reason, many people nowadays look down on others who declare high standards. They call them picky, snobby, or unrealistic.

What they don’t realize, however, is that there are multiple important reasons to have high standards.

Not convinced? Don’t worry, within a few minutes you will be! Enjoy!

1. High standards make life easier 

As soon as you set yourself high standards, life gets easier. 

You won’t agree to just anything anymore. You will choose your obligations very intentionally.

You always ask yourself if something aligns with your standards. If yes, great! If not, forget about it and move on, or find a very strong ‘Why’ and get it done quickly.

This saves you an immense amount of time and energy. As a result, life will feel easier and more enjoyable in many ways.

Also, it’s not so much about setting yourself higher standards as it is about acknowledging the high standards you’ve always suppressed for one reason or another. 

So, of course, life will feel easier once yous stop suppressing them. 

Read also: 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

2. High standards force you to improve

If you want high standards, you have to be on the same level as them. 

You can’t expect a Prince Charming to fall in love with you if you are an Evil Queen.

Once you decide that you will only accept the best, you will automatically adapt to reach these goals.

Imagine this: If you are ok with a C on your exam, you will put in just the effort to get you a C. However, if you are determined to receive an A, you will automatically put in more energy.

via GIPHY

3. High standards will improve the quality of your life

If you have decided what you want in life, you will start to attract matching opportunities. 

If you have no clear standards, you will keep being distracted by every shiny object that crosses your path. 

However, once you know what you want, you will ignore all other distractions and easily reach your goal.

Furthermore, most people will treat you accordingly to how you expect to be treated. If you enable them to treat you like less, they will do so. 

Set boundaries and make them clear to others. Don’t be afraid to cut out people that make you feel like less.

If you want the quality of your life to improve, you have to stop accepting it the way it currently is. 

Be grateful for what you already have, but refuse to settle for it if it does not make you happy.

4. You won’t be happy with less

Let’s be honest for a second. Nobody is forever content with the way things are. If there is something better out there, sooner or later, we desire more.

We Felicity Seekers do not strive for ordinary happiness; we want Felicity! 

That state of utter bliss and pure contentment.

So figure out what you truly desire and set yourself those high standards unapologetically!

You might as well spend all that energy that goes into pretending you like your low standard-life towards a more worthwhile goal. 

5. You deserve the best

And lastly, a point so few people believe in: You deserve the best this world has to offer!

We are blessed enough to live in a world of endless possibilities. So why would it withhold its blessings from you specifically?

Thousands of people took advantage of the blessings life offers us. So why should they deserve that extraordinary life but not you?

You deserve the best life possible, just like every other living being on this planet. It all depends on you and your willingness to do the necessary work.

via GIPHY

Isn’t it astounding how a changed mindset can alter your life?

What areas in your life in which you want to raise your standards? Comment down below! I am sure many like-minded Felicity Seekers out there have the same goal.

Also, if you are committed to raising your standards from now on, comment ‘RAISE IT!’

As always, we encourage you to continue creating the extraordinary life of your dreams! You have the power to do it! Do not settle for less!

Until next time, Felicity Seeker!

9 Reasons You Should Want To Be Rich

Blog, Success

I’m sure I don’t need to convince you that you should want to be rich. But have you ever considered how exactly it would change your life?

Striving for Felicity 9 Reasons To Be Rich

Most people only want to be rich to fulfill their current wishes and dreams above their budget.

They rarely let themself imagine the whole extent to which their life could change with more money.

This is probably why so few people pursue wealth with serious effort.

After all, your wish for a more expensive car or designer handbag is unlikely to justify the hard work it will take to achieve lasting wealth.

But maybe these reasons will.

Enjoy!

1. You can buy whatever your heart desires

Let’s get the most obvious reason out of the way first. 

When you are rich, you can buy whatever your heart desires. Want that Lamborgini? Purchase it! Want that Channel bag? What are you waiting for? 

Depending on how rich you are, you will never have to look at a price tag again. 

