Striving For Felicity

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15 Ways to Live a Life You Won’t Regret | How to Avoid Regret

Blog, Personal Development, Well-Being

Ways To Live A Life You Won´t Regret Striving for Felicity

One thing, probably every human would agree on is that they don’t want to have any regrets at the end of their life.

We all know and hate the feeling of regret. If you let it, it can haunt you for ages.

But that leaves a question. How do we live a life we won’t regret?

Now naturally, there is no universal formula for a “perfect life.” It much depends on you and your personal goals and values.

Still, there are a few items so many people would agree upon that we can call them essential to living a fulfilled life. And if you have lived a fulfilled life, there won’t be many regrets to dwell upon.

Some of the points I am going to list in the following were inspired by a study mentioned in The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha. I mention this because I know that you, as a Felicity Seeker, strive for a happier life. I recommend you to read The Happiness Equation as a tool to reach this goal. It is a very easy read but definitely worth it!

By the way, if you are interested into more book recommendations, I have a Reading List which I regularly update on all my favorite non-fiction books.

With that said, here are 15 Ways To Live A Life You Won’t Regret. Enjoy!

1. Don’t hold grudges

Although many of us might already know this, only a few people can resist the temptation to hold a grudge.

I found a quote that expresses perfectly why holding a grudge is merely idiotic.

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

– Nelson Mandela

Holding onto the anger other people caused you will not hurt them nearly as much as it hurts you!

We all know that anger and resentment are negative emotions. They don’t make us happy. So why per se would you cling to them?

The only answer would be that you want to punish the other person for what they did. But is it really worth it if it makes you miserable?

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to forgive the stranger, your friend, or your family member for what they did. Not holding a grudge mainly means to let it go.

Stop overthinking what they did. Decide on the lesson it taught you and move on.

You don’t want to look back on your life and regret never having gotten over this issue.

But if this kind of situation happens repeatedly, at a particular point letting go won’t be enough. If you realize that this person is absolutely toxic for your life, you need to distance yourself as much as possible.

Of course, this is not always easy. Especially if it concerns family members.
Simply try to spend as little time as possible with that person. And who knows, maybe after a while the person will come around, and your dynamic will change for the better.

The important thing is to keep a healthy balance between not holding grudges and not letting people run all over you. Both will only cause regret.

2. Have a Bucket list

This generation has already discovered bucket lists as a massive tool for living a fulfilled life.

We tend to have a thousand wishes and just as many plans on what we want to experience. However, as life happens, we get so wrapped up in the hustle that we easily forget or postpone all those plans.

And we all know what happens if you postpone something. It probably will never get done.

Collect all your wishes and plans on a bucket list. I personally like to use Pinterest for that.

Then set yourself the goal to check at least one item off that list every year/6 months/3 months. Whatever suits you best. The important thing is that you commit to it.

Although I don’t believe a bucket list will ever be empty, it would be nice to look back on our lives and see how many things we did get to experience from that bucket list.

3. Travel

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”

– St. Augustine

Traveling changes you! Every trip you take gives you a new perspective on life. It not only teaches you to be humble but also to be grateful for the life you have.

At the end of their lives, many people wish they would have traveled even more. But no matter how much you travel, you will never have seen everything.

To live life to the fullest, you need to take advantage of everything life offers. And life offers you the world! You can reach far away countries in only a fraction of the time our ancestors needed. Why not take advantage of that?

If you want to hear more reasons why you should travel, check out the video of one of my favorite YouTubers Alux. They collected 15 Reasons Why You Should Travel. It will make you want to book your next trip immediately.

4. Go for it!

Whatever it is you always wanted to do, do it! At the end of your life, you will regret not acting more than having taken the risk.

So if you always wanted to start that business, do it! If you ever wanted to go skydiving, do it! And if you’ve wanted to ask that person out for ages, do it!

If something has been nagging on your mind for a while now or you feel that strong sense that you should take that opportunity, you should take it.

I’m sure you have felt that sense of regret before. It’s not pretty. But right now, we can still tell ourselves that there will be the next time. At deathbed, that’s not possible.

And anyway, would it be such a disaster if you failed? Life is not a straight curve. It has its ups and its downs. If you never fail, you do not really live!

5. Do it for yourself

You only have one life. ONE!
Everybody else already has a life of their own. Why would you let them decide over your life?

Sure, the younger you are, the more natural it is for other people to have power over your life. But at a certain point in life, you have to break free from them. There is absolutely no point in living for other people.

After all, they won’t be able to ease your regret at the end of your life.

6. Be healthy

The healthier you live your life, the more time you have to do all the things on this list.

And even if you should manage to live a reasonably long but unhealthy life, is that really a life worth living?

Think of all those elderly people being overweight, barely able to walk, barely able to hear or see and having to ingest a whole pharmacy every day.

I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I want to grow old. That’s not how I see myself at 80, 90, or even 100 years old.

