6 Tips for Living a Happier Life*

Be committed.
You must be focused and enthusiastic about your goals no matter what they are or what unexpected challenges they contain. It is only through your commitment to your goals that you will be able to make the progress needed to ever attain them. Whether you are getting set to launch a startup, realize your dreams of physical fitness or complete that course in culinary arts you’ve been thinking about, you must have the grit to see you efforts through to the very end.

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People care about you, not your success.
Anyone worth your time will care more about who you are as an individual then the car you drive, house you inhabit or clothes your wear. This is not to say that adding value to your life through professional effectiveness and financial savvy is not also highly admirable. But, when it comes to offering you their unconditional support and genuine care, in the little details and the big, these are done because your friend’s family and loved ones love you. Count on it!

Be Grateful Everyday.
According to top researchers Michael McCullough, Robert Emmons and Martin Seligman, being grateful for the many perks you enjoy in your life can ultimately change your perception of life and your health too. Being grateful has been found to reduce the occurrences of heart disease. Take time to make a list of everything you are thankful for. Take this to another level and try to find ways to be grateful for the bad things that happen too, after all, there is hardly any misfortune that could not have been far worse.

Take action.
You can have all the brain, brawn and capacity and still not be making progress towards your goals. According to Katty Kay and Claire Shipman in an article printed in the Atlantic confidence is just as important as competence and that stepping out and taking action is an important part of the capacity to succeed.

Money can’t buy happiness.
According to the lyrics of the Beatles immortal “Can’t Buy Me Love” money lacks worth where it really matters. You could buy the finest house on the planet, but it will be a cold empty mausoleum without the happiness and contentment that come from the things that truly matter. This doesn’t mean money isn’t important to happiness, as it facilitates the development of your passions –– but, as a passion in itself, money can be very unfulfilling.

Don’t take rejection personally.
Rejection is a big part of life and should be used as a stepping stone to make greater progress, refine approaches and rethink directions. Did that proposal you were working very hard on get categorically rejected? That smarts for sure. But, there could be a thousand reasons for this. At least some of these reasons may have to do with your performance and could hold clues to improving in the future –– it’s all in your reaction. It is so easy to get angry when things aren’t going your way. If this seems to be happening frequently you could benefit from some anger management techniques.

This is something I have to remember as I play the numbers game at my own online invoicing startup. I have to make peace with the fact that I will get 100+ rejections before I find a VC who believes in what I am doing. But learning from each rejection and never losing enthusiasm are decisions that lead to greatness.