Find your Inner Happiness {and change your life}

For years I struggled with my fitness, and with that came unhappiness in other parts of my life. It truly is unbelievable how feeling negative in one part of your life affects everything around you. Everyone searches for happiness.. who doesn't want to be happy, right? If I only had this or that, if I lost the weight, if I met the perfect person, bought that big house, had that brand new car, the job I've always wanted. Then I would be happy. We think all of these things will make us happy. I thought moving to the beach was going to change my life. I quickly found out that happiness truly does have to come from within.

Once you find inner happiness, it all of a sudden becomes easier to succeed in all parts of your life. Like attracts like. When you're happy, confident, feeling amazing... you will attract more positive things and people. Maybe the right "one" will come around. Maybe you'll do better at work, get that promotion and buy that house. The power of positive thinking and feeling happy with YOURSELF can change your life! It did mine, and now the sky is the limit!

Here are some of the ways that you can get on track to true INNER happiness:

1. Don't take yourself too seriously and don't accept failures as final. Learn to move on without feeling negative. It is really easy to lose your humor and even easier to deeply feel all of the negative feelings that can come along when things aren't going to according to plan. As a Coach, I have had to learn how to hear "NO" so many times. Every time it stings a little, but guess what, I'll get over it and move on.. and so will you. Bring a lightness and acceptance to the circumstance, just brush it off. Life will go on.

2. It's okay to be you. You may think you're a mess, falling apart, or even hopeless. Accept your imperfections. And accepting yourself doesn't mean that you have to stay in a place that you are not happy in. I did not want to be 50 lbs overweight. But I had to ACCEPT that is where I was at before I could start changing that. Accepting your struggles are a great way to eventually turn around and face them head-on.

3. Don't be afraid to share - the good and the bad. Don't identify health issues, suffering, loss, or anything negative in your life as being who you are. You don't have to be one label or identity. But it's also okay to talk about those things in your life. Find someone you can count on and confide in them. Be open about your experiences. When you talk about negative issues, it can make you FEEL lighter, you have a chance to shine and to maybe help someone else by being open and honest with your story.

4. Love yourself. Maybe it’s been a tough journey, maybe you aren't where you want to be yet, and maybe you have a lot to work on, but that doesn't mean you can't love who you are. It's all an important part of the process, and looking back you may be glad that you were at the point where you are right now because i'm positive that you will learn so much from every part of your life- the good, and the bad. Every morning, look in the mirror and say one nice thing to yourself.

5. Don't negative self-talk. Ever. You can be your greatest friend or your worst enemy, and I was my own worst enemy. To the point where my husband was so fed up of me talking badly about myself that he had to say something. Yes, it was that bad. I still have trouble with this and I do try to negative self-talk, but I am learning to stop myself and say a positive to myself {even if I am not feeling super positive}. Instead of "I can't believe I skipped that workout today, now I am just going to give up and be fat like always", I say "That sucks that I didn't workout today, but tomorrow is a new day and I know that I can get right back to my goals". It's extremely important not to emotionally beat yourself up.

6. Forgive yourself. It can set you free. It's okay to make mistakes, own that and understand what you can do in the future to prevent the same things from happening. It's okay to feel angry, to get upset, and feel all things you think you've done wrong. Then put them in the past and know that who you have been does not have to be who you are.

7. Work on personal development. Pick issues that you could work on, and work on them. Words of wisdom from others who have been in similar paths, or want similar futures, can change your whole outlook. Choose topics that are important to you, things you want to change or work on, and look for ways to build positive habits around those ideas, or learn more about how to get to your goals. For instance, I love reading Success magazine for my business. I love our weekly team calls, getting to speak with the incredibly successful entrepreneurs on my team about what they are doing and learning from the people in my industry who are making the big bucks working online for themselves. It pumps me up and keeps me motivated, excited, and on fire with my business goals for days after.

8. Take your goals one step at a time. You want to move forward in life, you have goals, right? The thing about goals is that they can feel incredibly daunting, overwhelming, and impossible to accomplish at times. Break up your goals into small, manageable goals, and allow yourself to celebrate those small accomplishments. This will help you get to where you want to be, in a much more stress-free environment than tacking huge goals all at once.

9. Feel it, understand it, and set a plan. It is easy to deny your feelings, or deny that you aren't living up to your full potential. Understand your feelings and understand what you can do better. Don't drown in your sorrows about things that aren't going well. Do something about them, even if it's just taking it slowly, one day at a time.

10. Meditate. Exercise. There is a ton of research showing how meditation and exercise can help with feelings of happiness. Meditate on feeling calmness, love and kindness. Get a great workout in when you are angry. Take care of yourself and your health.

What new tactics are you going to try to work on for yourself and your inner happiness?

#motivation