7. Love yourself and your flaws

Stop beating yourself up! Why would you spend so much time being unhappy about your looks?

We have only a limited time on this beautiful earth. Why would you waste it away with negative emotions?

So what if you have a crooked nose? Be grateful that you do have a functioning nose at all! Just imagine what life would be like without your sense of smell.

Sure, you might not look like a top model (although I have to add here, that apparently oddities in look are very popular in models) but even they are dissatisfied with certain parts of their body.

And anyway, our body is just the shell of our mind. We do need it to live, that’s why we need to take care of it. But it certainly is not the most crucial part.

Just think about it. Would you rather live like Stephen Hawkins or look drop dead gorgeous but be mentally barely able to conceive the world around you?

I suppose you’d choose the first option. So don’t be so silly and beat yourself up over your looks. Instead, be grateful for the functioning and healthy body that allows you to live this incredible life!

8. Connect with people

Humans are social creatures. Although at times we might feel like we hate all of our fellow humans and just want to be left alone (trust me, I have been there as well ^^’). In the end, we want to share our life with somebody.

We want to have people we can celebrate our successes with. Friends that inspire and motivate us. Friends and partners that support us through our worst times.

Just people we can love and who love us.

Yes, I believe it’s essential to have and enjoy alone time. But alone time quickly turns to lonely if it becomes the majority of our time.

9. Change things up

Safety is one of our basic human needs. That’s nothing new. However, only a few people acknowledge that uncertainty or variety is just as much a human need.

If there is too much certainty in our lives, we get bored. That’s why nowadays, that western societies live as save as never before, many people seek adrenaline through bungee jumping or dangerous parkouring.

Of course, I am not recommending you to do a life-threatening activity. Instead, try and get that needed variety in life through changing up your routines and getting out of your comfort zone more often.

If you need to, set yourself a goal to do something new and exciting every month or so.

After all, you don’t want to regret having lived a boring life.

10. Have FUN!

Our generation is way too serious about everything! We need to relax a bit.

Being serious about your life and your future is great. You probably shouldn’t live life with a YOLO attitude.

But being serious about your future doesn’t make you happy now. And in the end, the Now is all we ever really have since our life consists out of a series of Nows.

So, make time for fun in all that seriousness! Again, you don’t want to regret having lived a boring life.

11. Have principles

We humans are moral creatures. We like living by certain principles.
For example, we all know, that we shouldn’t lie, cheat, steal, or harm others.

Inevitably, we all brake some of those principles sooner or later. However, what matters is how often you break them.

Become clear on what principles are essential for you and to which you want to commit.

If you stick to that, it might spare you some regret.

12. Be intentional about your time

No matter how much time you have left in life, in the end, you will probably wish it had been more.

Therefore, many people regret having wasted their time.

To avoid the regret of wasted time, you should always be intentional about the things or people you spend your time with.

Ask yourself: “Is this something I will look back at and be glad I did it?”

Read also: 15 Ways To Spend Your Time Wisely

13. Never stop learning

For some reason, many people seem to think that learning stops as soon as you have a degree. But why should it?

Our world never stops evolving. Each day there are so many new things to learn, and we will never be able to learn them all.

However, wouldn’t you enjoy looking back onto your life and see how much you have learned? How much have you improved over the years?

Everything new that you learn can change your life. It might seem insignificant the moment you learn it, but maybe in 5 years it suddenly is of use to you.

Aside from that, constant learning also provides significant brain benefits. For example, it reduces the risk of dementia substantially.

Being a student for life definitely plays its part in a fulfilled life.

Read also: 18 Powerful Personal Growth Ideas

14. Be yourself

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

– Oscar Wilde

Did you ever hear somebody say “I’m so glad I concealed my real personality and acted like all the others. It made life so much better!”

No? That’s what I thought. Acting like something, you are not, is taking a tremendous amount of effort and will never truly make you happy.

That’s why many people regret not having been unapologetically themselves. Again, you only have one life. There is simply not enough time to act like something you are not.

15. Put in the effort to be happy

Lastly, this is one of the most common regrets people have at the end of their lives according to The Happiness Equation. They regret not having been happy enough.

Happiness is a huge topic for me, and therefore, I made it into one of the main themes of this Blog.

Most people rely heavily on outside circumstances to make them happy, when, in reality, happiness vastly depends on your mindset.

Sure, it may be challenging to set your mindset up for happiness. But it is definitely worth the effort.

So instead of binge-watching Netflix, why not spend a bit time working on your happiness.

You will thank yourself later.

Alright, those are the 15 ways to live a life you won’t regret.

What about you? Are you already practicing these 15 ways, or is there something you want to improve on?

Leave a comment down below. I’d love to hear how you plan to improve your life!

Until next time,

Sophie

4 Things You Need To Know About Finding Your Passion

Blog, Personal Development

Nowadays, many people are searching for their passion. We continuously hear others referring to this topic.

