5 Surprising Tips that Reverse Traditional Wisdom – and Boost Your Happiness

1) Have a good cry over that spilt milk!

Bottling up how we feel – especially during stressful times in our lives – can lead to ‘regrettable’ outbursts. Especially since we often ‘burst out’ at inconvenient times, or with the people we most care about.

So, if you feel upset after spilling the milk – or something similarly unimportant – instead of bottling up, you could consciously choose to have a good cry.

Because whatever you feel in that moment is your truth. So own it. Feelings are nothing to be ashamed of. And if you’re over-reacting to something – the chances are that there’s a lot going on in your life right now that you’ve not yet had a chance to process or grieve or acknowledge how you truly feel.

So, when you ‘spill the milk’ and feel an overwhelming urge to cry – this could be just the opportunity you need to release your emotion on your own terms.

2) Procrastinate!

When you don’t know what to do, try doing nothing!

We often feel pressured to DO stuff. To make things happen. To decide and move forwards. We think we should always be planning or doing something…

But instead of pushing yourself when you’re not ready – or things aren’t clear – know that you can always make a conscious choice to procrastinate.

Don’t just do something,
sit there!

Now you wait for life, your intuition, a new piece of information or even someone else to make the decision for you.

3) Enjoy the “last straw”

Usually when we say “That’s the last straw!” it’s seen as negative – we’ve had enough!

Well, try this instead. Next time it’s the last straw, try (internally) saying “Great!”, “Fabuloso” or “Awesome!”

Because that “last straw” allows you to say no, no more, I’m done. And this can be a positive.

Consider the following:

• Now that you’re done with this, what do you need?
• What opportunities or positives can come out of this?
• How will your life be easier or less complicated?

If it’s the “last straw”, can you relax, let go, say no without guilt or give yourself permission to step back? Maybe even celebrate?

Go for it. I guarantee you’ll feel better.

4) Have the gain, but without the pain…

We all work so hard. And it’s drilled into us from a young age that success comes from hard work – which is often true.

But we’re also told, “No pain, no gain”. Which is not so true.

Who said that hard work, or putting in effort had to be painful? Because it is possible to achieve our goals with little or no “pain”.

How? We can:

• Do a less than perfect job. Adjust your measures of success (or perfectionism) so that the bar for success is lower – and easier to achieve.
• Stop trying so hard. Instead, loosen up. See if you can allow yourself to be ‘pulled toward’ your goals, instead of ‘pushing’.
• Stop judging. Choose not to engage with our critic or other people’s expectations.
• Choose a different goal which involves less “pain”!
• Slow down. Why rush? Lengthen the time period so that you succeed with smaller efforts over a longer period of time.
• Get creative! What other ways are there to achieve this? Ask yourself, “What’s the easy way here?”

Do you really have to experience pain to get the gains? Would it matter so very much if achieving your goals was easy and enjoyable – or if the results were imperfect?

5) Bite off more than you can chew!

Is life dragging you down? Are you lacking inspiration?

Well, you could try “Biting off more than you can chew”!

I’m not talking about adding to your burdens and “To do” list. Instead, consider what would be a HUG – a Huge Unbelievable Goal – for you.

Huge goals give us something to look forward to and get excited about. And not only that, but huge goals are easier to achieve than you think – because they’re so exciting for us that we are super-motivated.

Even thinking about possible HUGs is uplifting 🙂

So whether it’s taking an existing goal and amping it up a level, finally owning that massive goal you have at the back of your mind, or leaping in with both feet for something you really, really want, go for it – and feel the rush of adrenalin and excitement.

Why not try one of these and see what happens?