Maybe only when you think about buying an island or yacht or something in similar realms.

But hey, what are a few million dollars if you are wealthy, right?

2. Money makes pretty

And I am not talking about plastic surgery, botox, and similar things. No, money is, in general, able to help you get prettier.

Did you ever notice how rising celebrities became prettier over the years? (Again, without any boob jobs or such.) 

They have a better style, seem more in shape, have a flattering haircut, and their makeup and skin are perfect.

Being rich enables you to get a stylist who will bring the best out of your looks. It allows you to get a personal trainer who can tell you exactly how to train to get the body of your dreams.

You can consult a nutritionist who will help you with the perfect diet to avoid health issues. And you can afford regular dermatologist appointments to make your skin look amazing!

You can also afford better hairdressers to get that haircut that perfectly flatters your face.

You can see that money opens many doors to you that will make you look simply stunning!

via GIPHY

3. Money can make you healthier

Having a lot of money and not needing to stick to a budget enables you to afford the best, healthiest food. 

So instead of cheap fast food or frozen stuff, you can get the freshest fruits, herbs, meat, etc.

And as mentioned above, you can afford to regularly consult a specialist like a personal trainer or nutritionist, who will help you on your way to optimal health.

And another fantastic thing that most people do not have much access to due to high costs is body hacking. So there is a whole industry on how to “hack” your body to achieve optimal health.

There are, for example, bulletproof upgrade laps you can go to. You can also buy a variety of health-improving gadgets like a water ionizer, blue light blocking sunglasses, PEMF therapy devices, red light therapy devices, a PEMF mat, and so much more.

Seriously, I was stunned to learn this whole other world out there existed! 

And I was very much looking forward to using some of the stuff until I looked up their costs. But, save to say, that spark of excitement shriveled up real quick.

So, for now, I focus on growing my stream of income so that in the future, I will be able to utilize more of this fantastic technology and live the healthiest life possible!

4. You can support your family more effectively

Are your parents enjoying their jobs? Statistically, they most likely aren’t. 

So how great would it be if you could send them into early retirement through your financial support!

Being rich gives you incredible opportunities to support your family on an entirely different level. 

For example, you could pay their mortgage or pull them out of other debts. You could also send your children to the best schools available.

I am sure you can think of many other ways to support your family if you only had the money for it. 

For many, that is one of the best motivations to become wealthy.

via GIPHY

5. You can help so many other people

Of course, other than your family, money also enables you to help others who are in need all around the world.

For example, you can donate significant sums of money, organize schools in developing countries or help others become rich through your support and coaching.

The possibilities are endless. And once you have your needs fulfilled, you will want to experience the joy that comes from helping others. 

That way, you can also look back on your life and be proud of the happiness you brought to other people.

6. You can make a global impact

Being wealthy enables you to make a significant impact on the world. 

For example, you can invest your money into developing new technology. Or you can use it to clean the oceans.

While the previous point focused more on short-term contributions, making an impact means that your contribution will live on for many decades and maybe even far beyond your death.

In 15 Life-Changing Questions You Should Ask Yourself Today, I encouraged you to ask yourself what you will leave behind on this earth. 

If you use your money to impact, you will clearly answer this question.

7. You can spend your time the way you want to

At Striving for Felicity, we believe that time is your most valuable asset. 

Most people have to spend their time earning money. However, if you are rich, you can let your money work for you and spend your time truly living life to its fullest.

Can you imagine a life where you spend every single day exactly the way you want to?

Most likely, you’d still find work to do, but it would be works that fulfill you and don’t make you wish for the weekend to come.

By the way, you might be interested in 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

8. You can experience more

Our world offers the most amazing experiences you could dream of. 

Sadly, many of them do require a substantial amount of money. And the more you want to experience, the more money you need.

Being rich enables you to go to expensive events like Coachella or the VIP areas of concerts. You can also afford more online courses and coaches to help you improve into your best version.

Nowadays, money can even bring you into space! Or you could buy yourself a part in a movie!