“I am living my passion. I am so happy!”
“You will only be truly happy in life once you are doing what you are passionate about.”

This search for passion is especially intense in young adults. Coming fresh from school, they need to decide on a career they want to spend a big part of their lives in. Not an easy choice to make.

It gets even more difficult if you are trying to think of something as cryptic as your passion.

Enjoying something is not enough anymore, we want to be passionate about it.

To find that one passionate interest is challenging. Trust me, I was there two years ago when I graduated from school.

4 things you need to know about finding your passion

Many of us still have no clue what our passion truly is.

To help you out with the search for your passion, I collected 4 things you should know about finding your passion.

These are different ideas and concepts I have come across in people who say they are living their passion. They all changed my view on the topic drastically. And I hope yours will change as well. Enjoy!

Read also: 9 Things A Boss Lady Has That You Don’t

1. There is no such thing as your ONE passion.

I need to address this first as it is probably the most significant misconception many people have about finding their passion.

There is no such thing as your ONE passion.

Why do we always believe things to be black and white? Why do we always try to limit things to one option or none? Why should we only have one passion?

Just think about it, do you know a single person who only enjoys doing one single activity? Just one?

I don’t know any person like that. The people that surround me like architecture, books, and art. Or they like drawing, pets and music.

I also have various interests. I like reading, Yoga, self-development, cars and so on.

Each of these interests could be a passion. Who is to say I can’t be passionate about Yoga AND cars?

I believe we overestimate the feeling of passion. We seem to think that passion is such an overwhelming feeling that it encompasses everything and leaves no room whatsoever for another passion.

However, if we look into the Oxford Dictionaries, we read that a passion is simply an intense desire or enthusiasm for something.

Surely we can be intensely enthusiastic about multiple things at the same time. And if not that at least at different times.

And that leads us straight to the next point.

2. Passions change, and that’s ok

Again, we seem to think that our passion is something God or nature bestowed us with during birth. And who knows maybe that’s true.

However, many people who say they are living their passion admit that it has changed over the years.

When you were younger, you might have been passionate about gaming. As you grow older, you might develop an enthusiasm for cooking and fitness.

It’s only natural for your passion to change since we ourselves shift a lot over the years.

I believe we should try to see a passion less as an obligation we need to fulfill, and more like an ever-present gift that follows us throughout the years.

You are meant to enjoy doing what you currently feel passionate about. Don’t spend too much time overthinking what your one BIG obsession in life could be.

If you are enthusiastic about writing Fanfictions today, do that.

If next year, you suddenly have intense joy in working out, do that as well.

Don’t take life too seriously. There is no single right way to live it. Just go with the flow. Listen to your body and your emotions. They usually tell you all you need to know.

3. You will only know it once you live it

Truth be told, I don’t believe you will ever really know what your passion is until you lived it for a while.

I am sure you experienced multiple times when something turned out different than you expected it to. This might have happened in a bad as well as in a good way.

However, it shows us that our expectations are rarely entirely accurate. How are we then supposed to know beforehand what our passion is?

The only way to find out is by trying out the activity you believe could be your passion.

In addition to that, you should also be open to things that you have already crossed out of your “possible passion”-list. You never know, maybe something turns out way more enjoyable than you thought it would.

So be open and experiment! You will find your fascination sooner or later, I’m sure of that.

4. It might be better not to pursue your passion right away

This is another idea that made a significant impact on me. Usually, we all try to find our passion as soon as possible so that we can aspire a job in that field.

However, there are two reasons you might not want to pursue your passion instantly.

1. You don´t know your passion yet

This is pretty obvious, but you might not know what your passion is yet.

If you are coming straight out of school or university, don’t stress yourself if you still don’t know what you are intensly enthusiastic about. Just start doing something you enjoy.

However, if you already do know your passion, there can be a different reason to not go after it immediately.

2. Your passion can’t earn you money directly

For many people, their passion might not make them much money in the beginning.

If art is your fascination, you probably will not sell a lot of paintings as you start out. If you rely entirely on that as your income stream, you will struggle significantly to make a living.

Why not approach the subject differently? Why not look for a job that you do enjoy – but you don’t have to be passionate about it – and that makes you a decent amount of money.

In the meantime, you can either already start your passion as a side-hustle until it can make you a living. Or you can put aside a fraction of your income and invest it in stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. so that this will generate you a full salary.

Optimally, you do both at the same time. The sooner you start, the sooner you will be able to quit the job, you are not so passionate about and live a financially free and passionate life.

That does sound better than being broke while living your passion, doesn’t it?

Read also: 11 Ways To Spend Your Money Wisely

That’s already it!

I hope these four ideas about finding your passion help you.

Maybe they will change your perspective on the topic just like they did for me.

Whatever you take from this article, I want to encourage you to keep believing in a passionate life.

Too many people nowadays lost hope in living their passion. They simply keep working in their despised jobs and count the days until they can retire.

