After living in Paris, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, London, Tokyo, and holding countless jobs,
I couldn’t figure out why I was so unhappy.
I wanted to travel the world, meet people, and try new things
But it was making me miserable.
After turning 27, I finally decided to go back to my home town in France and audit myself.
From this point, I’ve never been happier and more productive in my entire life.
Here’s why:
1. You don’t know your life purpose until you know yourself
Trying to be happy in your life without knowing yourself is like trying to win a game without knowing the rules.
There is probably one chance in a billion that you’d succeed, but reading the rules would save you a ton of time and make sure you could win the game before dying.
That’s why at this stage, it’s important to audit yourself.
Write down everything you love, your core values, principles, interests, things you like to do in your free time, the kind of person you are, how your friends and family would characterize you, etc.
From this list, you should find a main theme.
When I did mine, the main theme was personal development and entrepreneurial growth - AKA building businesses the right way while being happy everyday.
2. Achieving the wrong goals is the worst thing that can happen
I’m a very goal-oriented person.
But that never stopped me from being dissatisfied with my life while accomplishing them.
This is related to the first step.
Until you know your life purpose,
You’ll never be happy with the goals you set.
Once you know who you want to become, you can start setting goals in that direction.
The types of goals I like to set:
Daily: in the form of routines (it doesn’t have to be a 15 steps morning routine. The simpler the better).
Mine is very simple: make the bed, drink water, hit the gym.
Weekly or monthly: it depends on you. I personally do both. I have weekly goals for spending time with my family. And monthly goals for everything business related.
Long term: These are the goals from my vision in which I’m the best version of myself.
3. You don’t have to sacrifice today to be happy tomorrow
Life’s too short to be miserable.
Having a morning routine that makes you happy and fulfilled is the first step towards living an amazing life. It sets you up for greatness for the rest of the day.
I know I’d rather sleep a little bit less (even those nights when my 10-month-old daughter won’t let me sleep) than to miss my morning routine.
There is however a minimum amount of sleep required. For me, it’s 8 hours and I’m jealous of those needing only 6.
You only have one life and a limited amount of time on this earth. Make it count. Make every day count.
There is no reason to not be happy and to not take control of your health.
No one is there to save you if you don’t save yourself.
Bonus: Don’t react on emotions
If you’re like me and react based on emotions and impulse, try to refrain yourself from doing that.
Keeping my mind calm and only reacting based on logic helped me a lot to reduce anxiety and stress. When you’re driving and someone in front of you won’t move their car when the light is green, take a deep breath and wait an extra second for them to realize they’re blocking the way.
You’ll feel an incredible sense of pride from not yelling at that stranger.
Remember:
- Be yourself
- Set the right goals
- Enjoy life and be happy
That’s it for now!
Matt