Money can certainly make your life more interesting! So if that doesn’t motivate you to become rich, I don’t know what will.

9. You (potentially) worry less

If you are rich, you don’t have to worry about money. Obvious, I know. But if you think about it, money is among the biggest worries of ordinary people. 

And no wonder they have to think about it when they purchase food, when they buy clothes, when they want to travel, when they have to get out of debt and when their payroll comes in.

Money is everywhere in our daily life, and if you don’t have more than enough of it, you always have to decide whether or not something is worth the purchase.

Those constant mental calculations are annoying, exhausting, and rob you of so much time. 

So yes, rich people have to worry less about money. However, this only potentially means that they worry less in general. 

Although they have a lot of money, many rich people are not happy because they worry about other things – relationships, for example. Or, even worse, they keep obsessing over things that lie outside of their control.

Remember, happiness comes from within and doesn’t depend on outward circumstances! 

via GIPHY

Are you already excited to become rich? Writing this definitely made me want to work harder for the financial freedom I desire.

What is your plan on how to become rich? Comment down below!
I hope you keep creating the extraordinary life of your dreams!

Until next time, Felicity Seeker!

15 Life-Changing Questions Part II

Blog, Personal Development

Since the first part of this series turned out so well, I decided we needed a second part. After all, it might just be one of these questions that lights a spark in your mind.

Striving for Felicity 15 Life-Changing Questions

It only needs to create one idea, which can change your life forever. I genuinely hope that you will find this one question on this list.

And remember to take your time answering them. That’s how you get the most out of them.

Enjoy!

1. What do you hate doing?

What are some tasks that you absolutely hate doing? Once you figure out what they are, you can take some measures to get rid of them.

Maybe you can start to delegate some of them. Either by outsourcing them to a virtual assistant or you could make a deal with a family member to switch tasks.

You can almost always do something against the source of your unhappiness. It all depends on your willingness to act.

2. Who are you admiring? What do they have in common?

Who are the people you admire? You can know them in person; they could be famous or even fictional.

Create a list of the people you admire for one reason or another. Once you have that list, try to find common traits that you admire.

If any of the people you admire are badass entrepreneurs, something inside you craves being an entrepreneur. You would probably thrive with your own business. So why not start one?

If your idols are very confident, work on your confidence. If they are very stylish, improve the choice of your clothes.

It was eyeopening for me to find out the patterns between my seemingly unrelated idols.

3. If I continue doing what I am currently doing, what will my life be like in 5 or 10 years?

Think about it. If you answer something you do not like, do something about it!

You have the power to direct the course of your life. Just take one little step each day.

4. What character traits should the person have, with whom I spend my life with?

The sexual attraction is great and undoubtedly important, but it is definitely not the most essential trait of your partner.

To avoid drama and regrets later on in life, you should become absolutely clear on the most important character traits you want your partner to have.

If you love traveling all around the world, but your boyfriend/girlfriend absolutely hates it, do you really expect a fulfilling relationship?

You and your significant other should share a similar vision for life. Otherwise, you won’t both be able to pursue the life of your dreams.

via GIPHY

5. What can I be grateful for?

Everything! Of course I want you to be a bit more specific with your answer, but basically, you can be grateful for everything.

Be grateful for your heartbeat, for each breath you take, for the weather, for your favorite outfit, for the car that brings you everywhere, for the public transportation that is available to you, for the opportunity to get an education, for the internet, for incredible movies and series and music, etc.

Whenever you feel down, you should search for things you can be grateful about. Suddenly, the situation won’t feel as bad anymore, because there is so much good around you.

Gratitude is the fuel for a happy life.

6. In what way are my friends and family influencing me?

Analyze the way your family and friends make you feel. Do you feel empowered after talking to them, or do you feel insecure and doubtful?

Once you become clear on the impact your family and friends have on you, you can make better decisions.

Maybe you need to stop spending so much time with some people, or you should stop talking with them about specific topics.

Maybe, you should spend way more time with them! One of your greatest assets is a supporting peer group.