What kind of life is that?

I want you to live a life in which you wake up each day with a smile on your face and excitement in your heart. A life where you love the Now so much that you do not need to anxiously await a better future.

To live that kind of life you have to put in the necessary work. That might mean taking a few calculated risks. It could also mean to spend less time watching Netflix and instead to work on your side hustle.

Whatever it is, start as soon as you can. So that you can live in Felicity for as long as possible!

Until next time,

Sophie

9 Reasons Why You Should Start Your Own Business

Blog, Success

For the longest time, I very decisively didn’t want to be self-employed. I remember my father always telling me that starting my own business could be the best thing that ever happened to me. But I just wanted to have a regular office job.

However as I started to become interested in Self-Development, I also stumbled over the topic of entrepreneurship.

Within a few months, my opinion changed and I wanted nothing more than my own business. This has led me to start this Blog only a few months later.

But what was the reason for this sudden change of mind? Well, there are many good arguments for why someone should start their own business.

In this article, I collected the 9 arguments that convinced me.

I genuinely hope that they will convince you as well because most of the worlds most significant progress stems from entrepreneurs.

And I know that Felicity Seekers like you have something valuable to share with the world as well.

1. Limitless Income

This might be the first reason that comes to most peoples mind. MONEY!

And it is a valid reason though in my eyes, not the most important one. Therefore I want to get it out of the way first.

Yes, as an entrepreneur you can make a hell of a lot of money. There is absolutely no limit to how much you can earn. You only have to think of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.

9 reasons you should start your own business

However, I do not want to deny that many entrepreneurs struggle to make a living. It depends on you and on how much value you can provide.

You notice me mentioning value multiple times throughout this article. If you are looking for some inspiration on what value you can provide, check out my “Ways To Provide Value” Blog Post.

Although there is the possibility you will not make millions of dollars in income every year, there is a huge advantage of running your own business compared to a regular job.

As an ordinary employee, there is a limit to how much your boss is going to pay you. If you do your job well, you might get a raise or get promoted. But there is a limit to that. At one point or another, there is no “higher” anymore.

With entrepreneurship, this is not the case. Your income lies in your hands.
If you’re happy with keeping your company small and earn a decent living, you can do so.

But if you want to become a billionaire you have to create an empire!

Read also: 11 Ways To Spend Your Money Wisely

2. Work-Life Balance

The second reason many people want to start their own business is to balance work and life to their liking.

Sick of a 9-to-5? How about a 7-to-5 or a 10-to-4?

Having your own business gives you the freedom to design your day more freely.

You can not only work more flexible hours but also put in chunks of other tasks throughout your workday.

Maybe you like to walk your dog after you answered emails. Perhaps you want to read the newspaper after making your first call.

It’s entirely up to you.

Although a lot of freedom comes with having a business, I’d like to warn you from expecting anything like Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek.

To get things rolling, you probably have to work harder than you did as an employee. And if your business is truly something you enjoy doing there is a danger of getting lost in work.

Many entrepreneurs struggle with this and suffer from burn-out.

However, if you make your well-being a priority straight from the beginning, I believe you can achieve the perfect work-life balance suited for you.

3. You have unique value to share

We are all unique. Not even twins are exactly the same. There is always something special in each of us.

As an entrepreneur, you have the power to share this uniqueness with the world!

Sure, in the beginning, you might not know what value you want to provide for the world.

But as you start to do something other people are already succeeding at, you give it your twist.

And little by little you get new and original ideas. This is how you start sharing your unique value.

Read also: 8 Ways To Provide Value To The World

Let’s look at three examples:

1. Blogilates

Maybe you know of Cassey’s YouTube Channel. She is a successful fitness YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Now, I believe we can all agree that there are many fitness bloggers out there.

Technically they are all doing the same. Many of the workout moves they teach are the same. So why are they able to attract thousands or even millions of followers each?

Because they provide that value in their unique way.

Cassey, for example, is a thrilled, motivated and bubbly person. While some people love that, others will find it annoying.

You can present the completely same content as others, but by putting in your personality, it becomes unique.

2. A teacher/professor

As you can see, I try to select examples we all know. The information professors and teachers are teaching is nothing they discovered. Two math teachers teach the exact same content.

But not the whole school/university will agree on who is better. It all depends on our preferences.

The more people there are on our planet the more preferences exist. In fact, right now many people are talking about the rise of micro-influencers. Meaning influencers with a smaller but highly targeted fan base.

3. WhatsApp – Telegram

Telegram and WhatsApp provide basically the same service. Except that Telegram fulfills the consumers need for more security. It’s as simple as that.

So, whatever makes you unique, there are thousands of people out there, who would love precisely that uniqueness!

4. You can influence the lives of thousands of people

Or millions! Or billions!