7. Am I feeling physically and mentally healthy?

Sometimes we forget to analyze our wellbeing. Did you notice yourself having a headache more often? Or are you always bloated?

We tend to think just because something is common means it is normal. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you are not feeling well physically or mentally, there is something you should fix. The signs your body gives you is like your personal doctor. You just need to listen to that doctor and either find the solution yourself or go to a specialist who will find it for you.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, so look after yourself!

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8. What do I care more about: How my life looks or how it feels?

This question is especially important in our social media age. Millions of people are staging a perfect life for their social followings when, in reality, not everything is as rosy as they make people believe it is.

Are you doing certain things just because they look good in the eyes of other people or because they make you feel good?

9. Why not me?

The wise Jim Rohn asked the following two questions.

Whenever you have a dream, but doubts start to creep in, ask yourself: Why not me?

Seriously, why shouldn’t you be able to do this? There have been poorer, uglier, dumber or other more disadvantaged people than you, who were able to do even more incredible things. So what should stop you other than yourself?

10. Why not now?

We always want to wait for the right time to do challenging things. We tell ourselves that we’ll do it tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.

But the longer we wait, the more doubts start to fill our minds and the harder it will be to start. And in the end, on that date we set ourselves, we won’t be much more ready than we are right now.

So why not now? Stop procrastinating and take the first little step, no matter how tiny it is!

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11. Is this in my control?

If not, surrender and let it go. Why worry about things you cannot control? It doesn’t help you or the situation you are worried about.

Ask yourself this question whenever you feel your emotions get the better of you. I am sure it will make your life much more enjoyable.

12. Would my ideal partner want someone like me?

Having high standards for a partner for life is justified. However, you should also be realistic. Would your dream man/woman want someone like you?

If you want someone who is very healthy and muscular, you should probably work on being fit yourself.

If you want a masculine boyfriend, you should work on raising your feminine energy. If you are struggling with that, check out 10 Ways To Tune Into Your Feminine Energy.

Instead of hunting for your soul mate, why not spend the time improving yourself. If the time is right, the right person will come. The only thing you have to do is being ready for them.

13. If you had to spend the rest of your life in one job and couldn’t retire, what career would you choose? Would it be your current one?

Sadly, the majority of people on our planet work in a career that they do not like.
Especially the people in developing countries have little other choice but to keep working to bring food on the table.

However, if you are reading this, you probably live in a wealthy country, and in countries like ours, people do have a multitudinous choice of jobs.

Unfortunately, most people are afraid of taking risks in exchange for greater happiness, so day in day out they wait for the time to pass until they can finally retire.

But what would happen, if there was no retirement? How would people choose their careers if they had to work in it until the end of their days?

How would you choose?

14. How would you behave if nobody was capable of judging you?

How would you go about your day, if humans were genetically unable to judge you?

Would you wear something more revealing? Would you finally change your hair color or get that piercing?

What about your career choices? If people couldn’t judge you, would you start that YouTube Channel?

Once you realize in what areas of your life the fear of judgment is holding you back, you might realize how stupid it is. Maybe that is the final push you need to go after your dreams.

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15. What makes you, you?

What is unique about you? Name the characteristics and interests or anything at all, that separates you from John or Jane Doe.

Whether it is your freckles, your dark humor, or your fondness of pickles with chocolate, your uniqueness is your advantage.

Never try to hide what makes you weird. If you openly embrace your uniqueness and build your success on it, you will never have to worry about competition. After all, nobody can be you!

I hope you find some life-changing answers to these fifteen questions. You might want to review them at least once every year.

You will have different answers to them in the various stages of your life.

With that, I wish you much fun creating the extraordinary life of your dreams!

I believe in you!

Sophie

15 Life-Changing Questions You Should Ask Yourself

Blog, Personal Development

Sometimes one little question or information can change the direction our life takes forever. We suddenly realize something that makes us want to change the way we live life.

I love thought-provoking and life-changing questions like these. Therefore I have compiled a list of 15 Life-Changing Questions You Need To Ask Yourself.