As an entrepreneur, you bring unique value into the world. Whether it is through a physical product (iPhone, Tesla, PopSockets) or a service (Instagram, Snapchat, Musically) you have the power to influence thousands of people.

You can bring them joy, solve a problem they have, make their life easier, help them connect with people, help them create amazing memories, etc.

There are endless possibilities to influence other peoples life. And although it might not seem like a massive deal to you, they probably are very grateful for what you did.

5. You can see your results

That’s a problem for many employees nowadays. Especially those working in offices.

They rarely have tangible results anymore. Back in the old day, it was easier to see your days work. Shoemakers manufactured a certain number of shoes, bakers a certain number of bread, farmers reaped a certain amount of their seed and so on.

What do modern employees have? They sit in their office all day long and work on their computers. They read and answer emails, make phone calls, go into meetings, make plans, etc.

Sure you can count how many emails you’ve sent, but does that tell you anything about your success?

At the end of the day, many employees lack the feeling of accomplishment because they have very little to show for.

For an entrepreneur, it is easier to see results. Writing a book, creating content, having a specific number of clients, those are all countable things.

Entrepreneurs often see the direct impact their work has on the revenue they produce.

Their work produces results for themselves and not merely for the boss or shareholders.

6. Live life on your terms

This is another compelling upside of being an entrepreneur. Especially an online entrepreneur.

You can live life on your terms whether that means sleeping in and working late. Or jet setting around the world living the laptop lifestyle.

Everything is possible!

7. Live your passion

This is another huge reason why many people start their own business. And it’s understandable. Who wouldn’t want to live their passion!

The first business you start often is not necessarily your passion. You will probably enjoy doing it, but a big reason you do it is the money.

But as you become more and more financially free, you can start to spend your time and money doing what you genuinely love — and developing that into a business.

Read also: 4 Things You Need To Know About Finding Your Passion

8. Have less fear

As you become your own boss, you don’t have to fear getting fired or outsourced.

And if you do things right and diversify your income, you neither have to fear external factors like a financial crisis.

The more you hold your life in your own hands, the less you have to fear external developments.

9. You can shape the world to your liking

Do you see a problem in the world that needs fixing? Be the solution!

And it doesn’t have to be something big. Let’s look at two examples:

1. Pop Sockets

They are everywhere! And what an excellent but simple idea it was. Somebody merely was annoyed by how difficult it is to hold the phone at times and invented an easy solution.

2. Episode Tracking Apps

Do you know those apps, where you can track which episodes you’ve watched of which series? Again an incredibly easy but useful idea.

Just try to analyze your problems on a day to day basis. You might stumble over an idea that could make you millions. And at the same time you shape the world a bit more to your liking.

Well, what do you say? Are you ready to start your own business?

If you think about starting a Blog or YouTube channel, I can recommend Stefan James’s Affiliate Marketing Mastery.

It helped me get started with this Blog. But if you are not a complete newbie, it is probably not worth the price for you. Although, Stefan offers some incredible free bonuses with the program.

I’m not sure if he changes them from time to time, but when I purchased his program in 2019, his team set my Blog up for FREE and even bore the costs of a template of my choice (I believe mine was over 100 €!).

If you are not yet ready to pay that much, you can check out his free content. It is highly valuable, and honestly, he could charge for it as well.

Whether or not you are going to start or already have your own business, I want you to know that you can live life on your terms.

Never before in human history did our world offer so many opportunities. Take advantage of them, Felicity Seekers!

As always, I hope you keep striving for a happy and fulfilled life.

Until next time,

Sophie

Reading List For Personal Growth | Books for Ambitious Women

Blog, Books, Personal Development, Success

Reading List For Personal Growth

We Felicity Seekers always strive to improve ourselves. And what better way to do that than to read through my Reading List for Personal Growth!

These books contain the knowledge others acquired throughout decades. There is no faster way to learn anything!

To help you grow in every area of your life I collected my favorite Non-Fiction books. These are all books I have loved and benefitted from.

As I read every day, this list will grow steadily. So should you ever need some inspiration for your next read, check it out!

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!

Finances

Business & Success

Femininity & Everything for Women

Mindset

Productivity

Spirituality

Relationships

Science, Philosophy, Knowledge

Biographies

9 Ways To Overcome Limiting Beliefs | How to Break Bad Beliefs

Blog, Personal Development

Limiting beliefs – A term you probably heard many times before. Since a few years, many people on social media keep talking about how dangerous limiting beliefs are and that we all have them.

But what exactly are limiting beliefs and why is it crucial to overcome them.

9 ways to overcome limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs are a belief pattern we most of the time hold subconsciously and which directs the way we live.

The danger lies in the word “limiting”. It is reasonable and necessary to hold some beliefs that direct your life.

Having a deep belief that people should always help each other is a valuable belief that brings a lot of good into your life.

But limiting beliefs hold you back from living your full potential.

Let’s look at an example.

Imagine you grow up in a family of overweight people. Naturally, you become more and more overweight yourself.

Now while you are a child, your family always says “oh, you know, being overweight lies in our genes. There is nothing we can do about that”.

Of course, as a child, you believe that. You create the limiting belief that you are genetically overweight. But why is that a limiting belief?

Simple, with a mindset like that you will never try to lose weight or tone your body. This keeps you from living a healthy, happy and longer life.

So you see the danger in limiting beliefs like that? To help you get rid of them, I collected 9 effective ways to do it. I designed it as a step by step guide. Therefore I recommend you start at the beginning.

Read also: 9 Mindsets That Are Keeping You Poor

Read also: 7 Mindset Changes You Need To Make ASAP

1. Identify your limiting beliefs

As mentioned above, limiting beliefs are very often subconscious. And to solve a problem we always have to identify it first.

You have to become aware of what it is holding you back.

You may not be able to recall all of your limiting beliefs instantly; I am aware of that. You can either give yourself a week to collect all the limiting beliefs you can find, or you can do this routine every time you stumble over a new limiting belief.

Try to look for situations in which you think or say words like “I can’t…” or “I am not … enough”.

Some of the most common limiting beliefs are:

  • Not being talented enough to do something (e. g. dance, draw, ski, cook …)
  • Not being smart enough to get that degree/job
  • Money being difficult to earn
  • Not being pretty enough (seriously, have you seen some of the models nowadays?! Probably anyone could become a model if they set their mind to it.)

To aid your search, ask your friends and family if they ever noticed you saying negative phrases like that repeatedly in certain situations.

2. Write your limiting beliefs down

Collect your limiting beliefs on a list. Make them visible to you. Things become more meaningful once they’re written down.

Maybe it doesn’t even take much more for you than becoming aware of your limiting belief. Perhaps that’s enough to make you realize how stupid it is.

But the longer you have been clinging to this belief, the more difficult it will be to overcome it.

I recommend you to journal about your limiting beliefs. Write about your thoughts and feelings about them.

It is much more powerful to write things down than just to think them in your head.

I also recommend you to use the following points as Journaling prompts.

Read also: 11 Journaling Prompts To Skyrocket Into The New Year

3. Ask yourself if they are justified

Obviously, this is a rhetoric question. The answer should always be “No “.
But I believe it is vital to dig deep on what caused this belief.

For me, it always helps if I can find logical arguments for why my limiting belief is illogical.

Maybe you can create a pro and con list.

Ask yourself what would be the worst to happen if you dropped that belief for its opposite.

Would it really be that bad?

Think back to situations you acted according to that belief. Do you think they would have turned out differently if you had behaved otherwise?

Try to look at your belief from a third person perspective. What would others say about your mindset?

Write your arguments down. You might need to look at them once in a while to overcome that belief.

4. Understand how and when they came to exist

Since limiting beliefs are often subconscious, we tend not to realize when we are adopting them.

There are many ways to adopt a limiting belief. A particular event could have been the cause for example.

But I believe most of the time other people “taught” us their way of thinking.

It happens through family members, friends, teachers, coaches, bosses, social media or peers.

Did your parents keep telling you that you can’t afford things and did you learn that money was always scars?

Did your teacher make you feel like you were too stupid to go to university?

Finding the root of the problem will bring you significantly closer to freeing yourself from the belief.

5. Realize that they are serving a purpose

This is something I have learned from Jen Sinceros “You are a badass“.

Your limiting beliefs often serve a purpose for you. Why else would you cling to them?

The questions is, is this purpose worth living a limited life?

Thinking that things are out of your control and that you are simply the unfortunate victim serves the purpose of pity. People love being pitied.

Or maybe your limiting belief makes you feel secure.

Try to find that purpose. It will help you in overcoming the mindset.

6. Think of times when they have been holding you back

Chances are your limiting beliefs will not only hold you back in the future but have already been holding you back in the past.

Try to think of those times. Times, when you missed out on something good because you were too afraid to act.

Nobody likes the feeling of regret. But in cases like this, regret can help you create a better life. It can give you the push you need to motivate yourself to change.

Don’t be afraid of change. Life is constantly changing. To enjoy it you have to embrace transformations.

7. Transform each negative beliefe into a positive affirmation

Turn back to the list you made in number 2. Now create a second list and replace each negative belief with a positive affirmation.

Change “Money is always scarce” to “I am a money magnet. I attract money effortlessly into my life every day. Money is easy and fun to earn.”.

Change “All the good men are already taken” to “I constantly meet good men! Every man I date is absolutely wonderful to me!”

Make the affirmation sound strong. Use words that resonate with you. And formulate them in the present tense. As if it already were this way.

Write your positive affirmations down each day. Speak them out loud.

Maybe journal about them once in a while. How do you feel about them? Are you starting to believe the words you are saying and writing?

8. Find idols that show you everything is possible!

Try to find a person, who was in a situation similar to or worse than you, and accomplished the very thing you think is impossible for you.