I recommend you to take some time with each of these questions. Journal about them and try to listen to your intuition instead of your mind.

Striving for Felicity 15 Life-Changing Questions

Let the answers flow as much as possible. Try to be honest with yourself and accept the answers that come, even though they might be uncomfortable for you.

We have to embrace being uncomfortable to grow. And I am sure these questions will bring your quite a step forward in your quest for an extraordinary life.

Enjoy!

1. Am I happy?

We start this list off with a profound but often overlooked question. Most of the times, we just go about our day and do our obligations.

Rarely do we ever think about whether or not we genuinely enjoy what we are doing or what we generally would enjoy doing.

As you leave school, that’s a question you ponder about a lot. However, as soon as you’ve chosen your studies or apprenticeship and been doing it more or less happily for a while, you probably stop wondering if it is truly making you happy.

We lose ourselves in what we think we need to do and what others our age are doing. But is that genuinely making you happy?

Is your job, your relationship, or your lifestyle truly lighting you up? If not, what can you do about it? Wouldn’t it be worth pursuing something more enjoyable?

But careful! You should always differentiate between temporary unhappiness (because of one lousy grade, for example) and a general lack of joy.

The first is reasonable, the latter shouldn’t be.

2. Who or what am I doing this for?

Why are you doing what you do? Are you acting intentionally or “just because …”?

Think about it for a while. Why are you working in that job? What led you there and is holding you there? Why are you studying so hard? Why are you buying those designer bags and shoes? And why are you posting so much on social media of your “perfect” life?

Are you living your life for yourself or for others? Are you living your life for its appearance or because it makes you happy?

If you would not be willing to proudly declare your answer to this question to the person that cares most about you, then you are probably doing it for the wrong reasons.

3. Am I wasting my time?

We only have a limited amount of time on this beautiful earth. We should waste as little as possible of it. To do that, you should always act intentionally.

Additionally, here are 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely.

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4. What am I leaving behind on this earth?

One day, we all will die. To this day, billions of humans have died since humanity exists. Yet we only remember thousands or millions of them. Why do we remember Ceasar or Mother Theresa but not every farmer of every small village somewhere around the world?

What separates those individuals who have made it into our history books from everyone else?

The answer is, value! In one way or another, they have provided value to the world. Their existence shaped the world forever.

When you would look back upon your life, will you be able to proudly say, you’ve made an impact on the world?

It doesn’t even need to be as massive as the impact Steve Jobs or Columbus made. Sometimes, it can be satisfying enough to know that you made your small community a happier place by living in it.

5. What are my values, and am I living according to them?

Having values helps you make decisions you can stand behind and therefore experience less regret and more happiness.

So what are your values? Do you value honesty, hard work, empathy, kindness, success, intellect, time, health, love, passion, trust, etc.?

Once you have determined at least three of your core values, think back to last week. Have you lived according to your values? What would have gone differently, and how would you have felt if you would have followed them?

6. How would I feel if I achieved all my goals?

We all strive towards goals, some big some small. However, most of the time, it is not actually the end result we want, but rather the emotions that come with it.

For example, you might want good grades so that you can feel smart, proud, and secure.

We all want money, but not for the money itself but rather for the things and experiences it can make available to us, which in turn make us happy, excited, proud, secure or whatever not.

Once you realize what kind of feeling you want to experience through your goals, you can work on feeling it right now. Because we know that like attracts like.

For example, if you are always pessimistic, you will probably not attract optimistic and uplifting friends. Or if you hate money and think it is the root of all evil – which by the way is far from the truth as you can see in 9 Mindsets That Are Keeping You Poor – you will very likely not have much of it in your life.

If you want to learn more about the principle of like attracts like check out my Law of Attraction 101 or, if you are not very spiritual check out 5 Non-Spiritual Reasons the Law of Attraction Can Make You Rich.

7. How would I spend my days if I achieved all my goals?

This question made me realize that not as much would change for me as I always thought.

We tend to focus a lot on our future and our goals. We think “if I just would have X amount of money … or this dream job … or this relationship .. or this body …”.

Now, try to imagine you would have had all of these things for a year already. How would you spend your days now?

I suddenly realized that while indeed some things in my life would change significantly, especially in the beginning, I would still spend my time reading books, working out, reading fanfictions, watching YouTube or Netflix, listening to music, etc.

I realized very quickly that I am already enjoying so many things which I would also appreciate, once I’d have my “perfect” life.

So why not focus more on the happiness you already have? Just be grateful and patient, your goals will come true with time.

8. If you couldn’t fail in life, what would you set out to do?

What do you desire to do? Where is the fear of failure holding you back? Be honest with yourself.

Once you have your answer, you might realize that you should finally put aside your fear and pursue that dream!

9. Is this something I will care about in 5 or 10 years?

If not, you shouldn’t spend much time worrying or obsessing over it. Again, time is limited. Why waste it on negative emotions about something irrelevant?

If you keep looking for things to be upset about, you will find them. However, if you finally start putting your energy into things more worthwhile, you are on your way to creating pure bliss!

10. Why not? What is the worst possible outcome?

Once you analyze the worst possible outcome, you might realize that it isn’t as bad as you made it out to be. It probably is something you could deal with. Maybe you even dealt with it before.

So why do you let it keep you from chasing your dream?

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11. What is the best possible outcome?

An even more convincing argument is the best possible outcome. Once you have accepted that you would survive the worst outcome, it only takes for you to think about the best possible outcome to find the necessary motivation.

You want to start a business? Well, the worst outcome would be that it fails and you lost a few thousand euro, which you can earn back. And you have at least made some valuable experiences which will make every next attempt way easier.

And the best possible outcome would be a thriving business, through which you can live your calling in financial freedom.

If that is not convincing, I don’t know what is.

12. What do you want life to be like in one year?

I rarely used to think about stuff like this. I just lived life as it came and looked forward to the next exam, holiday, birthday, or another event.

However, now that I am a Felicity Seeker, I strive to have improved my life within a year by at least 365%.

I want to live an extraordinary life, and for that, I need goals, short term, and long term.

Once you know, what you want your life to look like in one year, you can take active steps to achieve that goal.

After all, a goal is just a dream with a plan.

13. What can you do today to improve?

Reaching your goal of an extraordinary life becomes more comfortable if you do one little step each day.

So what can you do today, to improve yourself?

14. What would I tell my grandchildren?

People want to tell their children and grandchildren about the best, funniest, or most valuable experiences they’ve made.

Do you have something you would tell them? If you can’t think of anything worth mentioning, you might have to dedicate more time to make some experiences and go on some adventures.

Life is meant to be lived!

15. Is it actually a problem?

Quite often our worrisome mind tells us that something is a HUGE problem and we start to freak out over it and stress ourselves.

However, if you take a step back, calm down and objectively analyze the situation, is it truly a problem?

For example, I recently forgot my dental appointment. I found out about it a few hours after the appointment. And boy was I angry at myself. I had never missed any kind of appointment before, and now I was one of THOSE people.

I worried about calling them and apologizing and if I would get a new appointment any time soon.

After a while of this overthinking, I took a step back from the situation.

Yes, I forgot about my appointment. It’s the first time something like this has happened. I will just call and apologize and ask for another date. That’s it.

There wasn’t a problem at all. I just needed to do these things.

And guess what, the phone call probably didn’t take two minutes and I immediately got a new appointment for the next month.

And that appointment turned out to be amazing! (Yes, dental appointments can be amazing. I love going to doctors, because I can ask them all of the questions which fly around my mind, and I feel like I am taking good care of my body.)

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Well, what do you think? Did one of these questions change the way you see your life? Did you make plans on changing something?

Tell me all about it! And also tell me which questions were your favorite, I’m curious to know.

Whatever your answers to these questions were, I hope you keep creating that extraordinary life of your dreams.

I believe in you!

Sophie