There are endless success stories out there. They have the power to crush every limiting belief you have.

Rags turned into riches.
People met their soulmates.
Miraculous recoveries from diseases are recorded.

Literally, everything is possible! You simply need to have the right mindset.

9. Act according to your new belief

Just do it!
Try to do the very thing you think you cannot do.

If you still have that limiting belief, you might not succeed immediately. But keep trying. Once you can see the first signs that it is possible, your limiting belief will dissolve into thin air.

As with many things in life, this is a never-ending journey. Just because you got rid of old limiting beliefs doesn’t mean new ones won’t develop.

You have to be self-aware and analyze your behavioral patterns. Any time you become aware of a new limiting belief, rinse and repeat the process that got rid of your past mindsets.

That’s it. Now you should be ready to tackle the beliefs that are holding you back from living your most fulfilled life.

Do you already know some limiting beliefs you want to transform? Comment them down below so that our community can hold you accountable.

And as always, I hope you continue to strive for Felicity. I know there is still so much in you that can help you to live your life to the fullest.

Until next time,

Sophie

12 Powerful Ways To Be Confident | Confidence Tips for Babes

Blog, Personal Development

Confidence is one of those crucial skills you need to develop if you want to be successful in life. But this is nothing new to you, right? We all know the importance of confidence, yet for many of us, it seems very hard to be confident.

But what is confidence? Confidence means that you love, accept and trust yourself – your abilities, qualities, and ideas – completely.

Confidence is not something you are born with, it can be developed. But it can also be lost! So you always need to work on it!

The following tips should help you tap into your confident self. Enjoy!

1. Know that people care less than you think

Something that is intertwined with confidence is caring what other people think about you.

The more confident you are, the less you care what other people think of you and vice-versa.

One thing that we should always remember is that nobody thinks about us as much as we ourselves do.

12 powerful ways to be confident

In reality, everybody’s primary concern is themselves.

So, don’t worry about what people think of you. Chances are they either didn’t even notice that you did something “weird” or they forgot about it within a few hours.

Never feel insecure because what other people might think!

If you want more tips on how to stop caring what other people think of you, check out my article on that.

2. Know that nobody is perfect

Most of the time we are our harshest critic. We often diminish our confidence by negative self-talk.

Try to catch yourself thinking those negative thoughts.

No, you are NOT stupid!
You are NOT clumsy!

Yes, you might have messed up. So what? Millions of people mess up daily.

This is part of being human. We are not perfect.

Therefore stop being unfair to yourself! You wouldn’t criticize your best friend like that, would you?

Accept your failings, your imperfections and move on confidently, knowing that nobody is perfect!

3. Dress to impress

We are always told not to judge a book by its cover. And in theory, we all try not to do that.

But in reality, our first impression of a person is gravely shaped by the first data we get from them. And often this is a visual impression, in the form of body language, hair, hygiene, and clothes.

Since we all want to make an excellent first impression, we feel insecure whenever we are not happy with our appearance.

Wearing clothes, you feel comfortable and maybe even sexy in can boost your confidence tremendously!

The same goes for your hair. Try to get a haircut regularly and invest a little bit time into learning how to do hairstyles that put your hair in order.

Take care of your personal hygiene. Shower regularly, cut your nails, shave and take care of your skin. If you feel fresh and clean, you will feel more comfortable in your own skin.

And last but not least, take care of your body. Move daily, eat healthy food, straighten your posture and do regular check-ups with the doctor.

In total, feel confident in your own skin!

Some of these changes you can do immediately, others will take more time. But all of them are going to make you feel confident!

4. Positive affirmations

Yes, it is cheesy, but it works.

The power of positive self-talk has been proven scientifically. By now, psychologists and psychiatrists use it to help their patients fight depression.

And I am sure you heard some life coaches talk about affirmations, too.

If you have never done it before, saying affirmations will not feel very comfortable at first. But have patience.

You don’t need to shout them out loud, standing in superman pose in front of the mirror.

You can whisper them. Or you can think them quietly in your head.

Particularly the morning right after you wake up is a good time to affirm yourself. That way you will already start your day off great.

Another way is to create visual reminders for yourself. Write a Post-it with an affirmation and put it somewhere you are going to see it every day.

You could also let your phone remind you at specific hours every day of a positive affirmation.

As I said, you don’t need to be crazy about it. Just do what feels comfortable to you. It will subconsciously make you feel better about yourself.

5. List things you love about yourself

As mentioned above, we tend to criticize ourselves day in day out. We always focus on the negative stuff.

My nose is too big.
I have oily skin.
Why am I so tall?

For a change, try to focus on the things you love about yourself.

Start every day by listing at least three things you like about yourself.

I love how my freckles make me look cute.
I am so grateful to be small. I never have to worry about legroom.
I adore my curly hair.

Try to list different things every day. With every new item, you will feel a bit more confident.

6. Be around uplifting people

I’m sure you have watched a few funny interviews with celebrities, haven’t you? Did it make you smile watching them joke around? Did it lift your mood?

I am also sure you experienced the following situation: You are incredibly excited about something and want to share it with a friend or a family member. But as you reach them, you realize they are in a foul mood. They simply are not as happy as you are about this thing you wanted to share with them.
Within minutes if not seconds your mood dropped significantly.

Moods are contagious. And we all want to be in a good mood. Especially to be confident you should be in a good mood. Or have you ever met a super confident person that seemed listless?

You are the average of the five people you spent the most time with.

So look around you and name those five people. Are they usually in a good or in a bad mood? Are they energized to tackle life or do they dread everything?

Try to find friends who make you feel energized and confident.

Friends that lift you up and support you with your dreams instead of friends who are judging every step you make.

I know that this can be especially difficult with family members since we all do not want to abandon them from one day to the other.

But maybe do try to spend a bit less time with them. Or include a third person, who also is of the uplifting kind.

Alternatively, you can also train yourself to some extent that their words and their mood pass right through you.

But beware, that will only work to some extent!

7. Broaden your horizon

The more you know about different topics, the more confident you will feel when talking to different people.

It will become easier to communicate for you in every situation.

Of course, you can be confident around subjects you know nothing about.

We all know that one person who knows next to nothing but acts like they have been teaching the subject for years.

But the more you actually do know, the easier it will be for you to feel confident.

So educate yourself! If will also help you in every other area of life.

Read also: 18 Powerful Personal Growth Ideas

8. Act as if

You might also call this “fake it until you make it”. The principle is easy. Act as if you already were confident.

Ask yourself, how would I act if I were confident? Surprisingly, it is quite easy to act like that once you know what it is.

Try to imitate confident people. How are they behaving?

Especially look for their body language. Confident people stand straight, head held high and walk calmly.

You can actually influence your emotions my imitating the body movements that come with them.

For example, if you smile for a few minutes, your mood will lift, regardless of how stupid you might feel doing it.

The same works for confidence through adapting the right posture.

Presentation coaches teach their clients to stand in an empowering pose, right before an interview or a presentation.

An example would be the superman pose, where you stand wide legged, breast thrust forward, head held high and your hands on your waist.

I know that the Superman pose might not be for everyone, but you can make subtle body posture changes during your day that will improve your self-confidence.

Simply pull your shoulders back a bit and walk more assured. See what a difference it can make!

The same goes for your voice.

Don’t mumble, don’t whisper and don’t speak with a high voice as if it were a question. Try to talk calmly and with a stable voice.

With time this will become your second nature. You won’t have to act confident anymore, you will become confident!

9. Track your accomplishments

We accomplish so much in a day, yet we can think of so little whenever we look back at our day.

Start to track your accomplishments, your little milestones.

Once you realize how much you accomplish on a day to day basis, you will feel proud and competent.

Knowing you are able to get stuff done will increase your confidence.

10. Step out of your comfort zone little by little

Confidence is a muscle. It gets stronger by use.

Just like with your physical workout, you always have to push yourself a bit beyond the pain point to see growth happening.

Of course, this can be incredibly daunting, so you want to do it little by little.

Analyze your current confidence level. When do you lack confidence? This is your starting point.

Find little things each week that you can do although you feel insecure.

If you push your comfort zone just once a week. Within a year you will have moved 52 steps closer to your confident self!

11. Give compliments and help others

We all love to receive compliments. If somebody compliments your outfit, you are probably happy about that for the rest of the day if not much longer.

However, not only receiving but also giving compliments makes us happy.

There is just something about being altruistic that makes humans feel good about themselves.

Furthermore, complimenting others makes you feel less envious. You need to be content with yourself to overcome envy and give compliments.

I also believe that this starts a positive feedback loop. The more people compliment each other, the more people become happy and confident enough to compliment others.

It can build itself up in a loop and increase to a truly happy and confident society.

Obviously, we are still far away from that. But I believe every single one of us can contribute to this end goal and feel good while doing so.

Read also: 8 Ways To Provide Value To The World

12. Be yourself!

Stop trying to be someone you simply are not.

You will never be able to truly feel confident about yourself if you keep disguising your real character.

Start being unapologetically yourself.

And if you don’t like certain things about yourself, you can always improve.

The key is not just to act like you are different. You need to change within not only on the outside.

Sure this will take longer than just acting like you are a different version of yourself, but you will feel much more at peace with it.

If you want a starting point on how to improve yourself, check out my Reading List for Personal Growth.

I listed a ton of self-development books that will help you become your best self in every area of life.

What about you, Felicity Seekers?

How confident are you? And which of these tips are you going to implement into your life?

Also, if you have any other recommendations comment down below.

Since I am also working on being more confident, I’d love to read some of your tips on the topic.